Crime
The 1920s was a time of great criminal activity. The Prohibition amendment had just been passed and organized crime like gangsters were coming to power. People were constantly defying the amendment and were drinking and selling alcohol leading to more arrests to be made. However even the the police force would drink alcohol and did not have the power to stop the crime that was coming to power trying to control the big cities. Violence would also break out on the streets whether they should or should not have the prohibition amendment. In the very end of the decade in 1929 the Great Depression strikes bring even more crime. People are fighting over jobs struggling to make enough money to put food on the table and they will try to get that job at any cost.
Gangsters
In the decade of the twenties formed the more modern gangster we now today. These gangsters controlled liquor sales, gambling, and prostitution. They usually wore silk suits and diamond
rings while having guns on them. Some of the famous gangsters were Al Capone, Vito Genovese, Dutch Schultz, Jack "Legs"
Diamond, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, John Dillinger, and Bugsy Siegel. The difference between gangsters today and the 1920s are the crimes that were committed had to do with business practices. Most of the time they were determined to get their way at all costs.
Al Capone
The 1920s brought rise to one of the most famous gangsters in American history, Al Capone. In 1920, Capone had just became a lieutenant in the Colosimo mob in Chicago. With the passage of the prohibition amendment, Capone and his fellow gangster, John Torrio, decided to take advantage making millions off of selling illegal alcohol to people throughout the United States. By 1925, he became the leader of the Colosimo mob later named the Capone mob. At this time, Al Capone gained a reputation for being ruthless to people and other gangs. This ruthlessness was shown on 1929 in the St. Valentines Day Massacre. Seven members of another mob were pinned against a wall where the members from Capone's Gang used machine guns to kill them while posing as police.
Police Work
As policemen in the 1920s they were stationed on foot. They would usually patrol certain streets and the arrests they usually made were on a drunk person. About every two week they had to arrest someone, so there wasn't major crimes being committed. However later into the decade the police started feel the affects of the prohibition law and the gangs that the law brought with it. This would lead to a hard fought battle in the decade and decades to come. Police detectives would be shot and killed by gangs members and led to other violence that the police weren't able to control.
Thinking Like a Historian: Cause and Effect
After the passage of the 18th amendment, alcohol was made illegal. This cause lead to the illegal selling of bootlegger by gangs. These gangs ended up making million of the sale illegal alcohol letting them rise to power. This power would create many problems in the future due to the crimes that they will commit like murder and theft.
