Translated simply omertà means “manliness.” It is not manly to be an informer, to tattle to the law or outsiders.
Omertà is often thought to apply only to the upper echelon of organized crime. Yet these ranks inform regularly—when it suits their purpose. However, the code of silence is enforced with regard to underlings. A man who sings or squeals is a rat. Rats get killed. Thus many a bullet-riddled hood dies coughing up blood but refusing to tell the law who has gunned him down. Underworld underlings are required to go like “men” and rely on their colleagues to avenge their deaths.
There is a reason besides self-preservation that causes Mafia leaders to enforce omertà. When hoods refuse to talk, it is a way of telling victims and witnesses that they too are bound by omertà. If they talk, they can expect the same end.
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Omertà goes back to the birth of the Mafia in Sicily in the 13th century when the Mafia was organized to drive out the Spanish invaders. As the Mafia turned criminal, it did precisely what the Spanish had done—terrorize the people, hire out to large landowners who wanted to cow the farmers. The Mafia was ready to kill and it was protected by the code of omertà.
The rule of silence, the real power of omertà that the Mafia brought to America, sealed the lips of victims and witnesses. Going to the police was the cardinal sin. Hapless immigrants could do nothing but silently accept the terror of the Mafia and various Black Hand extortionists. A minor violation of omertà could result in a slit tongue; a major violation, a slit throat of either the offender or a member of his family.
Omertà is strictly for victims, witnesses or lowerlevel mafiosi. The higher-ups think nothing of “ratting” to police to get rid of competition. The cops would take care of the competition and the cunning mafiosi stepped in to fill the void. Lower-grade drug dealers involved with the Mafia are stupid if they believe omertà protects them.
The Mafia often operates with police protection but realizes it must reward corrupt officers with more than mere money. The police must be allowed to look brave and efficient, so mafiosi feed them a dealer, allowing them to make a spectacular pinch now and then to placate public opinion. And omertà be damned.
Because higher-up mafiosi make a mockery of omertà, the code has virtually collapsed within the Mafia. Because of that the federal government now has close to 1,000 informers, including scores of Mafia men of the Valachi stripe, under its wing. As Vinnie Teresa, one of the most productive informers of all, put it: “But looking back on my life with the Mafia members, I realize now that omerta—the code—was just a lot of bullshit.”
