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Historical Roots of Police Behavior: Chicago, 1890-1925

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2024

Mark H. Haller
Mark H. Haller*
Affiliation:
Temple University
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In order to understand patterns of police behavior in American cities at the turn of the century, it is important to grasp a crucial fact: the police, although they were formally engaged in law enforcement, were little oriented toward legal norms. As late as 1900, when Chicago's police department numbered 3,225 men, there was no organized training. New policemen heard a brief speech from a high-ranking officer, received a hickory club, a whistle, and a key to the call box, and were sent out on the street to work with an experienced officer. Not only were policemen untrained in law, but they operated within a criminal justice system that generally placed little emphasis upon legal procedure. Most of those arrested by the police were tried before local police justices, who rarely had legal training. Those arrested seldom had attorneys, so that no legal defense was made. Thus, there were few mechanisms for introducing legal norms into the street experiences and crime control activities of policemen.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 10 , Issue 2: Essays in Honor of J. Willard Hurst: Part II , January 1976 , pp. 303 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © 1976 The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

*

I wish to thank the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice in the Law School of the University of Chicago for support that has made possible my research into the history of crime and criminal justice and to thank especially Norval Morris, Hans Mattick, and Franklin E. Zimring for their assistance and encouragement. A number of scholars, particularly Perry Duis, David R. Johnson, and Wilbur R. Miller, strengthened this article by their comments and criticisms.

References

1. See, for instance, Mark H. Haller, “Urban Crime and Criminal Justice: The Chicago Case,” 57 J. Am. Hist. 619-635 (1970).

2. For size, see Report of the General Superintendent of Police … for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 1900 (1901). Newspaper reports on induction of new policemen in Chicago Daily News, May 4, 1905; Chicago Record-Herald, March 20, 1906; and Chicago Tribune, November 3, 1906. Most newspaper stories in the period 1904 to 1908 are taken from the Herman F. Schuettler Scrapbooks (2 Vols.), Chicago Historical Society.

3. This has been argued by Wilbur R. Miller in an important article, “Police Authority in London and New York City, 1830-1870,” 8 J. Soc. Hist. 81-95 (1975).

4. For founding of Chicago police, see John J. Flinn, History of the Chicago Police (1887; republ. Montclair, N.J., 1973), hereinafter Flinn, Chicago Police; also an excellent unpublished study by David R Johnson, “Policing the Underworld, 1800-1885: An Experiment in Democratic Crime Control” (1975).

5. These are my computations based on nearly 1,100 biographical sketches in Flinn, Chicago Police at chs. 19 & 23-28. Ethnic figures for Chicago from U.S. Bureau of the Census, Compendium of the Eleventh Census: 1890 Part III, 75, 83 (1897).

6. Record-Herald, April 3, 1908; Juvenile Protection Association, The Colored People of Chicago (1913).

7. Flinn, Chicago Police; Record-Herald, Oct. 27, 1906.

8. Humbert S. Nelli, Italians in Chicago, 1880-1930: A Study in Ethnic Mobility ch. 5 (1970) and Chicago Daily News, Nov. 21, 1907. For Jewish detectives working with Jewish criminals, see various investigative reports in Charles E. Merriam papers, Univ. of Chicago Library, including Report of Investigator Friedner, Nov. 20, 1914, and Report of No. 100, Nov. 12, 1914, and other reports in Box 88, folder 6. During a city council committee investigation of corruption, headed by Merriam, investigators were hired to hang out in the underworld and prepare daily reports. These reports are invaluable in providing a picture of police/criminal interaction.

9. For discussion of training, see Alexander R. Piper, Report on Police Discipline and Administration 13 (City Club of Chicago, Publ. No. 1, 1904); Record-Herald, March 20, 1906; Chicago Civil Service Commission, Final Report: Police Investigation 50 (1912); Police Department, City of Chicago, Annual Report 55 (1916); id. (1921-22), at 76; id. (1923) at 51; id. (1925) at 62; Citizens' Police Committee, Chicago Police Problems 79-84 (1931); and Mark H. Haller “Civic Reformers and Police Leadership: Chicago, 1905-1935,” in Harlan Hahn, ed., Police in Urban Society esp. 49-50 (1971).

