Again, great stuff and thanks.

Regarding the start of the violence towards the policy kings....they enjoyed very lucrative relationship with the Irish, Jewish and Italian mobs for more than two decades mainly because of bringing the black vote and also by paying street tax which at the time meant nothing for the rich policy operators. But I personally think that some of the first conflicts already started during the days of Prohibition and later the Benvenuti bros played a major role in protecting the policy syndicates. Even though they werent Sicilians or Calabrians, still the Benvenutis were millionaires and held a lot of influence both within the Italian political world and population. Thats why the Benvenutis were allegedly free to operate without being "subservient", although I believe they still paid their street tax and the Torrio/Capone used their political connections around the Northwest Side, and vice versa.

So when Ricca became Capone's successor, I dont believe that all of the conflicts with the black policy kings were sanctioned by the Outfit. Yes, Capone's lieutenant Sam Hunt had to place "few" operators in line mainly because they had problems with Cermak and Newberry. In fact, Newberry and Stanton previously belonged to a different mob, until they joined the Capone mob. Guys like Stanton or William White were loose cannons and thats why they were eliminated. Hunts caporegimes around the South Side were Phil D'Andrea and Jake Guzik who in turn both were deeply involved in politics and corruption, and still had the respect and also the control over the black vote.