One of the biggest and most well-known gangsters, Al Capone, was often seen as the symbol of evil and corruption in the 1920s when he operated. Born January 17, 1899, and raised in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Capone worked his way up from a small street gang to being one of the most feared mob leaders in American history. With his monumental impact on crime and life, many criminologists began seeking more into his actions and their influences. Al Capone’s behavior is explained by several criminology theories, providing insight into how future criminals can be brought to justice and prevent future crimes. Foremost, the Prohibition era resulted in an enormous increase in criminal actions and behaviors, of which Al Capone was a part. …show more content…
One of these strategies is bringing in criminals for any small thing they might have done to break the law when there is not enough evidence to bring them in for their true crime. This was instrumental in bringing down Capone as it was his tax records, not his crimes, that resulted in him being jailed. Police officers continue this process today against criminals by “using an Al Capone sort of approach where we will target them for their criminality, whether it be not having a television licence or car insurance, or up to supplying Class A drugs” (Moore-Bridger, 2011). Strategies used to obtain Al Capone are used on modern-day criminals and have taught law enforcement new ways to accomplish their job and bring about justice. Additionally, the power of Capone made the government realize how little they knew about these criminal organizations and resulted in more investigation into how they operated. Many attempts were made with limited success but the Kefauver Committee was one of the first major groups that helped start the investigation of organized crime. Eventually, the need for more research grew and President Reagon created the President’s Commission to increase their knowledge of organized crime by developing “a contingency model that highlighted levels of involvement of members and nonmembers” (Schram & Tibbetts, 2021, p.369). By helping to identify criminal groups, protectors, specialized support, user support, and social support, policies could be made to deter crime. While the change in time creates a new need for investigation of how crime operates, especially with cyber crimes, it allows for the government to target specific areas, doing so resulting in other areas not operating as well. The above theories behind Al Capone’s behavior could also help the government address crime in policy