To Serve and Collect: Chicago Politics and Police Corruption from the Lager Beer Riot to the Summerdale Scandal

This book began its life as the author's thesis paper for the graduate program in history at Northeastern Illinois University. Richard C. Lindberg obtained his Master of Arts degree and adapted his research materials into the first comprehensive history of the Chicago Police Department to be published in the decades (an earlier informal history was really undertaken as a fundraising effort for a policemen's benevolent and fraternal society). There is a wealth of information (with a detailed bibliography and footnotes) contained in this book about the rise of the police department as the successor to the system of town constables and watchmen, nativist resistance to the growing number of Irish immigrants employed by the police department and the constant interference of venal politicians seeking to protect their business allies and favored criminal enterprises from prosecution for ordinance violations prohibiting gambling, prostitution and after hours drinking while using the force as a political patronage army. There is a cornucopia of different stories covered in this book from the Haymarket Riot to the Summerdale Burglary Scandal. There are numerous attempts to professionalize and reform the department and constant efforts undertaken by the West Side Bloc to frustrate any significant changes that would upset the divvying up of vice profits with corrupt politicians. The reader will be introduced to a cast of characters which includes such noted police chiefs as Francis O'Neill, Michael Hughes, Orlando Wilson, Frederick Ebersold and so many more! This book helped launch the professional writing career of one of Chicago's most prolific and often quoted local historians. As such, it deserves your attention. I am happy to see that this valuable book has been republished by Southern Illinois University in a paperback edition.

I'm an avowed Chicago history buff and found references in this book that simply cannot be found anywhere else. The bibliography alone has led to me several other books on the topic, which is appreciated. Really brought the city to life, and made you want to search out the street corners in question. I found myself asking older acquaintances if they ever met Richie Morrison. However I have to say the publishers did not do their job here. This book is poorly edited, suffering from simple errors such as misspellings (it's ward heeler, not ward healer), and in general confusing to those of us unfamiliar with the arcane characters filling the pages. I often found myself having to backtrack to figure out who the author was referring to -- a problem compounded by the numerous Irish names and confusing nomenclature.