Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-256) and index.
Contents:
List of Illustrations -- Snapshots from the Lost World of Detectives -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. The Rise of American Detectives -- 2. Italian Squads -- 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 -- 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 -- 9. The Real Crime of the Century -- 10. America under Assault11. 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.
Summary:
"From the Roaring Twenties to the 1970s detectives reigned supreme in police departments across the country. In this tightly woven slice of true crime reportage, Thomas A. Reppetto offers a behind-the-scenes look into some of the most notable investigations to occur during the golden age of the detective in American criminal justice. From William Burns, who during his heyday was known as America's Sherlock Holmes, to Thad Brown, who probed the notorious Black Dahlia murder in Los Angeles, to Elliott Ness, who cleaned up the Cleveland police but failed to capture the 'Mad Butcher' who decapitated at least a dozen victims, American Detective offers an indelible portrait of the famous sleuths and investigators who played a major role in cracking some of the most notorious criminal cases in U.S. history. Along the way Reppetto takes us deep inside the detective bureaus that were once the nerve centers behind crime-fighting on the streets of America's great cities, including the FBI itself, under the direction of America's 'top cop,' J. Edgar Hoover. According to Reppetto, detectives were once able watchdogs until their role in policing became diluted by patrol strategies ranging from 'stop and frisk' to community policing. Reppetto argues against these current policing systems and calls for a return to the primacy of the detective in criminal investigations."--Dust jacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.