When it came to organized crime, Kansas City once ranked with Chicago, New York, and some of the grittier areas of New Jersey – posing a rather perplexing chapter in our city’s history. Does that give us bragging rights? Or should it be our dirty little secret?

The Kansas City Star joined authorities in tracking the activities of the local mob from the time of its rise in the early 20th century, archiving police reports, mugshots, and other records. A trove of those materials, newly uncovered, were donated to Library’s Missouri Valley Special Collections in 2016.

Retired FBI agent William Ouseley, who spent two decades investigating and prosecuting organized crime figures, sits down with KCPT-Kansas City PBS editor Jonathan Bender for a discussion of the city’s gangland past and the investigative techniques used by reporters and law officers to expose illicit activities.