Researching the Mafia

[Antiliar]

Is there anything special about the book Al Capone Biography of a Self-Made Man by Fred Pasley?

It's free, and it is the only biography of Capone published in his lifetime.

[aleksandrored]

Is there anything special about the book Al Capone Biography of a Self-Made Man by Fred Pasley?

It's free, and it is the only biography of Capone published in his lifetime.

understand, thanks man.

[NickleCity]

When researching the mafia there seems to be a debate about using quantitative or qualitative methods. This article does a good job explaining why qualitative methods are needed as well. https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/st ... -a-debate/

[nash143]

Does anyone know of a site that allows you search for divorce records? Is this possible?
Thanks

[Lefty_Ruggiero]

Website I have alot of luck on are ancestry and newspapers.com. Some media archives are decent as well.

Does anyone know if it is possible to view older police records (1960s to 1980s)? Does it depend on the state/precient? Any info would be helpful.

[Antiliar]

Does anyone know of a site that allows you search for divorce records? Is this possible?
Thanks

FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com have some divorce indexes for certain specific areas. There is no site that has every divorce index, and I don't think any site has actual records. Most of those are court records.

[Antiliar]

Website I have alot of luck on are ancestry and newspapers.com. Some media archives are decent as well.

Does anyone know if it is possible to view older police records (1960s to 1980s)? Does it depend on the state/precient? Any info would be helpful.

You would have to put in Freedom of Information requests to the specific department. They often explain how to do that on their websites.

[motorfab]

I came across this site a few weeks ago which is a database of Quebec newspapers. Most of the articles are in French but you can always translate with Google, you can also download the PDF and there are of course photos (you just have to be patient to find the right article) http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/

[antimafia]

I came across this site a few weeks ago which is a database of Quebec newspapers. Most of the articles are in French but you can always translate with Google, you can also download the PDF and there are of course photos (you just have to be patient to find the right article) http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/

Laurentian provided me the link at least eight years ago, and I have used the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) site numerous times since. I am grateful for his having furnished me the link all those years ago.

A few years ago, the website made downloading of newspaper articles more difficult for external users of BAnQ, that is, for members of the public who do not have an account with which to sign in.

Prior to this development, even as an external user, you could click on the results of your search, see on screen the article you had located, and download in a PDF format just that one page from, for example, the entire issue of a daily edition of a newspaper (which is a much larger PDF).

Nowadays, again as an external user, you are forced to download a large PDF of the entire issue of a newspaper edition, even if you just need one page from the PDF. Nevertheless, the BAnQ site still remains a valuable resource.

[JVerilla]

Thanks for the stuff

[OcSleeper]

Idk how/where to find this so does anyone have the link to what the fbi views as an active/viable LCN list?

[Pogo The Clown]

Idk how/where to find this so does anyone have the link to what the fbi views as an active/viable LCN list?

The LCN is most active in the New York metropolitan area, parts of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and New England. The major LCN families include the five New York-based families—Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Luchese; the Newark-based DeCavalcante family; the New England LCN; the Philadelphia LCN; and the Chicago Outfit. They have members in other major cities and are involved in international crimes.

https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/organized-crime

[OcSleeper]

]https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/organized-crime

Ohh okay I was actually on that. I thought they had an actual list that had "active & inactive families". Thanks though

[Pogo The Clown]

They exist. Two of them from the 1980s were posted on here but I haven't seen any recent ones. Just articles quoting the the Feds on the remaining families.


Pogo

[Wiseguy]

]https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/organized-crime

Ohh okay I was actually on that. I thought they had an actual list that had "active & inactive families". Thanks though

"There is a nationwide alliance of at least 24 tightly knit Mafia 'Families' which control organized crime in the United States.” (President’s Commission on Organized Crime, 1965)

“Today the core of organized crime in the United States consists of 24 groups operating as criminal cartels in large cities across the nation.” (Katzenbach Commission, 1967)

“Yet La Cosa Nostra itself, the Italian core of organized crime, consists of only 3,000 to 5,000 individuals scattered around the nation in 24 "families," or regional gangs, each headed by a boss and organized loosely along military lines.” (Time Magazine, 1969)

“From these multiple sources has come this picture of an organized crime network: At its core are 24 to 26 Cosa Nostra families, one to a city except in New York where there are five, with a total membership of 3,000 to 5,000 but with connections that involve several hundred thousand others.” (Drive on Organized Crime, 1970)

Boston-Providence, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York (5), New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, Denver-Pueblo (inactive), Kansas City, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Pittston-Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Tucson, Rockford, Madison, Elizabeth-Newark, Springfield, IL (inactive), Tampa. (FBI List, 1980)