10. On job security before civil service, see David R. Johnson, “Law Enforcement in Chicago, 1875-1885,” at 16 (unpublished research paper 1968). On introduction of Civil Service, Joseph Bush Kingsbury, Municipal Personnel Policy in Chicago 1895-1915 (Ph.D. dissertation in Political Science, Univ. of Chicago, 1923). On political influence in the department, see Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan, Lords of the Levee: The Story of Bathhouse John and Hinky Dink 165, 175, 181-82, & passim (1943); also Senate Report on the Chicago Police System (1898); and numerous stories in Chicago newspapers.

11. On 1904 election, see Inter-Ocean, April 30, 1904. For other accounts of political activities, see Report of Investigator Thompson, Dec. 22, 1914, and many other reports by investigators in Merriam papers, Box 88, folder 5; Record-Herald, March 26, 1905 & April 29, 1907; Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1905 & April 18, 1907.

12. On call boxes, see Flinn, Chicago Police ch. 20. Police behavior on the beat is discussed in Piper, supra, note 9, esp. at 6-10, 44, and Appendix A and E. For follow-up news stories, see Chicago Tribune, March 21 & 22, 1904.

13. Sigmund Zeisler, “Report of the Committee on the Expediency of Calling a Constitutional Convention,” in Illinois State Bar Association, Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting, Part II, 145-46, (1902); Robert McCurdy, “The Law Providing for a Municipal Court in Chicago,” Illinois State Bar Association, Proceedings … of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting Part II, 82-84 (1906); Albert Lepawsky, The Judicial System of Metropolitan Chicago 99-101, 144-155 (1932).

14. For founding of the Municipal Court, see Herman Kogan, The First Century: The Chicago Bar Association 1874-1974, 110-116 (1974); McCurdy, supra, note 13, at 81-99; Municipal Court of Chicago, First Annual Report … Dec. 3, 1906, to Nov. 30, 1907 (1907). Arrest statistics from Report of the General Superintendent of Police for the years 1906 and 1907; analysis of the statistics in the correspondence of Chief Justice Harry Olson in Municipal Court papers, Chicago Historical Society.

On mass processing and non-legal orientation, see Raymond Moley, “The Municipal Court of Chicago,” Illinois Crime Survey esp. 404-10 (1929); Paul Livingstone Warnshuis, Crime and Criminal Justice among the Mexicans of Illinois, esp. ch. 4 (M.A. thesis Univ. of Chicago, 1930); Herbert S. Futran, The Morals Court of Chicago (typewritten research paper dtd. March 1928), Burgess papers. Nels Anderson in 1922 described a visit to the Municipal Court presided over by Judge Joseph S. LaBuy. The judge ordered that the bull pen be emptied, and some 50 defendants crowded in front of the bench. After making a few jokes, the judge asked how many were working men. Nearly all hands were raised. So the judge asked, “Is there anybody here that is not a working man?” One Polish defendant, who had not understood the question, raised his hand. His case was dismissed for being an honest man. The clerk began to call the names that the defendants had given when arrested but got no answers. When one man finally responded, he was complimented by the judge for remembering his name and his case was dismissed. The judge asked anyone with a dollar to raise his hand— the implication being that they would be fined a dollar. About half the hands went up. The judge then tried one man and fined him $5.00, after which he asked: “How many of you men will go to work?” Every hand was raised. The judge warned, “If I catch any of you back here again I'll give you $'200 and costs,” and dismissed them. More than 50 cases were thus disposed of in less than 30 minutes. See Document 80, Report of Visit to Police Court, Aug. 28, 1922, in Burgess papers.

15. On the background of judges, see Lepawsky, supra, note 13, at ch. 7; also Edward M. Martin, The Role of the Bar in Electing the Bench in Chicago, passim (1936); Judge M.L. McKinley, “Crime and the Civic Cancer—Graft” 6 Chicago Daily News Reprints, 4, 22-23 (1923). For general insight into management of the Municipal Court until 1930, see the extensive Municipal Court papers. On election day activity, see “Reports Concerning the Criminal Court,” Criminal Justice 11 (1930); on assignment of prosecutors, see Samuel E. Pincus to Mayor William E. Dever, Nov. 18, 1924, in William E. Dever papers, Chicago Historical Society, folder 13.

16. Senate Report, supra, note 10, at 21; Franklin Matthews, “Wide-Open Chicago,” 42 Harper's Weekly 90 (1898); William Stead, If Christ Came to Chicago 19-20 (1894).

