Orlando Winfield Wilson
Encyclopedia
Orlando Winfield Wilson 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.
, 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.
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 new innovations, such as the use police car
s for patrol, mobile radio
s, 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.
mayor Richard J. Daley
, in the wake of a major police scandal
, established a commission headed by O.W. Wilson to find a new police commissioner. In the end, Daley decided to appoint Wilson himself, as Commissioner. Beginning on March 2, 1960, Wilson served the Superintendent of Police of the Chicago Police Department
until 1967 when he retired.
Reforms demanded at the outset by Wilson included establishment of a non-partisan police board to help govern the police force, a strict merit
system for promotions within the department, an aggressive, nationwide recruiting drive for hiring new officers, and higher police salaries to attract professionally qualified officers.
For starters, Wilson moved the superintendent's office from City Hall to Police Headquarters and closed police districts and redrew their boundaries without regard to politics. Hiring standards were raised, graft curbed, and discipline tightened, with a new Police Board overseeing it. Wilson updated the communications system, adopted computers and improved record-keeping, bought new squad cars, and eliminated most foot patrols. Police boasted of quicker response times to citizen calls. Police morale, and the public image of the police, rose. Wilson also improved police relations with the black community. He recruited more African American officers, promoted black sergeants, and insisted on police restraint in racially charged conflicts.
During Wilson's tenure as Superintendent, crime and homicides increased dramatically. The 1960 Chicago homicide rate of 10.3 per 100,000 increased to 24 per 100,000 by 1970.http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2156.html
in the 1930s, working with the Harvard Bureau for Street Traffic Research. He also served as director of the New England Traffic Officers' Training School, which offered intensive two-week courses to police officers on traffic
safety and enforcement.
In 1939, Wilson became Professor of Police Administration at Berkeley. From 1950-1960, Wilson was the dean
of Berkeley's School of Criminology. O.W. Wilson authored several books, including Police Records, Police Planning, and the highly influential work, Police Administration which was first published in 1943. While at Berkeley, Wilson also served as a consultant, advising cities including Dallas
, Nashville
, Birmingham
, and Louisville, Kentucky
on reorganization of their police agencies.
. These ideas remained popular until the advent of community policing. Wilson believed that preventive patrol
and rapid response to calls would be effective, creating a sense of police omnipresence among criminals.
After retiring from the Chicago Police Department in 1967, Wilson lived in Poway, California
until his death in 1972.
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
, chief of police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
in Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
and Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, and authored several books on policing.
Background
Wilson was born on May 15, 1900, in Veblen, South DakotaVeblen, South Dakota
Veblen is a city in Marshall County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 281 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Veblen is located at ....
, and moved with his family to California. In 1921, he enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, majoring in criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
and studying under August Vollmer
August Vollmer
August "Gus" Vollmer was a leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century. He was also the first police chief of Berkeley, California.-Youth:...
. He graduated in 1924, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at Berkeley, he also worked as a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
with the Berkeley Police Department
Berkeley Police Department
The Berkeley Police Department is the municipal police department for the city of Berkeley, California, USA.-History:Shortly after Berkeley was incorporated in 1878, a town marshal and constables were elected to provide law enforcement. In 1909, the town marshal was appointed to be the first...
. Such education for a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
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.
Policing
In 1925, O.W. Wilson became chief of police of the Fullerton Police DepartmentFullerton Police Department
The Fullerton Police Department of Fullerton, California, was established in 1904 when the city incorporated. The Fullerton Police Department currently employs 153 sworn officers and 78 civilian employees. The acting chief is Kevin Hamilton....
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
Wichita Police Department
The Wichita Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Wichita, Kansas, United States. WPD's jurisdiction overlaps with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's office.The WPD is housed at the City Hall building located at 455 N Main, Wichita, Kansas.-Mission statement:“The...
, where he served until 1939. In Wichita, he led reforms to reduce corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
. There he instituted professionalism in the department, requiring new hires to have a college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
education, and introduced new innovations, such as the use police car
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
s for patrol, mobile radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
s, and use of a mobile crime laboratory. He believed that use of two-way radio
Two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive , unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content. The term refers to a personal radio transceiver that allows the operator to have a two-way conversation with other similar radios operating on the same radio frequency...
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.
US Army
During World War II, O.W. Wilson served as a Provost Marshal with the U.S. Army and retired from the service with the rank of full colonel in the military police. He remained in Europe until 1947 as an advisor to local law enforcement.Chicago
In 1960, ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
mayor Richard J. Daley
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
, in the wake of a major police scandal
Scandal
A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
, established a commission headed by O.W. Wilson to find a new police commissioner. In the end, Daley decided to appoint Wilson himself, as Commissioner. Beginning on March 2, 1960, Wilson served the Superintendent of Police of the Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
until 1967 when he retired.
Reforms demanded at the outset by Wilson included establishment of a non-partisan police board to help govern the police force, a strict merit
Merit
The term merit constitutes a desirable trait or ability belonging to a person or an object.It may refer to:* Merit * Merit * Meritocracymerit may also mean:...
system for promotions within the department, an aggressive, nationwide recruiting drive for hiring new officers, and higher police salaries to attract professionally qualified officers.
For starters, Wilson moved the superintendent's office from City Hall to Police Headquarters and closed police districts and redrew their boundaries without regard to politics. Hiring standards were raised, graft curbed, and discipline tightened, with a new Police Board overseeing it. Wilson updated the communications system, adopted computers and improved record-keeping, bought new squad cars, and eliminated most foot patrols. Police boasted of quicker response times to citizen calls. Police morale, and the public image of the police, rose. Wilson also improved police relations with the black community. He recruited more African American officers, promoted black sergeants, and insisted on police restraint in racially charged conflicts.
During Wilson's tenure as Superintendent, crime and homicides increased dramatically. The 1960 Chicago homicide rate of 10.3 per 100,000 increased to 24 per 100,000 by 1970.http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2156.html
Academia
Wilson had also taught at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in the 1930s, working with the Harvard Bureau for Street Traffic Research. He also served as director of the New England Traffic Officers' Training School, which offered intensive two-week courses to police officers on traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
safety and enforcement.
In 1939, Wilson became Professor of Police Administration at Berkeley. From 1950-1960, Wilson was the dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of Berkeley's School of Criminology. O.W. Wilson authored several books, including Police Records, Police Planning, and the highly influential work, Police Administration which was first published in 1943. While at Berkeley, Wilson also served as a consultant, advising cities including Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, and Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
on reorganization of their police agencies.
Police professionalism
By the 1950s, Wilson's ideas of police professionalism, presented in Police Administration, were widely implemented in police agencies across the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. These ideas remained popular until the advent of community policing. Wilson believed that preventive patrol
Patrol
A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as police officers or soldiers, that are assigned to monitor a specific geographic area.- Military :...
and rapid response to calls would be effective, creating a sense of police omnipresence among criminals.
After retiring from the Chicago Police Department in 1967, Wilson lived in Poway, California
Poway, California
Poway is a city in San Diego County, California. Originally an unincorporated community in San Diego County, Poway officially became a city in December 1980. Even though Poway lies geographically in the middle of San Diego County, most consider its relative location as north county inland...
until his death in 1972.
External links
- Guide to the Orlando Winfield Wilson Papers at The Bancroft Library