Word: local
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...officials regard the New Jersey crackdown as the first skirmish in a full-scale war on the Mafia. Said Will Wilson, chief of the department's Criminal Division: "Our overall goal is to demolish the rackets. The first step in curing inner-city problems is to free local government from the control of the rackets...
Efficient and Effective. Few cities are more in need of such a cure than Newark (see box following page). In addition to the federal grand juries, a statewide and a local grand jury are probing organized crime in Newark and elsewhere in New Jersey. Following last week's indictments, the Newark Star-Ledger suggested that it would be in the city's best interests if "those under a cloud of suspicion were to remove themselves from office." The local Chamber of Commerce called for the suspension of all those indicted...
...until the opening of the George Washington Bridge in 1931. New Jersey suited the underworld's needs perfectly. The Hudson River separated its members from the tough law enforcement of New York racketbusters like Fiorello La Guardia, Thomas Dewey and, more recently, Frank Hogan. Neither police forces nor local government had caught up with the state's sudden population growth. To make matters worse, officials were only too eager to accommodate the free-spending gangsters...
...Senator Estes Kefauver's disclosures of widespread gambling in the county, Special Prosecutor Nelson Stamler launched a probe that resulted in indictments against 77 people, including two police chiefs. To nobody's surprise, Stamler soon was replaced. One reason the reform efforts failed may well be that local political bosses, many of them thoroughly venal, enjoy virtual veto power over the appointment of county judges and prosecutors...
Close to 300,000 New Jersey residents leave the state every day to work in New York City, and nearly 50,000 more commute to Philadelphia. Many of them regard the state as a bedroom and take no interest in state or local government. Among those who are active in local affairs, many are only too willing to coexist with La Cosa Nostra. Mafiosi who can assure peace with labor unions are often respected members of the community. Many otherwise solid citizens seek them out as friends; they either refuse to believe that the Mafia exists or find it exciting...