17. See references in footnote 18.

18. On con men, see Informant B, Special Report, July 28, 1914, Merriam papers, Box 87, folder 4; Informant C, Special Report, Aug. 1, 1914, Merriam papers, Box 87, folder 5. On pickpockets, see Chicago Journal, Oct. 30, 1907; Memorandum from Fletcher Dobyns, Oct. 2, 1914, in Merriam papers, Box 86, folder 2; John Landesco, “The Criminal Underworld of Chicago in the '80's and '90's,” 25 J. Crim. L & Criminology 341-57 (1934), and “Chicago's Criminal Underworld of the '80's and '90's,” 25 J. Crim L. & Criminology 928-40 (1935).

19. Langdon W. Moore, His Own Story of His Eventful Life 466 (1893); printed Report of Activities from January 29, 1918, to June 24, 1918, of Vagrancy Court in Chicago, Municipal Court papers, folder 35. In Chicago Post, Nov. 1, 1907, Chief George M. Shippy was quoted: “Recently we have arrested every known pickpocket and had them arraigned in the Municipal Court. The judges have made records of their names, and each has been given a certain number of days in which to find respectable employment or get out of town.” Also Daily News, April 19, 1907.

20. The court game is described in Clifton R. Wooldridge, Hands Up! In the World of Crime, Or 12 Years a Detective 471-76, & passim (1901); also Special Report by Informant B, Aug. 31, 1914, Merriam papers, Box 87, folder 4; Landesco, supra, note 18, “Criminal Underworld of Chicago,” 341-346.

21. Quotations from 1892 newspaper clipping in Burgess papers and from Chicago Tribune, Feb. 18, 1906. In August 1905 Chief John M. Collins ordered a squad of 54 detectives: “You are the men who are to catch thieves and hold-up men. I am going to send you into each quarter of the city after suspicious characters. There must be no partiality. Arrest every man you see loafing around with the look of a criminal. The streets will be safer with those fellows at Harrison street [station]. Pickpockets and confidence men are included in my orders.” Inter-Ocean, Aug. 1, 1905; for follow-up, see Inter-Ocean, Aug. 3, 1905, and Chicago Chronicle, Aug. 6, 1905. See also Wooldridge, supra, note 20, at 440; Frances Opal Brooks, “Crime in 1908,” at 6, 11, 24 (typewritten termpaper dtd. Winter 1928), Burgess papers; stories in Chicago Tribune, Sept. 9, 1904; Record-Herald, July 23, 1905; and in Chicago newspapers for March 4, 1908.

22. Quotation from Report of the General Superintendent … 1876 12 (1877). Statistics on arrests are my calculations from figures in the annual police reports; see also Johnson, supra, note 10, at 10-12. On the role of the police among tramps, see annual police reports; Nels Anderson, The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man (1923); and early chapters of Ben L. Reitman, “Following the Monkey,” (unpublished autobiography in Library of the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Circle).

23. Quotation from Matthews, supra, note 16, at 90. On the history of the saloon issue, see Arthur Burr age Farwell, “Sunday Closing in Chicago,” printed history in Julius Rosenwald papers, Univ. of Chicago Library, Vol. 12; John E. George, “The Saloon Question in Chicago” 2 Econ. Studies 96-100 (1897); Victor S. Yarros, “The Sunday Question in Chicago,” Nat. Munic. Rev. 75-80 (1910). For the general political background, see Alex Gottfried, Boss Cermak of Chicago (1962); Joel A. Tarr, A Study in Boss Politics: William Lorrimer of Chicago 18-23, 192, & passim (1971).

24. Chicago Commission on the Liquor Problem, Preliminary Report (December 1916); Hyde Park Protective Association papers, Chicago Historical Society; Tarr, supra, note 23, at 184; Michael Perman, “Towards a Dry Chicago,” undated, unpublished seminar paper.

25. Chicago bootlegging has been dealt with in numerous books and articles; for instance, John Kobler, Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone (1971). On drinking by police chiefs, Fred D. Pasley, Al Capone: The Biography of a Self-Made Man 163 (1931). On enforcement under Dever, see the extensive Dever papers. Much about local enforcement can be learned through Justice Department records; see Central Files of the Department of Justice, No. 23-23-0 through 626, in Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Md. For newspaper clipping and other records, see Chicago Crime Commission, Files No. 600-9, 3485, and others. On the prohibition referenda, sec John M. Allswang, A House for All Peoples: Ethnic Politics in Chicago, 1890-1936, 119-121 (1971).

