Tom Brown (police chief)

Tom Brown
Portrait photograph of Brown
Born	1889 West Virginia
Died	1959 (age 69)
Occupation	police officer
Known for	police corruption

Thomas Archibald Brown (1889–1959), known as "Big Tom", was police chief of St. Paul, Minnesota in the 1930s. During his time in office he presided over a period of unprecedented corruption in which he assisted several major criminals, notably the Barker-Karpis gang and John Dillinger.

He was eventually dismissed as chief, but retained a senior role in the Kidnap Squad, during which he continued to assist criminals. Later he was demoted to detective, in which role he was involved in the killing of Homer Van Meter.

Though finally dismissed from the force, he was never successfully prosecuted for his crimes.

Brown was born in West Virginia into a family of coal miners. At 6 foot 5 inches in height he was too tall to work in the mines. He found his way to St. Paul where he worked at various jobs before joining the police in 1914. He married Mary Raffety. The couple had four daughters and one son.

Even before Brown's activities, St. Paul's police had a reputation for tolerating the presence of criminals in the city. Under John O'Connor, the so-called "O'Connor system" was developed, in which criminals were protected from extradition as long as they committed no crimes while they were in the city. The system attracted big-spending gangsters, who supported other lucrative businesses, particularly illegal speakeasys.

Brown achieved local fame after killing escaped murderer Edwin Rust in a gunfight. He was appointed to the "Purity Squad", which was supposed to identify and close down gambling dens, speakeasys and brothels. He quickly learned to build contacts with the gangs who ran them and to take bribes. In 1926 he was arrested for stealing a large quantity of alcohol that had been confiscated in a raid. He was later released through lack of evidence and reinstated. When the Purity Squad became notorious for its repeated failure to find any illegal activity, an enquiry told Brown he would be dismissed. The dismissal was suddenly withdrawn, probably due to pressure from corrupt politicians with links to local crime bosses, particularly Leon Gleckman, "the Al Capone of St. Paul".

In 1930 Gleckman engineered Brown's appointment as chief of police. In return, Brown protected Gleckman's business interests. When Gleckman was kidnapped by rival racketeer Jack Peifer, Brown worked hard for his release. The ransom was paid, but one of the kidnappers was later found shot dead by an unknown assailant. Brown took the ransom from the man's safe. He later claimed he stored it at police headquarters, but it was never located.

Brown's tenure as chief came to an end when he became involved with the Barker-Karpis gang, who had come to St. Paul at the invitation of Gleckman's rival Jack Peifer. The gang committed series of robberies. When a neighbor recognized the gang from pictures in True Detective magazine, Brown delayed responding to the tip, and he or one of his associates tipped them off. They quickly cleared out. Wrongly believing that Ma Barker's lover Arthur Dunlop had informed on them, they shot him and dumped his naked body. The Dunlop murder sealed Brown's fate as chief. The publicity led to questions about how the gang had got away. He was dismissed as chief by the new mayor, who was elected on an anti-corruption ticket. However, he remained a member of the force.