The Untouchables (law enforcement)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Untouchables, led by Eliot Ness, were a group of eleven law-enforcement agents who sought to enforce Prohibition and take down Al Capone.

After the election of President Herbert Hoover, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon was specifically charged with bringing down Alphonse Capone. The federal government approached the problem by attacking Capone's organization on two fronts. The first front was mounted by criminal investigators of the Treasury's IRS, who would examine the financial records of Capone and his subordinates to see if they could be prosecuted for tax evasion. This unit of IRS agents was headed by Frank Wilson under the close supervision of Elmer Irey.

The second front would consist of a special unit of the Bureau of Prohibition, then a branch of the Department of Justice, who would attack Capone's beer and liquor empire by raiding speakeasies, stills, and, particularly, breweries. Ness was chosen to head this elite squad.

Because corruption was endemic among law-enforcement agents, Ness went through the records of all the Prohibition Agents to create a reliable team, initially of fifty, later reduced to fifteen and finally to just eleven men. Raids against stills and breweries began immediately; within six months, Ness claimed to have seized breweries worth over one million dollars. An extensive wire-tapping operation was the main source of information for the raids.

An attempt by Capone to bribe Ness's agents was seized on by Ness for publicity, leading to the media nickname "The Untouchables". There were a number of assassination attempts on Ness; a close friend of his was killed.

The final group of eleven were:

Martin J. Lahart - Irish sports and fitness enthusiast.
Samuel M. Seager - tough man who had been a death row guard at Sing Sing.
Bernard V. Cloonan - giant muscular, black-haired Irishman.
Lyle Chapman - problem solver and investigator; body and strength of the Colgate University football player he had been.
Thomas Friel - former Pennsylvania state trooper.
Joseph Leeson - legendary genius in the art of tailing someone from an automobile.
Paul W. Robsky - short man, who brought telephone expertise and extraordinary courage to the job.
Michael King - special talent for absorbing and analyzing facts.
William Gardner - former professional football player of Native American descent. In his mid-forties, Gardner was the oldest member of the group.
Jim Seeley - former private investigator.
Albert H. Wolff - transferred to Chicago from the Kentucky hills shortly after the St. Valentine's Day massacre.

With the conclusion of the Capone case, "The Untouchables" were disbanded and Ness, in recognition of his work, was promoted to Chief Investigator of the Prohibition Bureau for Chicago.