Fighting Crime in Chicago: The Crime Commission

Abstract

The general sentiment of the community with reference to crime in Chicago brought about the appointment of the Chicago Crime Commission and later appeared in the several attempted protests by grand juries. It is apparent from various occurrences that there is an insistent demand on the part of the public for action that will reduce the volume of crime in Chicago. Immediately following the Winslow Brothers payroll robbery in 1917, when armed robbers held up the business office of a large concern in the middle of a busy day and robbed and murdered, the attention of the Chicago Association of Commerce was directed to the necessity for taking steps to curb crimes of violence, with the result that that association appointed a special committee to ascertain what, if anything, the business interests of Chicago could do to remedy conditions. One of the members of that committee was the late Joseph W. Moses, at that time president of the Chicago Bar Association. Following an exhaustive study extending over a period of nearly a year, that special committee submitted a report recommending the f'organization under the guidance and direction of the Chicago Association of Commerce of a commission for the suppression and prevention of The present Crime Commission, consisting of upwards of one hundred members selected by the Association of Commerce, and serving without compensation, is the result of that report. The Commission, thus organized, does not contemplate itself the apprehension of law breakers nor the prosecution of criminals; nor does it propose to duplicate the work of any department of the state or city government. It is an organization of lawyers and business men who are applying business methods to combat organized crime. It proposes, by observation and investigation, to find out why crime flourishes and criminals escape. While the Commission realizes that it is not possible entirely to eliminate crime in a city of this size, it nevertheless believes that it is possible to minimize it. The report adopted by the Association of Commerce estimated the cost of the undertaking at approximately $10,00p per month, and