John Joseph O'Connor and the "Layover Agreement"
(One Person's Observations)
To carry out O'Connor's plan, a liaison from within the criminal ranks was required to keep an eye on his peers. William "Reddy" Griffin was the first gatekeeper of the O'Connor Layover Agreement. After arriving in town and meeting with the police, probably at the congested train depot, criminals stopped in to see Griffin at the Hotel Savoy in downtown Saint Paul. Among his many duties, Griffin collected the aforementioned tributes and delivered them to public officials. When Griffin died of apoplexy in 1913 at the age of sixty-five, "Dapper Dan" Hogan took over his role.
Paul Maccabee in his book John Dillinger Slept Here13, states that bank robber and kidnapper Alvin F. "Creepy" Karpis identified several "safe cities" where the fix was in... where the criminals could go to relax. They included, in addition to Saint Paul:
- Cicero, Illinois;
- Hot Springs, Arkansas;
- Joplin, Missouri;
- Kansas City, Missouri;
- New Orleans, Louisiana;
- Reno, Nevada;
- Tulsa, Oklahoma; and that
- If he "only had police officers to worry about he could live in Ohio, Oklahoma, or Louisiana the rest of his life; that there is not a town in Ohio above 20,000 population that isn't fixed."14
The kidnappings of wealthy Saint Paul brewing company executive William A. Hamm Jr. in 1933 and banker Edwrd G. Bremmer in 1934 was an indication that the O'Connor system was breaking down, since those dastardly deeds had been committed within the city of Saint Paul, in defiance of the layover agreement. Reform minded community groups and public officials came to the forefront. The gangster era was coming to an end.
In May of 1934 anticrime crusader and editor of the St. Paul Daily News, Howard Kahn, hired criminologist Wallace Ness Jamie to expose Saint Paul's police-underworld corruption. Jamie was the son of Alexander G. Jamie of Chicago's "secret six" who had tackled Al Capone, and nephew of prohibition agent Eliot Ness the famed head of the "Untouchables." As part of a yearlong investigation, Jamie installed bugs and wiretaps throughout the police headquarters, recording over twenty-five hundred conversations, and generating more than three thousand single-spaced pages of incriminating evidence. The investigation had the full backing of Public Safety Commissioner Harry E. "Ned" Warren and, in fact, for a period of time Jamie was appointed a deputy public safety commissioner.
The bugging equipment within the police headquarters was found on May 23, 1935 by Inspector of Detectives James P. Crumley, who spotted a microphone in his ventilator shaft. The department had been put on notice earlier that day after a custodian had stumbled upon evidence of Janie's work in a closet containing telephone trunk lines. Crumley was discharged on June 6th for "inefficiency, breach of duty and misconduct in performance of official duties" after the wiretaps exposed his tip-offs to the underworld. Crumley was later convicted on unrelated charges of fixing a federal drug case (1938).
Although the initial press conference by Commissioner Warren discussing the investigation into gaming operations within the city and the illicit police involvement took place on Monday, June 24, 193515, a much greater account ran on July 24, 1935 (fifteen years after O'Connor's retirement) when St. Paul Daily News editor Howard Kahn published an exposé on the corruption of police and other political officials16. He had crusaded against graft in the city for many years, and this edition outlined in graphic detail the extent of the police involvement. Companion stories were carried in both the St. Paul Dispatch and St. Paul Pioneer Press. The chief of police was suspended and forced into resigning, and two high ranking officers were reduced in rank and suspended for 30-days. Two other officers were likewise suspended for 30-days, and in addition, four additional officers faced discharge. Names and ranks of the officers were published in the article(s).
Please note that personnel records show that some of the disciplined officers had their suspensions rescinded and a few others that faced dismissal were reinstated, but Chief Michael J. Culligan resigned on July 3, 1935, and Thomas A. "Big Tom" Brown, former chief of police, was discharged on October 9, 1936 after an exhaustive Civil Service dismissal process, under a complete different set of circumstances.
