FBI recognition that a representative Commission settled disputes among U.S. Mafia organizations was an important moment in law enforcement's war against organized crime.
While crime families often maintained separate racket interests and territories, the Commission formed by mafiosi late in 1931 was clear evidence of formal interfamily cooperation within a nationwide criminal syndicate. FBI's discovery of the Commission must have been eye-opening. Unfortunately, there remains some uncertainty over precisely when and how that discovery occurred.
I recently exchanged some texts on this subject with historian David Critchley (The Origin of Organized Crime in America). He pointed to an occasion in October of 1959, when the Chicago office of J. Edgar Hoover's Bureau set down in a written report some irresistible information on the Commission. What made the data most compelling was its origin, as discussed in the opening synopsis of the report:
[Sam] Giancana and Anthony Accardo held a conference in Chicago on 9/8/1959 at which time it was disclosed that Giancana is a member of a 12 man “Commission” which appears to be interstate in character and is composed of nationally known hoodlums namely Joe Profaci, Vito Genovese, Thomas Luchese, Joe Zerilli, Joseph Bonanno, Steve Magaddino, John La Rocca.[1]
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