Just another day in Chicago

We’ve always maintained that Chicago has a certain affection for its hoodlum elements. In a city with famously corrupt mayors, alderman, policemen, and other members of law enforcement, the predictable and dependable hand of organized crime served as the one constant. With the Outfit, you always knew what you were getting. But outside the Outfit, it’s hard to tell the White Hands from the Black Hands in Chicago.

The Outfit solved the problem of who is corrupt, who is corruptible, and who is clean by using a variety inducements including cash, votes, promotions, or blackmail. Eventually even the clean cops ended up a little dirty. Clean Chicago cops turned a blind eye to their dirty counterparts, with loyalty to each other coming before loyalty to the public.

​Compliant police officers formed the backbone of the Outfit’s ability to work the City of Chicago for decades with barely a murmur from the authorities. Since its earliest days, the Outfit could count on its army of policemen on monthly stipends for tip-offs ahead of raids. One police captain, post-retirement, earned an extra pension by serving as a chauffeur for Joe Accardo. Some worked as bodyguards for the people they used to try to arrest. Some went to work for the Outfit using their marksman skills as hit men. They might sell other expertise – the police wiretap expert might tap wires for the other side, for pay.  Hey, everybody has to make a living.