I always thought you had to clip somebody to get in, it was a way of them having trust in you. when joe pistone [Donnie brasco ] was undercover. the fbi had to pull him out, because they wanted him to whack a guy, and then they were going to make him.

being an fbi agent he could not murder anyone, so, in the bonnanos he had to hit a guy before he was made. it seems like you had to "make your bones" in the old days. now, who knows.