It seems to me that Italian gangsters - and their Catholicism? - makes them far nicer than many OC criminals and gangsters.
Some OC organizations are nothing more than animals or gorillas who only understand pain and violence. By comparison, the Italians seem to 'keep their cool' and fly beneath the radar or underneath the cover of darkness entirely.
That's just a thought. It isn't rare to come across a career criminal - regardless of ethnicity or background - that acts amicable. Many, especially the reasonably "successful" ones, are polite enough. Until you give them a reason not to be polite, which doesn't even mean that you disrespected them. If you can be useful in any way, but you don't allow your usefulness to be easily exploited, the perceived politeness can quickly make way for some less pleasant tendencies. Things like these only really happen when you're in too deep with them already; casual talk won't get this far.
Italian gangsters aren't any different from any other kind of gangsters and can turn savage as quick as the other.
