Indeed there has been quite a range in the estimates over the past 10 or 15 years. It can be a little confusing when an FBI source in one article will cite 25 members. And another will cite 50 members. The Outfit's membership doesn't seem to be as well covered as the New York families or some others. A few more estimates would include the Chicago Crime Commission, which estimated about 70 members back in 1997. Around 1999 or so, the FBI actually released a list of 47 names to the press that were said to be made Outfit members. And as I have already pointed out, Outfit turncoat Nick Calabrese reportedly identified about 60 made members earlier this decade.

So how do we interpret all this? First, like with estimates of other families, I don't focus too much on any one figure. Rather, I look at them collectively over a given time span and tend to go with the average. Looking at the estimate range over the past decade, one could say the average is about 50. Second, I consider the ongoing mob activity in Chicago, as well as in relation to the estimates and activity of families in other cities.

The Outfit is still recognized as a formally structured, viable organization by law enforcement and there have been more than enough cases over the past decade to show this is the case. There have been at least as much, if not more, mob activity in Chicago as in New England or New Jersey or Philadelphia. And those families still have about 50 members each. So that leads me to believe the current Outfit is probably closer to 50-60 members than 25-30. Heck, what's left of the mob in Detroit still has about 25 members and it has nowhere near the mob activity in Chicago.