O.W. Wilson

Orlando Winfield Wilson (May 15, 1900 – October 18, 1972), also known as O.W. Wilson, was an influential leader in policing, having served as Superintendent of Police of the Chicago Police Department, chief of police in Fullerton, California and Wichita, Kansas, and authored several books on policing.

Wilson was born on May 15, 1900, in Veblen, South Dakota, and moved with his family to California. In 1921, he enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in criminology and studying under August Vollmer. He graduated in 1924, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at Berkeley, he also worked as a police officer with the Berkeley Police Department. Such education for a police officer was rare at the time.

O.W. Wilson, together with his wife Ruth Elinor Wilson, had one daughter. Wilson had another son and daughter, by a previous marriage.

In 1925, O.W. Wilson became chief of police of the Fullerton Police Department for two years. He then spent two years as an investigator with the Pacific Finance Corporation. In 1928, at age 28, he became chief of police of the Wichita Police Department, where he served until 1939. In Wichita, he led reforms to reduce corruption. There he instituted professionalism in the department, requiring new hires to have a college education, and introduced innovations, such as the use police cars for patrol, mobile radios, and use of a mobile crime laboratory. He believed that use of two-way radio allowed for better supervision of patrol officers, and therefore more efficient policing. When the war ended, he remained in Europe until 1947, leading reorganization of police forces in Europe.

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