The Insane Chicago Way: The Daring Plan By Chicago Gangs To Create A Spanish Mafia
by John M. Hagedorn /
2015 / English / PDF
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The Insane Chicago Way
The Insane Chicago Way is the untold story of a
daring plan by Chicago gangs in the 1990s to create a Spanish
Mafia—and why it failed. John M. Hagedorn traces how Chicago
Latino gang leaders, following in Al Capone’s footsteps, built a
sophisticated organization dedicated to organizing crime and
reducing violence. His lively stories of extensive
cross-neighborhood gang organization, tales of police/gang
corruption, and discovery of covert gang connections to Chicago’s
Mafia challenge conventional wisdom and offer lessons for the
control of violence today.
is the untold story of a
daring plan by Chicago gangs in the 1990s to create a Spanish
Mafia—and why it failed. John M. Hagedorn traces how Chicago
Latino gang leaders, following in Al Capone’s footsteps, built a
sophisticated organization dedicated to organizing crime and
reducing violence. His lively stories of extensive
cross-neighborhood gang organization, tales of police/gang
corruption, and discovery of covert gang connections to Chicago’s
Mafia challenge conventional wisdom and offer lessons for the
control of violence today.
The book centers on the secret history of Spanish Growth &
Development (SGD)—an organization of Latino gangs founded in 1989
and modeled on the Mafia’s nationwide Commission. It also tells a
story within a story of the criminal exploits of the C-Note$, the
“minor league” team of the Chicago’s Mafia (called the “Outfit”),
which influenced the direction of SGD. Hagedorn’s tale is based
on three years of interviews with an Outfit soldier as well as
access to SGD’s constitution and other secret documents, which he
supplements with interviews of key SGD leaders, court records,
and newspaper accounts. The result is a stunning, heretofore
unknown history of the grand ambitions of Chicago gang leaders
that ultimately led to SGD’s shocking collapse in a pool of blood
on the steps of a gang-organized peace conference.
The book centers on the secret history of Spanish Growth &
Development (SGD)—an organization of Latino gangs founded in 1989
and modeled on the Mafia’s nationwide Commission. It also tells a
story within a story of the criminal exploits of the C-Note$, the
“minor league” team of the Chicago’s Mafia (called the “Outfit”),
which influenced the direction of SGD. Hagedorn’s tale is based
on three years of interviews with an Outfit soldier as well as
access to SGD’s constitution and other secret documents, which he
supplements with interviews of key SGD leaders, court records,
and newspaper accounts. The result is a stunning, heretofore
unknown history of the grand ambitions of Chicago gang leaders
that ultimately led to SGD’s shocking collapse in a pool of blood
on the steps of a gang-organized peace conference.The Insane Chicago Way
The Insane Chicago Wayis a compelling history of the
lives and deaths of Chicago gang leaders. At the same time it is
a sociological tour de force that warns of the dangers of
organized crime while arguing that today’s relative
disorganization of gangs presents opportunities for intervention
and reductions in violence.
is a compelling history of the
lives and deaths of Chicago gang leaders. At the same time it is
a sociological tour de force that warns of the dangers of
organized crime while arguing that today’s relative
disorganization of gangs presents opportunities for intervention
and reductions in violence.