Former Kansas City, Mo., Police Department officer Gary Jenkins will visit Kansas City, Kansas Public Library West Wyandotte Library to discuss his film “Gangland Wire.”
The film showing and discussion will begin at 6:30 pm, Thursday, May 22.
In the 1970s a gangland war broke out over who would control Kansas City’s River Quay entertainment district and the associated casino skimming in Las Vegas. The fight left three buildings bombed and several mobsters dead.
From 1978 through 1980, Jenkins was assigned to the investigation of River Quay. His film documents the rise and fall of the River Quay district, the investigation of which exposed alleged Mafia influence over the Teamsters International Union and Las Vegas casinos. Using audio tape evidence from the investigation, the film allows viewers to hear from the mobsters, themselves, how they were conducting their business.
Jenkins grew up in rural Missouri, the descendant of farmers, teachers, and others who loved the land and its history. His background includes a 25 year career as a police officer in Kansas City, Mo., where he got his first professional experience behind the camera secretly filming La Cosa Nostra members. He was a detective and sergeant in the Organized Crime Intelligence Unit for 13 years.
The public is invited to this program at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 22. The library is located at 1737 N. 82nd St., Kansas City, Kan.