num_pages: 208
description: Dennis E. Hoffman reveals for the 1st time how a handful of private citizens brought Al Capone to justice by outsmarting him rather than outgunning him. Hoffman reconstructs privately sponsored citizen initiatives directed at nailing Capone. These private ventures included prosecuting the gangsters responsible for election crimes during the Pineapple Primary; establishing a crime lab to assist in gang-busting; underwriting the costs of the investigation of the Jake Lingle murder; stigmatizing Capone; &amp; protecting the star witnesses for the prosecution during the pretrial period of Capone’s income tax evasion case.Hoffman effectively debunks the myth that Eliot Ness &amp; the Untouchables defeated Capone by marshaling superior firepower, proving conclusively that the small group of Chicago businessmen triumphed over the gangster because of their affluence, fortitude, creativity &amp; civic pride. Hoffman suggests that because our society is again threatened by illegal drugs, gangs &amp; widespread violence, it's important for us to remember that the organized crime &amp; political corruption of Prohibition-era Chicago were checked thru the efforts of private citizens.
language: English
title: Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone
titlecomplete: Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone
ratings_count: 15
publisher: Southern Illinois University Press (Carbondale/Edwardsville)