“There are 25 active LCN families in the United States.” (Department of Justice Organized Crime Report, 1982)

“The LCN consists of a federation of 25 families...most heavily concentrated in the northeast and midwest...there are over 2,000 initiated members.” (Senate Hearings on Organized Crime, 1983)

“The Bureau believes 24 traditional organized crime families are still operating in the United States.” (New York Times, 1983)

"There does exist, however, one criminal organization that is national in scope - La Cosa Nostra. Today, the LCN consists of of a federation of 24 families." (President’s Commission on Organized Crime, 1983)

"From 1960 to 1983, with 20 years of investigations through Democratic and Republican administrations at the national level, with basically honest law enforcement, well equipped law enforcement, not one of the 24 organized crime families has been destroyed. (Robert Blakey, 1984)

“Nationwide, 24 La Cosa Nostra families total about 1,700 members, with a concentration in the northeastern United States. About one-half the strength is in the five New York families. These membership figures represent a reduction of more than 50% from the FBI’s 1966 estimates.” (President’s Commission on Organized Crime, 1986)

"With the exception New York, Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas, the LCN influence is at best minimal and it certainly doesn't pose any significant problem to law enforcement." (U.S. Strike Force Attorney, 1987)

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation has estimated that the LCN empire consists of 25 independent families - Buffalo, Rochester, New England, New York (5), New Jersey, Pittston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Kansas City, Tampa, New Orleans, Denver, Tucson, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles (25 Years After Valachi report, 1988)

"They are dead or finished almost everywhere. Their strongholds in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Cleveland, New Orleans, Chicago and New York are all gone or under siege. They are virtually gone. If the sun is not set on all of them, it surely is twilight time." (Robert Blakey, 1990)

"The Mafia remains potent in the New York City area, where officials say the mob is hard to uproot because it has five separate and large crime families, and in the suburbs of Chicago. But in most other areas, where prosecutors have to contend with only a single family, the legendary mob that once controlled entire labor unions, city governments, and criminal enterprises has clearly lost its grip." (New York Times, 1990)

"[La Cosa Nostra] remains particularly strong in Chicago, New England, southern Florida, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and New York City." (FBI National Strategy Report, 1991)

“Except for New York and Chicago, the F.B.I. and Federal prosecutors maintain that in the last decade they have largely eliminated Mafia strongholds in most big cities.” (New York Times, 1991)

“Partly due to the new techniques, federal officials say, La Cosa Nostra has been wiped out--or at least rendered practically powerless--in a number of major cities. Among them, officials say, are Denver, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Tampa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Boston.” (Los Angeles Times, 1991)

"The federal government's hit list for the Mafia once included nearly 20 cities, but officials say they are close to crossing off Cleveland; Denver; Los Angeles; New Orleans; Pittston, Pa.; Rochester, N.Y.; San Francisco; San Jose; St. Louis and Tampa. 'We still have powerful La Cosa Nostra families in New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and south Florida," said Paul Coffey, who heads the Justice Department's organized crime division. He added that no major Mafia family 'has been completely eradicated.'" (Washington Post, 1992)

"'The New York-New Jersey region is their last stronghold,' said Dennis Marchalonis, the head of the FBI organized organized crime squad in New Jersey." (New York Times, 1994)

"Only New York and Chicago have substantial Mafia organizations." (Slate, 1997)

“Law-enforcement officials and criminologists say the Mob has been reduced to a handful of families in a few cities.” (Christian Science Monitor, 1997)

"The LCN remains the number one crime problem in the United States. Although the LCN remains strong in the metropolitan New York City area, where roughly 80% of its members operate, the LCN has been substantially weakened in other parts of the U.S.; particularly in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and other cities." (U.S. Department of Justice, 1999)

"The estimated made membership of the LCN is 1100 nationwide, with roughly 80% of the members operating in the New York metropolitan area. There are five crime families that make up the LCN in New York City: the Bonanno, the Colombo, the Genovese, the Gambino, and the Lucchese families. There is also LCN operational activity in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Miami\South Florida area but much less so than in New York. In other previous strongholds such as Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh, the LCN is now weak or non-existent. La Cosa Nostra is a high priority for the FBI and for law enforcement in New York City. Elsewhere, however, it is a low priority, with attention being characterized by members as "hit and miss" because of a belief that "things are under control." (UN Report, 1999)

"The mob is not a national problem." (G. Robert Blakey, 1999)

"Once boasting 26 families nationwide, the mob is down to 11, half of those confined to the New York area. Moreover, the Mafia's influence still extends far beyond New York. There remain active families in Chicago, Detroit, New England, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Miami." (US News & World Report, 2000)

