Gangsters and crimes of the 1930s had a great impact then on the years to come. Crimes during that time consisted of many robberies, assaults, and much more. Gangsters and criminals committed a variety of illegal activities that occurred at a lot of locations. These crimes helped change our way of security these days.

While things were getting more upsetting due to the Great Depression, crime rate increased. In the midst of 1933, the murder count was around 9.7 for each 100,000 individuals. (“Crime in the Great Depression”). There wasn’t as much money and the amount of jobs were decreasing. Illegal sales, known as “bootlegging” took place. Of course, there were murders, robberies, and other varieties of crime happening. Murder was at very dangerous rates during this decade. There were many shootings between criminals and FBI agents, which resulted in an extreme amount of people dead. Robberies weren’t as dangerous compared to murders but the idea of them occurring was at dangerously high level. Alcohol was big for illegally selling due to the restrictions that were put on it. In movies and plays, criminals were displayed as brave, bold heroes. In The Public Enemy and Little Caesar, they made people look up to them, instead of thinking lowly of them. A big reason for this was the 18th Amendment. Around the 1920s, federal teams spotted around 1,300 gangs. The numbers kept increasing through the early 1930s. Mafias were created and close to the end of the Prohibition in 1933, people turned themselves into prostitutes, an attempt to earn money doing that harsh time. Tax evasion and drug selling was encouraged in the midst of this age as well (History.com Editors). In many areas over the United States, such as Washington, crime was exceeding previous records of crime. According to some records, around ⅖ of the population had issues with paying off their mortgages. During this problem, about 1,300 governments were incapable of handing out payments. This was a big issue because 7/25 of the members of a home didn’t include a person who was making money (Latzer). Due to all of the desperation for money, many crimes took place in the 1930s but luckily, the 1933 Prohibition ended and men were being sent to work at locations that needed help with their surroundings. This did increase the amount of jobs people could have and it helped the crime rate lower (Lawrence).

There were many famous criminals that were known for their misdeeds. Al Capone was one of the biggest crime makers. As a young boy, there weren’t any signs of the wanting to kill people. Unfortunately around middle school, his academics and attitude went down. When he was older, he killed around 7 people. He also got the name “Scarface” when a man cut his face after he said an inappropriate joke to a lady. Three scars remained after that incident, resulting in him having that nickname. In 1934, he was caught and sent to Alcatraz with a 6 ½ year sentence. His experiences inspired many film producers to create movies based on his escape attempts. He had some illnesses when growing up that manifested while he got older. He spent the remaining days of his life in a hospital for mental issues and he passed from a heart failure, yet he still inspires people of his great criminal plans. Along with Al Capone, many other people committed crimes (History.com Editors). A famous kidnapping took place during 1932 when Lindbergh’s very young son disappeared. A letter demanding for money was written and resulted in not being very specific. An acquaintance traced the letter and discovered a mysterious man who was in a cemetery.. He sent them to go to an area by Elizabeth Island. Later on a truck driver found a corpse that looked like a baby boy. This turned out to be his son and he was located on a road close to the Lindbergh house. Further research was done and they traced a man who hid the same amount of ransom money they owed in his garage. They arrested Richard Hauptmann for murder. There were chances of him being innocent of the crime but it would still be logical because he committed other crimes in his life that he didn’t spend yet (Denenberg).John Dillinger was a person who robbed numerous banks. People enthused about his one hilarious way of escape. He carved a bar of soap to look like a gun and everyone was afraid of him, resulting in his successful escape. Around 1934, an escort with a red dress on, known as the “woman in red” found out his identity before the FBI shot him down. “Baby Face” Nelson was a short and young-looking gangster. He was popular due to having an alliance with John Dillinger. With John, he would steal from banks. The two were a great crime-committing team together. Coincidently, he died from being shot at by federal groups in 1934. Along with depressing events, there was a strong love between two people. They are known as Bonnie and Clyde. They worked hard together in the state of Texas. Hey stole a lot of money and murdered several citizens, including around 9 officers. They were chased and executed in Louisiana. This is a tragic story, but for the future years, they were known as a dedicated couple.  Low income was bad during that time. In fact, some criminals were honored by stealing money to give to some people. “Pretty Boy” Floyd did the exact thing and people never thought of him as a gangster but as a hero for messing up mortgage papers. Like the other gangsters, he was shot by the FBI. “Matching Gun” Kelly kidnapped many people. The nickname resulted from the machine gun being his favorite weapon that he used. He was caught in Tennessee in 1933 and died from a heart attack later on. Alvin “Old Creepy” Karpis was given that nickname by his unsettling smile that scared some people. He spent 26 years in Alcatraz, which was the longest stay recorded at that time. He died in Spain after many decades and was known to be in the Barker Gang. The Barker Gang was a notorious group that committed countless forms of crime. Ma Barker, the mother of many individuals found in the Barker Gang, was rumored to be the merciless leader of the group. They say that she was controlling and mean to her children, although this isn’t truly proven, it’s an idea that could’ve been possible. Due to all of these criminals, the FBI was allowed to equip weapons to guard themselves. They put up their defenses and were strongly trying to rid the world of their deeds (John Jay College of Criminal Justice).

