Criticism
Ness was not discouraged when faced with opposition/criticism: "[Police] dismissals produced immediate newspaper furor. Denunciations flowed from some high-ranking police officials, but Ness stood his ground. 'It's this simple,' Ness told a reporter. 'Either we have a decent, law-abiding community, or we don't. These men don't fit.'" - Kenneth Tucker, Eliot Ness and the Untouchables: The Historical Reality and the Film and Television Depictions, 2012.
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Negativity from the public: "The smile faded from Reilly's face, and he shook hands coolly and impersonally. 'Oh,' he said shortly. 'A prohibition agent, huh?' There was a world of unspoken criticism and barely concealed disdain behind those few words." - Eliot Ness, The Untouchables, 1957.
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Privacy Infringements
"Wiretapping was the principal source of gathering data by police during prohibition... Wiretapping and other forms of electronic surveillance became big business as manufacturing concerns produced more elaborate and efficient means of eavesdropping." - Elder Willie, Electronic Surveillance, Unlawful Invasion of Privacy or Justifiable Law Enforcement, 2016.
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"The Federal government is to provide for the 'common defense' of the nation. Conducting counterespionage... are an important part of meeting these responsibilities... Wiretapping in particular has existed in a twilight zone of legality for most of its history." - Bernard Spindel & Bill Davidson, Collier's, 1955
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