Bureau of Prohibition, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Chicago belonged entirely to Al Capone. The collective force of 3,000 police and 300 prohibition agents failed to bring down Capone’s empire. The lack of prohibition convictions in a city as “wet” as Chicago only cemented the fact that Capone was buying protection from the law.

By 1929, organized crime fully controlled the liquor industry. Assassinations, bombings, firearms violence and corruption were routine; every industry paid tribute, directly or indirectly, to bootleggers and gangsters who had forged such close ties with local authorities that anonymous Prohibition enforcement squads became necessary in some cities. Chicago was one of those cities.