Locations changed the way of how crime was done. In the beginning of the 1930s, a giant amount of people moved to the West. Many crimes were done in banks, which inspired people to find ways of keeping robbers out. Factors that aided in theft were quiet alarms, exploding dye packs, and the lack of cameras used for security (Crime Museum). A dangerous way of protection was when a bank in Seattle tried to use tear gas after it was robbed of $5,000 dollars. Not only did it affect those who attempted to steal from it, but workers were open to it too. Big areas, such as cities, were robbed more than small towns. Locations of murders were at very ambiguous places. The remains of the people were also placed in questionable spots, such as when a murdered person was located in a canvas sea bag that was discovered close to Lake Union A murdered person was located in a canvas sea bag that was discovered close to Lake Union (Lawrence). Some were left in ravines and in homes. Prisons had big fights that often ended with injuries (Donatelli). Just like casual homes, murders were committed on quiet farms. These incidents resulted in various forms of protection including: locks, alarms, protective fencing, and police watches (Amelinckx).

Therefore, people and recorded crimes changed our futures. Whether they are notorious or small, each gangster played a part of our history. The locations that incidents took place inspired us to forward our concern of safety. Without these events featured in the 1930s, we would still have a dangerous level of crime rates and we wouldn’t be as safe as we are today.

Works Cited

1. Amelinckx, Andrew. “Death on a Dairy Farm: This Murder Case from 1930 Is Still Unsolved.”
2. Modern Farmer Media, 2017, modernfarmer.com/2017/10/death-dairy-farm-family-murdered-1930-still-unsolved/ Accessed 14 March 2019.
3. Crime Museum. “History of Bank Robberies.” Crime Museum. Crime Museum, 2017,www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/robberies/history-of-bank-robberies/. Accessed 12 March 2019.
4. Denenberg, Barry. “American Hero.” Self Contained. Bida, Angela, Scholastic Inc., April 1996, pp. 123-176. Parisi, B. Elizabeth, Kurosz, Thompson Deborah, Accessed 12 March 2019.
5. Donatelli, Joe. “The Locations of L.A.’s 100 Most Memorable Crimes by Neighborhood.” Los Angeles Magazine, 2018, www.lamag.com/culture files/crimes-los-angeles-history/. Accessed 13 March 2019.
6. History.com Editors. “Al Capone.” 20 September 2018, HISTORY. A&E Television Networks, 14 October 2019, www.history.com/topics/crime/al-capone. Accessed 07 March 2019.
7. “Crime in the Great Depression.” 21 August 2018, HISTORY. A&E Television Networks, 08 March 2018, www.history.com/topics/great-depression/crime-in-the-great-depression. Accessed 07 March 2019.
8. John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “American History: The Great Depression: Gangsters and G-Men.” 05 March 2019, Lloyd Sealy Library. guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/thegreatdepression. Accessed 11 March 2019.
9. Latzer, Barry. “Do hard times spark more crime?” Los Angeles Times. 24 January 2014, www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-latzer-crime-economy-20140124-story.html. Accessed 08 March 2019.
10. Lawrence, Sarah. “Murders, Gambling, and Suicides: Crime in Seattle during the Depression.”
11. Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights Projects University of Washington, Sarah Lawrence HSTAA 105, 2010 depts.washington.edu/depress/crime_seattle_great_depression.shtml. Accessed 12 March 2019.