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Organized Crime in the ‘20s

Prohibition brought with it an upswing in the influence of criminal organizations throughout the United States.  Much popular culture associates these gangs almost exclusively with the immigrant versions of the Sicilian Mafia.  While Italian mobsters certainly played a central role in American criminal activity during the ‘20s, they by no means had a monopoly on illegal activity.  Moreover, the centrally organized “Syndicate” model of organized crime popularized in many contemporary films had not yet emerged (although New York mobsters like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Frank Costello were laying the groundwork).  In short, organized crime in the ‘20s was both more diverse and more local than most pop culture depicts.

Most immigrant communities developed some sort of organized criminal activity, and Los Angeles, was no different.  In addition to Italian mobsters, there were Irish, Jewish, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese and African-American gangs in various ethnic neighborhoods of Los Angeles.  Each gang had its base in the illegal activities of their respective communities, but bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, pornography, etc. offered ambitious criminals avenues to widen their influence to the city at large. 

Of particular interest to many characters in the game would be the attempts by various gangsters to extend their influence into the growing film industry through the avenue of unions for technical and production workers such as carpenters and electricians who were crucial to the smooth running of productions and studios.

Finally, it is important to bear in mind that the most widespread and lucrative criminal activity in Los Angeles was carried on, not by ethnic gangs, but by the supposedly upstanding members of the city’s economic and political upper class, which in the ‘20s was still largely WASP.  Los Angeles has a long history of political corruption, from the Owens Valley Aqueduct project to the various corrupt mayoral administrations and the LAPD.  Those involved in such corruption would probably have taken great umbrage at being identified as organized criminals, but the network of bribery, graft, and favoritism that guided all aspects of city governance, such as the conduct of the police, the awarding of city contracts, the location of public works projects, etc. was perhaps the most lucrative illicit activity in Los Angeles during the ‘20s.