Matthew Guariglia is Affiliated Scholar at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, Senior Policy Analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and coeditor of
Policing the “Italian Problem”: Criminality, Racial Difference, and the NYPD Italian Squad, 1903–1909 Available to Purchase
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Published:October 2023
2023. "Policing the “Italian Problem”: Criminality, Racial Difference, and the NYPD Italian Squad, 1903–1909", Police and the Empire City: Race and the Origins of Modern Policing in New York, Matthew Guariglia
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The most successful and enduring example of ethnic policing was the NYPD Italian Squad, which existed in various forms between 1904 and 1910. Under the leadership of detective Joseph Petrosino, the “Sherlock Holmes of Italy,” the department made the squad responsible for solving crimes involving Italian New Yorkers and became a model for other cities across the country. Failure to sustain lasting results against Italian organized crime and increasing anti-Italian prejudice led to the NYPD to consider immigration restrictions and deportation, rather than immigrant detectives, as a solution to immigrant crime.
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