"Italian
American Crime Fighters"
New Study from Sons of Italy
Press
Contact: Kylie Cafiero, (202) 547-2900 kcafiero@osia.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. - August
10, 2005 The pivotal role that
Italian Americans have played since
the 19th century in enforcing the law
is the subject of a new study from
the Commission for Social Justice (CSJ),
the anti-defamation arm of the Order
Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the
oldest and largest Italian American
organization in the United States.
 Italian
American Crime Fighters: A Brief Survey tracks Italian American men and women
at federal, state and local levels, working
as police officers, detectives, criminal
prosecutors, district attorneys, U.S.
attorney generals and federal judges.
The 2005 report is an expanded update
of the CSJ's 2004 study.
Among those featured
are the respected lawman and presidential
body guard Richard Hart, who was Al Capone's
brother; Charles Bonaparte, the founder
of the FBI and Nancy Jardini, the IRS's
"top cop."
A new section of the report profiles Italian American
undercover agents who risk their lives infiltrating crime
networks.
These include Joseph Pistone who went undercover as "Donnie Brasco;"
David Toma who was the real-life "Baretta"
of the famous TV series; and Frank Serpico who blew the whistle on police corruption
in the 1970s.
The report includes such
little-known statistics as the fact
that:
• Four
of every ten New York City police officers are
of Italian descent;
• Only 5% of the 477 criminals on the FBI's Most
Wanted List have been Italian American.
• The U. S. Department of Justice estimates less than .0025 or one-quarter
of one percent of today's estimated 26 million Italian Americans are involved
in criminal activities.
"What
astonishes us is the fact that despite an impressive,
century-old record of law enforcement, Italian Americans are routinely depicted
as thugs and crime bosses instead of detectives and police officers on nearly
all prime time police dramas on both broadcast and cable television," says
CSJ President Albert DeNapoli, Esq.
"These crime-slanted portrayals reveal
the ethnic profiling of Italian Americans rampant
in the U.S. entertainment industry today despite
the factual evidence to the contrary that this report
dramatically documents," he says.
Italian American
Crime Fighters: A Brief Survey can be downloaded at www.osia.org at "Studies
in Culture." To download, click
here.
For a free printed copy, send stamped ($1.29),
self-addressed 9 x 12 envelope to CSJ Crime Fighters Report, Order
Sons of Italy, 219 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002.
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