Thomas Byrnes was a patrolman, sergeant, and head of the detective department of the New York City Police force. He attained this position in 1880 and held it for fifteen years. During that time, Byrnes openly criticized the London police for their failed investigation into the Jack the Ripper murders. When New York experienced its own rash of murders, Byrnes rushed to judgment, pushing for conviction of an Algerian immigrant named Ameer Ali, even with very little evidence. The state pardoned Ali eleven years later. While Byrnes successfully organized and expanded the detective department under his watch, his regime was also plagued by corruption, coerced confessions, and what has been described as physical and psychological torture. In 1895, then-president of the New York City Police Commission Theodore Roosevelt undertook a massive project to eliminate corruption in the NYPD. One step in the process was to force Byrness resignation. He died fifteen years later after opening a private detective agency focused on insurance investigation. Byrnes is still credited as one of the men who invented Americas modern detective bureau (Secrets of New York, October 22 2013).
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 03:44:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015