Thomas A. Reppetto

American Detective

Behind the Scenes of Famous Criminal Investigations

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

From 1920 to 1970, detectives were the dominant force in American urban police departments. In American Detective, Thomas A. Reppetto examines detective bureaus rather than just individual detectives. Each chapter offers a behind-the-scenes look at detective bureaus, embryonic or fully formed, in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Boston, the FBI and the Texas Rangers. From grisly murders to high-stake heists, political crimes to high-profile kidnappings, Reppetto takes readers on a journey through criminal justice history in the United States and shows how detectives played a major role in each case. Beginning with the invention of the detective in the mid-nineteenth century, Reppetto profiles famous sleuths throughout time, such as private detective chiefs Allan Pinkerton and William Burns, top commanders like Thad Brown of L.A., public safety director Elliott Ness of Cleveland, and America¿s ¿top cop¿ J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI, to name a few. Detectives were the city¿s watchdog before the entire police department took over in the late 19th century to make the city ¿safe.¿ A solid case for the reinstatement of detectives¿ original primary function in police departments, Reppetto¿s book shatters the present-day policing system we take for granted.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: University of Nebraska Press
• Seitenzahl: 312
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Juni 2018
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 242mm x 159mm x 29mm
• Gewicht: 644g
• ISBN-13: 9781640120228
• ISBN-10: 164012022X
• Artikelnr.: 51287366

Autorenporträt

Thomas A. Reppetto is a former commander of detectives in the Chicago Police Department. After earning a doctorate from Harvard University he served as professor, dean, and vice president at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. From 1979 to 2005 he was the head of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and was named New York State Governor’s Law Enforcement Executive of the Year in 1986. His books include American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power and Battleground New York City: Countering Spies, Saboteurs, and Terrorists since 1861 (Potomac Books, 2012), among others.  

Inhaltsangabe

List of Illustrations
Snapshots from the Lost World of Detectives
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Rise of American Detectives
2. Italian Squads: The Cops Replace the Private Eyes
3. Murder in Hollywood and the Real Los Angeles Detective Bureau
4. The Hall-Mills Murders, the “World’s Greatest Detective,” and the Power
of the Press
5. The Big Squads Roll: The Chicago Detective Bureau
6. Eliot Ness Pursues the Butcher, the Ups and Downs of Dr. Sam, and Lone
Wolf Gonzaullas Stalks the Phantom
7. The Inspectors Bureau in the City by the Bay
8. New York Mysteries: The Rubel Robbery, the Disappearance of Judge
Crater, and the Elusive Willie Sutton
9. The Real Crime of the Century: The Kidnapping and Murder of the
Lindbergh Baby and the Rise of Director Hoover
10. America under Assault: Wall Street, a Day at the Fair, and the Murder
of Carlo Tresca
11. The Black Dahlia Murder and Parker’s Police
12. The Brink’s Job and the St. Louis Blues
13. A Death in Dallas and the Disintegration of American Detective Bureaus
14. Twenty-First-Century Policing: Reorientation and Restoration
Notes
Bibliography
Index