| Disciplinary Action Taken After 1935 Vice Investigation | ||
| Michael J. Culligan | Chief of Police | Suspended 30 Days; Resigned July 3, 1935 |
| Charles J. Tierney | Insp. of Detectives Aid to Chief Culligan |
Suspended 30 Days (Rescinded); Reduced in Rank to Asst. Insp. of Detectives |
| Thomas E. Dahill | Asst. Insp. of Detectives Former Chief of Police |
Suspended 30 Days (Rescinded); Reduced in Rank to Lieutenant of Detectives |
| John J. McGowan | Acting Detective | Suspended 30 Days (Reimbursed) |
| Patrick Ridge | Acting Detective | Suspended 30 Days (Reimbursed) |
| James P. Crumley | Insp. of Detectives | Discharged (Upheld) |
| Fred W. Raasch | Detective | Discharged (Upheld) |
| Raymond D. Flanagan | Acting Detective | Discharged (Reinstated) |
| Michael C. McGinnis | Acting Detective | Discharged (Reinstated) |
But long before the aforementioned exposé, Chief Martin J. Flanagan and three other officers were removed from office "for the good of the service" by the board of police commissioners on November 10, 1913. Flanagan and Detective Fred Turner were later indicted on charges of "bribery" and "grand larceny in the first degree," involving a $3,000 bribe, and on February 19 of the following year were convicted and sentenced to the state prison. At their trials, the infamous madam Nina Clifford testified against them and it was asserted that about $10,000 had been collected by these men from women of the underworld. Flanagan was the first head of the department to "go out under a cloud," and is the only Saint Paul chief of police known to have actually been convicted of a felony and serve time in prison. He was sent to Stillwater State Prison on April 9, 1914 and was paroled on October 29, 1915. Please also note that Chief Flanagan was the father of Detective Raymond D. Flanagan, who was involved in the aforementioned 1935 vice investigation. The acorn doesn't fall too far from the tree.
| Disciplinary Action Taken After 1913 Vice Shakeup | ||
| Martin J. Flanagan | Acting Chief of Police | Discharged (Upheld); Convicted of Bribery & Grand Larceny in the First Degree |
| Fred Turner | Acting Detective | Discharged (Upheld); Convicted of Bribery & Grand Larceny in the First Degree |
| William B. Miller | License Insp. | Discharged (Upheld) |
| Fred Wagner | Acting Detective | Discharged (Upheld) |
At about the same time, in January of 1914, a Ramsey County grand jury report came out severely criticizing the mayor, county attorney and police commission for lax police methods, and failure to vigorously enforce the laws relating to the social evil and the liquor traffic in the city. Said report came out five months before John J. O'Connor was appointed chief of police for the second time… under a newly elected mayor.
The O'Connor Layover Agreement, starting in 1900 when John J. "the Big Fellow" O'Connor became chief of police, ended in 1936, when the expulsion of Thomas A. "Big Tom" Brown became permanent. The O'Connor system was over and Saint Paul was no longer a criminal haven. For many decades, it was an unspoken chapter in the city's history. Most of the known gangster hang-outs were either demolished or replaced under new ownership.
Known as a shrewd detective and innovative administrator, a number of changes took place in the Saint Paul Police Department under Chief John J. O'Connor's watch. Some general modifications included reorganizing the police force, bringing it to a high state of efficiency; upgrading the detective function; and developing a registry bureau for the identification of criminals. Other modulations included increasing the size and role of the mounted patrol, the creation of the "Hansom Squad" (horse-drawn two-wheeled carriage), the start-up of emergency ambulance service (horse-drawn enclosed wagon), and the use of motorcycles for patrol. He also aided in the transition of the total patrol function from horseback to motorized squads, and in the latter years initiated the Purity Squad. In the technical arena, he converted the old Rogues' Gallery to the Bertillon System of Identification, and later to the new Henry Method of Fingerprint Classification. By that time, there were over 130,000 records, including mug shots, in the identification registry.
I have here below provided a chronology of O'Connor's career course, as well as the many events that took place directly related his calling and to the subject at hand… through the end of the layover agreement and gangster era. Please note that in the decade following Chief O'Connor's retirement (1920-1930) ten police chiefs or acting police chiefs were hired by direct political appointment in Saint Paul. This selection process has sometimes been referred to as "appointment by revolving door," and at times, officers did not know who was in charge until they arrived at work, ready for duty. In Saint Paul, politics would continue to control who held the position of chief of police until the Tenure Charter Amendment was passed in 1936.
13 Maccabee, Paul; John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks' Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul, 1920-1936; Minnesota Historical Press, St. Paul, August 15, 1955.
15 The St. Paul Daily News; Monday, June 24, 1935; Home Edition, Front Section, page 1. Companion pieces were also published in the St. Paul Dispatch, Monday, June 24th and in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Tuesday, July 25th.
16 The St. Paul Daily News; Wednesday, July 24, 1935; Home Edition, Front Section, page 1. Companion pieces were also published in the St. Paul Dispatch; Wednesday, July 24th and in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Thursday, July 25th.