John Joseph O'Connor and the "Layover Agreement"
(One Person's Observations)
Layover Agreement Chronology
c. 1935:
The Hollywood gangster movie G-Men opens in cinemas reinforcing the growing public respect for federal government and law enforcement.
c. 1935:
The first Saint Paul police crime laboratory was created (first in the state); radio services were upgraded, and within a few years (1939) all twenty-six squads were equipped with two-way radios for the first time.
January 8, 1935:
Arthur R. "Doc" Barker is captured by F.B.I. agents in his Chicago apartment and returned to Saint Paul for kidnapping trial. Barker and four other gang members are convicted in federal court on May 17, 1935 for the kidnapping of banker Edward G. Bremer. Barker is incarcerated at Leavenworth Federal Prison.
May 27, 1935:
Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Gustave H. "Gus" Barfuss sends a telegram to Commissioner Harry E. "Ned" Warren, advising him of the discovery of bugging equipment within the police headquarters. This investigative undertaking, generating 3,000 pages of incriminating evidence, had been conducted with the full authority of the office of the commissioner. The original telegram and response (2-items) are now a part of the Saint Paul Police Historical Society collection.
June 7, 1935:
Volney E. "Curley" Davis and four others of the Barker-Karpis gang are convicted in Saint Paul federal court of the kidnapping of banker Edward G. Bremer, receiving sentences ranging from five years to life.
July 24, 1935:
Following a yearlong investigation, including the bugging of the police headquarters, the St. Paul Daily News publishes an exposé on the corruption of local constabulary, and others. Several high ranking police officials are disciplined and in some cases removed from service.
July 31, 1935 – November 28, 1935:
In July of 1935 Gustave H. "Gus" Barfuss was appointed acting chief of police. Barfuss, a veteran with twenty-three years on the department, had previously been an assistant chief of police and deputy commissioner of public safety.
January 24, 1936:
Underworld fixer Harry "Dutch" Sawyer (eight know aliases) and William "Lapland Willie" Weaver are convicted in Saint Paul federal court of kidnapping banker Edward G. Bremer.
May 1, 1936:
Alvin F. "Creepy" Karpis is arrested in New Orleans by F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover and brought to Saint Paul in chains for trial. Karpis pleads guilty to the Bremer conspiracy and is sentenced to life imprisonment at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, in San Francisco Bay, California. The capture of Karpis essentially ended the age of the big-name gangster era in Saint Paul. It should be noted that Karpis had the ignoble honor of being the longest serving inmate at Alcatraz. Released from prison in 1969, he was deported to Canada; died in Spain (1979).
June 2, 1936 – July 30, 1943:
In June of 1936 Clinton A. Hackert was appointed chief of police. Hackert, a veteran with seventeen years on the department, had previously been a lieutenant of police. He was an ally of reformer Thomas E. Dahill in the fight against corrupt officers with ties to organized crime.
June 2, 1936 – June 1, 1948:
Elected to the city council, Gustave H. "Gus" Barfuss was appointed commissioner of public safety in June of 1936. As with Thomas E. Dahill, Barfuss was known as a reformer and lobbied to eliminate politics from the police department (see Tenure Charter Amendment - below).
c. 1936:
In 1936 a Tenure Charter Amendment was passed changing the process for selecting a chief of police in Saint Paul, thus eliminating the political favoritism of former years. Under the new guidelines, an independent committee established qualification for the job and examined the candidates prior to an appointment to a six-year term. A police chief could only be removed "for cause".
July 31, 1936:
Police fixer John "Jack" Peifer, underworld banker, operator of the Hollyhocks Club casino in Saint Paul, and key strategist for the Barker-Karpis gang's kidnappings of William A. Hamm Jr. and Edward G. Bremer, commits suicide in Saint Paul's Ramsey County Jail after being convicted of participating in the William A. Hamm Jr. kidnapping.
c. 1940s:
By the end of the 1930s, the legacy of the past gangster era was apparent... Saint Paul had developed into one of the most modern police agencies in the country, with a chief who had been hired through a civil service selection process: No more political patronage or "appointment by revolving door."
