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IN QUEST OF A POLICE PROFESSION: A BIOGRAPHY OF ORLANDO W. WILSON
Title
IN QUEST OF A POLICE PROFESSION: A BIOGRAPHY OF ORLANDO W. WILSON.
Creator
BOPP, WILLIAM J., Florida Atlantic University, O'Sullivan, John
Abstract/Description
Orlando W. Wilson was the most influential figure in the history of American law enforcement. His career as a police chief, criminology professor, consultant and author began in 1921, and spanned forty-six years. His accomplishments during this period have not been surpassed: He is the Father of the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics; he began America's first police-college cadet program; he pioneered state sponsored training courses and minimum standards for police personnel; he initiated...
Show moreOrlando W. Wilson was the most influential figure in the history of American law enforcement. His career as a police chief, criminology professor, consultant and author began in 1921, and spanned forty-six years. His accomplishments during this period have not been surpassed: He is the Father of the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics; he began America's first police-college cadet program; he pioneered state sponsored training courses and minimum standards for police personnel; he initiated psychological testing for police officers; he founded the country's first professional school of criminology; and he authored the most widely circulated police administration textbook in history. In addition, Wilson's former students and subordinates formed the vanguard of the American police professionalization movement, and his management surveys of some forty major police departments furnished a model for reorganization which has become dogma in law enforcement. Wilson's police career began as a patrolman in Berkeley, California. He briefly served Fullerton, California as its chief of police, then in 1928 began an eleven year tenure as chief in Wichita, Kansas. During that term of service, Wilson's reputation grew, as Wichita gained fame as the "West Point of Law Enforcement." Forced out of Wichita by corrupt politicians, Wilson accepted a professorship at the University of California in 1939. With the exception of wartime service as Director of de-Nazification activities in Germany, he spent twenty-one years at the University, the last decade as Dean of the School of Criminology. In 1960, he received an urgent call from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, whose administration was in jeopardy because of a major police scandal. Wilson was appointed to chair a search committee empaneled to select a reform police commissioner. When the committee could not find a competent applicant, it turned to its chairman, and persuaded Wilson to take the job. During his seven years in office, he completely reorganized the police department, aggressively fought corruption, and inspired public confidence in his efforts. He retired in 1967. O.W. Wilson was scrupulously honest, and dedicated to creating an American police profession. His battles against corruption and his disdain for politicians are legendary . Throughout his career, he directed his considerable energy toward uplifting the status of law enforcement. He was a man of high principles, unswervingly committed to excellence. Nonetheless, he also had serious limitations. He applied disciplinary action ruthlessly , without regard to human considerations. His penchant for orderliness led him to adopt a rigid military method of organizing police departments, despite the negative effect it had on police-community relationships. Moreover, Wilson often became so preoccupied with structural reorganization that more substantive police reform was overlooked. Notwithstanding personal limitations, Orlando H. Wilson was the greatest police administrator American law enforcement has yet produced. His impact on the movement to professionalize the police is incalculable, and even his earliest contributions to the field have stood the test of time.
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Date Issued
1975
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11649
Subject Headings
Wilson, O W --(Orlando Winfield),--1900-1972
Format
Document (PDF)