"Sgt. Willie Burns had a Tommy gun on the bench in front of him when his 18 handpicked candidates arrived at the 77th Street station on the edge of Watts. It was a cool evening in November 1946, and the men came in topcoats and hats. Burns wore his low, almost over his eyes, like the bad guys. Years later, he told a grand jury:"
"If they joined the Gangster Squad, their targets would be the likes of Bugsy Siegel, the playboy refugee from New York's Murder Inc., and Jack Dragna, the Sicilian banana importer who quietly lorded over the city's rackets. Then there was Mickey Cohen, the dapper former prizefighter who had come to town as Bugsy's muscle but soon had his own cafe on North La Brea and a "paint store" nearby with three phones to take bets."
Sgt. Willie Burns assembled 18 handpicked LAPD officers at the 77th Street station in November 1946 and displayed a Thompson submachine gun to them. He instructed that if they joined the Gangster Squad, their targets would include Bugsy Siegel, Jack Dragna and Mickey Cohen. The unit would remain listed at members' regular stations but operate with no office, two unmarked cars, and minimal arrests, focusing on intelligence gathering and other covert duties. The recruitment followed several mob killings and a high-profile "Gangsters in Gambling War" headline. Burns framed the mission as suppressing gangster killings and controlling violent racketeers.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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