Bill Chambliss, On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents

Authors

Gary W. Potter, Eastern Kentucky University

Abstract

"On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents (first published in 1978) was the product of seven years (1962-1969) of observational research in Seattle, Washington (Chambliss, 1988). Chambliss used his background in law and sociology to interpret the things he saw and the stories he heard on Seattle’s skid row. He gained entrée into Seattle’s underworld by posing as an itinerant truck driver. Outfitted in old, worn shirts, khaki slacks and with bearded stubble on his face, he interacted with the bottom echelon of Seattle’s crime entrepreneurs–bar owners, illegal card room and bingo operators, street-level drug dealers and prostitutes. His research demonstrated an important lesson for students of organized crime. Because organized crime relies on public participation of customers and players, it is often open, public, and easily accessible. As others have discovered, entrée is easily achieved, whether as an out of work truck driver, a gambler, a patron of deviant places, or even a casual customer. After several years at bottom of the organized crime pyramid, Chambliss gained introductions to businessmen, journalists, politicians and the police. At that level he discovered the real operatives controlling and directing illicit enterprise in American cities."

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Potter, Gary W. (2014) "Bill Chambliss, On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 11.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol2/iss2/11