26. The structure of Chicago prostitution has been extensively dealt with: Walter C. Reckless, Vice in Chicago (1933); The Vice Commission of Chicago, The Social Evil in Chicago (1911); Charles Washburn, Come into My Parlor: A Biography of the Aristocratic Everleigh Sisters of Chicago (1936); Herbert Asbury, Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld, chs. 4, 8, 9 (1940). Relations of the police to the vice districts are revealed in the investigative reports, Merriam papers, Boxes 87 & 88. With regard to gambling, see Mark H. Haller, “The Rise of Gambling Syndicates,” unpublished chapter for a book on the history of Chicago crime; also John Landesco, Organized Crime in Chicago chap. 3 (new ed. 1968); Senate Report, supra, note 10, at 13-14, 18-20.

27. See references in footnote 24. For the general impact of prostitution and gambling on politics, see Wendt and Kogan, supra, note 10; for the specific impact of gamblers, see Harold F. Gosnell, Negro Politicians: The Rise of Negro Politics in Chicago 122-135 (Phoenix ed. 1966); and Chicago Crime Commission, File No. 65.

28. See references in footnotes 24 & 25. For additional information about relations between police and prostitutes, see extensive investigative reports in Committee of Fifteen Files, University of Chicago Library; also Investigator's Report, “Law Enforcement and Police,” Nov. 29, 1922, in Juvenile Protective Association papers, Library of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, folder 94, and other investigative reports in the J.P.A. papers.

29. For extensive discussion of police use of violence during riots, see Flinn, Chicago Police; Howard B. Myers, “The Policing of Labor Disputes in Chicago, A Case Study” (Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. of Chicago, 1929); William M. Tuttle, Jr., Race Riot: Chicago in the Red Summer of 1919 (1920); and news clippings in Schuettler scrapbooks.

30. Chicago American, June 17, 1906.

31. Quotation from Everett C. Hughes, “The Policeman as a Person,” (typewritten research paper dtd. 1925), Burgess papers; there are other similar stories in this paper. See also H. Lowenthal, “Juvenile Officer Kasarewyski,” (handwritten termpaper [1920's]), Burgess papers. An interesting discussion concerning a more recent period can be found in Gerald D. Suttles, The Social Order of the Slum: Ethnicity and Territory in the Inner City 204 (1968).

32. Quotations from Inter-Ocean, Aug. 1, 1906; Chicago Tribune, Feb. 18, 1906. For a long feature story describing Assistant Superintendent Schuettler's methods of sweating, see Chicago American, March 25, 1906. Other stories in Inter-Ocean, Aug. 1 & Nov. 6, 1906; Chicago American, Nov. 24, 1933.

33. Quotation from news story cited in typewritten “Extract from Decision of Illinois Supreme Court, 1922,” in John Howard Association papers, Chicago Historical Society, Box 4. For information about beatings of juveniles, see “The Gold Fish or Third Degree” [undated], a typewritten paper of a neighborhood boy; and “The Squealer” [undated], a statement by a delinquent, both in Burgess papers; also “The Treatment of the Juvenile Offender” (a handwritten speech in Evelina Belden Paulson papers dtd. March 1914) in Library of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. For adults, see Zechariah Chafee, Jr., et ah, The Third Degree: Report to the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement 123-137 (republished 1969); George Murray, The Madhouse on Madison Street 259 (1965); and copy of letter of John B. Skinner to Morgan Collins, Sept. 16, 1925, in Chicago Crime Commission, File No. 600-9.

34. During late 1906, Chicago papers reported a number of cases of police brutality; see, for insance, Record-Herald and Examiner, Dec. 14, 1906, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 14 & 15, 1906.

35. Quotations from Chicago Chronicle, Dec. 21, 1906, and Chicago Record-Herald, March 26, 1905. See also Record-Herald, Sept. 24, 1907; Chicago Tribune, Jan. 3, 1907; and Citizens' Association of Chicago, Bulletin No. 12 (Jan. 20, 1904).