Between 1906-1909, NYPD Lieutenant Joe Petrosino heads the 'Italian Squad' and tries to stamp out organized crime from the city, often times amid assassination attempts by the Mafia.

Movie deals with organized crime "protection" rackets. Small shopkeepers are forced to pay for protection or else be brutalized or killed.—<[email protected]>

The true story of Det. Joe Petrosino, a young Italian detective in the NYPD who investigated the Black Hand, precursor of the Mafia, at the height of their power. To counter extortion terrorism, Petrosino (who was actually murdered in Sicily during his investigation) forms America's first police bomb squad (as bombs figured heavily into the tactics of the Black Hand).—Emperor Palpatine