preview

How Did Al Capone Affect Crime

Better Essays

Al Capone is arguably one of the most notorious and popular gangsters in American crime history. However, Capone is more than the classical gangster stereotype he is so often associated with. Capone was an intelligent criminal that used the environment of America at the time in order to rise to the peak of leadership and power amongst his community of Chicago. Capone’s criminal activities during his reign made impacts on American culture and the United State’s legal system that have lasted to this day.
Capone’s affect on the Volstead Act roots back to before his career beginning with the Prohibition Era, the time of the Volstead Act’s enforcement. Before the Volstead Act was implemented, alcohol was freely distributed across the United States. …show more content…

Instead, Ness decided to hire ten men who he has high trust in and knew were incorruptible. “After Ness refused [Al Capone’s] bribes, a newspaper article called him "Untouchable." The myth of the "Untouchables" was built around this fact” (Hayes and Nikolas). As more men refused to speak to Capone, violent acts emerged as Capone ran out of patience and attempts of murder on Ness’ life occurred at least twice. However, none of this affected Ness and Ness was able to gather enough evidence to shut away Capone because of his sloppiness in his rage against Ness. This is where the FBI was able to step in. Due to the little notoriety of the organization, corruption never entered the organization. When Ness took the role of taking down Capone with his group of “untouchables”, the government began to take notice to the FBI. Thanks to Ness’ actions against Capone, the government realized the FBI had the ability to be untouched by corruption and could face any criminal activities occurring in the country. This was the beginning of government support that elevated the FBI to the position that is seen

Get Access