"The five New York families, and to a limited extent the northern New Jersey-based family, are among the ten to twelve Cosa Nostra families that remain viable today." (Stier Teamsters Report, 2002)

"I think law enforcement has done a lot of damage to the Mafia. There are very few families that are strong anymore. New York is about the only place where there's a Mafia now." (Charles Maurer, FBI, 2002)

"Operation Button Down, the codename for the FBI's campaign to crush the Mafia, reduced the number of families operating in the United States from 24 to only nine, FBI officials said. (CNN, 2004)

“In some of the smaller places, they have largely eliminated it. But in the big cities around the northeast, including New York, in Chicago, New England and New Jersey, there's still viable organized crime. The Mafia still exists, although with reduced influence.” (Lincoln Journal Star, 2004)

"Only families in New York and Chicago , the largest traditional bases, retained a semblance of organizational frameworks. Elsewhere in the nation, the twenty-odd borgata's were in disarray or practically defunct, except in areas where the New York and Chicago families had branches, especially in Florida. The remaining strength of the Mob was largely concentrated in New York and the Northeast Corridor." (Five Families, 2005)

"Cosa Nostra, once a nationwide organization of Italian-American mobsters, is down to one Outfit in Chicago and New York City's five organized families - the Bonannos, Colombos, Gambinos, Genovese, and Lucchese. 'They are about 'all that's left,' Mob historian Selwyn Raab says." (USA Today, 2005)

"They're beleaguered, battered, and bruised but they are far from wiped out. They have been hurt by nearly three decades of prosecutions, mostly by federal authorities. But the five families in New York and those in other metropolitan areas, notably Chicago and its suburbs, remain viable criminal networks. (New York Times, 2006)

"Today, families in former strongholds like Cleveland, Tampa, and Los Angeles are gone. Our thing - as initiates called the mob - is in serious decline everywhere but New York City. (USA Today, 2007)

"They're [the 5 NY families) still a formidable presence." (Kevin Halligan, FBI, 2007)

"There are 9 La Cosa Nostra families throughout the country; five of them exist in New York ." (Former LCN member Michael Franzese, 2009)

"La Cosa Nostra...is one of the foremost organized criminal threats to American society. The LCN is most active in the New York metropolitan area, parts of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and New England. The major LCN families include the five New York-based families—Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese; the Newark-based DeCavalcante family; the New England LCN; the Philadelphia LCN; and the Chicago Outfit. They have members in other major cities and are involved in international crimes." (FBI website, 2010)

"Within the LCN there are five principal crime families. Most members of the LCN operate in the New York metropolitan area, but there are also criminal operations in Boston, Chicago, Newark, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Miami." (US Congressional Report, 2010)

"While the Mafia - also known as La Cosa Nostra - may no longer possess the robust national presence it once had, it remains a significant threat in the extended New York metropolitan area, New England, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit." (Los Angeles Times, 2011)

"The Mafia - also known as La Cosa Nostra - may have taken on a diminished role in some areas of the country but in New York the five families are still extremely strong and viable." (David Shafer, FBI, 2011)

"Across the U.S. the mob's influence and power is not what it used to be, even in cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. But New York is different. They are still a viable force here. (Lin DeVecchio, former FBI, 2011)

"Geographically, the centers for organized crime activity in the U.S. have not changed much over the years. The top 10 (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Newark, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Kansas City, Chicago, Las Vegas) locations for organized crime convictions covering the period 1986-2010, which corresponds with the major U.S. prosecution effort against the Cosa Nostra. These top 10 locations account for more than half of all organized crime convictions in the U.S. Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City lead the way in convictions and, when combined with Newark, New Jersey (located only 10 miles away), these three jurisdictions account for 27% of all organized crime convictions over 25 years. Clearly, the New York City metropolitan area is the major center for organized crime activity in the U.S." (Traditional Organized Crime in the Modern World, 2012)

"By 2016, many Mafia Gangs, including long-entrenched ones in Detroit, Cleveland, New Orleans, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Tampa, and Southern California had been virtually eliminated or weakened to the level of a handful of elderly "has beens." Remarkably, the Mafia’s venerable and strongest families survived in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other pockets of the Northeast." (Five Families book new prologue, 2016)

"The New York families are still a problem but in most of the country the Cosa Nostra is no longer a priority for law enforcement." (Jeffrey Sallet FBI, 2016)

"While there were 26 families during the mob's heyday in the 1950s, stretching from Boston, Providence, Buffalo, and Philadelphia through Al Capone's Chicago Outfit to Hollywood and "Bugsy" Siegel's new frontier in Las Vegas; today, the mob is concentrated around New York." (Week Magazine, 2019)