The cop and the mob: Joe Petrosino against the Mafia in the United States and Italy during the Progressive Era

This article reconstructs the clash between local police and Italian crime in New York during the Progressive Era. During the 1900s the Black Hand organized crime began to blackmail Italian businesses and, to counter this felony, the New York Police Department decided to establish Detective Joseph Petrosino's Italian Squad. The clash between Petrosino and the Black Hand lasted until 1909, when the officer was killed in Palermo. However, the death of the Italian American detective led to the conviction of the alleged contract murderers and, finally, to the end of the Black Hand in the early 1910s.