Dear mattdemaret-ga,
A permanent detective bureau was founded by the Chicago Police in 1860
to deal with the increasing numbers of unsolved crimes. (Incidentally,
at this time it is reported that nearly half of the police force was
Irish). I could find no internet based information to indicate the
position prior to then, but I have no doubt that plain clothes
officers were used in crime prevention prior to that date. Indeed,
despite the creation of the detective bureau, uniform officers were
still temporarily assigned to plain clothes (at least until 1912) to
deal with street crime and vice.
According to the history of the force written by the Chicago Public
Library, the Force only posted its finest officers to it. However, I
have found a report commissioned in 1912 which reported that "personal
or political influence, rather than fitness and efficiency appeared to
be the governing factor".
This is an extract from a detailed history of the force on the Chicago
Public Library web site,
"As the population of the city increased and demands upon the police
force followed suit, the department responded with internal revisions.
The early force consisted of men who walked a beat, patrolmen. They
were responsible for maintaining order and preventing crime, a basic
concern of a new and growing community. As an answer to the increasing
problem of unsolved crimes, the department in 1860 created its first
Detective Force. Although the size of this force was small, the
department promoted only its finest officers to it and such an
appointment was considered an honor to which the patrolmen could
aspire. This basic split between patrol and detective divisions in the
police force is still noticeable today."
http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/timeline/policedept.html
This date is corroborated on this site.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Police_Department
My next source is an excellent site maintained by the Northwestern
University School of Law on Homicide in Chicago 1870 - 1930
http://homicide.northwestern.edu/pubs/pia/
It has Three contemporaneous reports which describe the organization
of the Chicago Police Department at different periods
One from 1904 makes references to disciplinary violations by
plainclothes men as opposed to detectives. The detective bureau was
not examined in this enquiry.
See pages p33 and p45 in particular, but the whole report makes intersting reading.
Discipline and Administration of the Police Department of the City of Chicago
(PDF - 4.87MB)
http://homicide.northwestern.edu/documents/vice/vice.03.pdf
The next report was in 1912. This was scathing indictment of the
Force. It discovered that those officers on "so-called detective duty"
were as follows:
Regular plain clothes duty 500
Special Plain clothes duty 130
Detective Bureau 170
This meant that 1/5th of Force was in plain clothes and it generated a
substntial amount of criticism. This included the comment on how
appointment to plain-clothes was achieved: "personal or political
influence, rather than fitness and efficiency appeared to be the
governing factor."
See pages p44/45 for for the full details as I cannot cut and paste
the information here as it is an image. I do recommend that you read
the whole of the report as it is an interesting glimpse into policing
in Chicago.
Final Report Civil Service Commission City of Chicago Police Investigation
(PDF - 5.29MB)
1911-1912
http://homicide.northwestern.edu/documents/vice/vice.01.pdf
"Four years later, by 1860, nearly half of the Chicago police force was Irish."
Irish Chicago (Images of America: Illinois)
by John McLaughlin
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738520381/amzna9-1-20/ref=nosim/002-6752464-4200855?dev-t=D26XECQVNV6NDQ%26camp=2025%26link_code=xm2
If you are living in Chicago, this book which is available at the
Chicago Public Library archives may be a useful source of information
for the period prior to 1860: John J. Flinn. "History of the Chicago
Police from the Settlement of Community to the Present Time" Chicago,
Police Book Fund, 1887
As will this book
http://www.fire-police-ems.com/books/bc1561.shtml
I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder
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