Thomas F. Byrnes (June 15, 1842 – May 7, 1910) was an Irish-born American police officer, who served as head of the New York City Police Department detective department from 1880 until 1895, who popularized the terms "rogues' gallery" and "third degree".
Biography Born in Dublin, Ireland to James and Rose Byrnes, he immigrated to New York City as a child. He worked as a skilled gas-fitter until the start of the U.S. Civil War. He enlisted with Elmer E. Ellsworth's "Zouaves" in 1861 and served two years with that unit. After his service, Byrnes became a firefighter, joining Hose Company No. 21 in New York City. He remained as a firefighter until December 10, 1863, when he was appointed a police officer.History of the New York Fire Department, Ch. 32, Part II
Byrnes rose in the ranks, first as a patrolman, then becoming a sergeant in 1869 and a captain in 1870. He gained renown through solving the Manhattan Savings Bank robbery of 1878. He became Detective Bureau chief in 1880.New York Press article about Byrnes, by William Bryk As inspector, Byrnes quickly won national distinction. He increased the detective force from 28 to 40 men. In four years it made 3,300 arrests. In 1882, he obtained legislative approval of changes in the department which gave him immense power. In 1886, Byrnes instituted the "Mulberry Street Morning Parade" of arrested suspects before the assembled detectives in the hope they would recognize suspects and link them to more crimes. Also that year, his book Professional Criminals of AmericaByrnes, Thomas. Professional Criminals of America Vol 3. New York: Cassell and Company 1886. was published. He built up a book of photographs of criminals, which he called the "Rogues' Gallery".
Byrnes was one of the people who popularized the third degree due to his brutal questioning of suspected criminals. From the descriptions, the third degree as practiced by Byrnes was a combination of physical and psychological torture.XIII. Roosevelt comes—Mulberry Street’s Golden Age. Riis, Jacob A. 1901. The Making of an American Byrnes's techniques were popularized in a series of novels by his friend Julian Hawthorne, son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, including The Great Bank Robbery, An American Penman, and A Tragic Mystery in 1887 and Section 558 and Another's Crime in 1888.Panek, LeRoy Lad. The Origins of the American Detective Story. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.: 2006: 21. Jacob A. Riis, who as police reporter for the New York Sun knew Byrnes well, declared that he was "a great actor", and hence a great detective. Riis called him an unscrupulous "big policeman" and a veritable giant in his time.America The Story of Us — Episode 7: Cities — History.com
In 1891, three years after publicly criticizing London police officials on the way they handled the Jack the Ripper investigations, Byrnes was faced with a similar crime in New York. Amid mammoth publicity, Byrnes accused an Algerian, Ameer Ben Ali (nicknamed Frenchy) of the crime. He was convicted despite the evidence against him being doubtful, but pardoned eleven years later.Wolf Vanderlinden, "The New York Affair" Ripper Notes -- part one issue 16 (July 2003); part two #17 (January 2004), part three #19 (July 2004 ) Byrnes also successfully obtained a confession from gang leader Mike McGloin, who was convicted and executed for the murder of a tavern-owner during a robbery.
In 1895, the new president of the New York City Police Commission, future President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt, compelled him to resign as part of Roosevelt's drive to rid the force of corruption.Investigative Historical Timeline In later life, Byrnes became an insurance investigator, opening a detective agency on Wall Street.
The television documentary Secrets of New York episode of October 22, 2013, credis Byrnes as "a man who invented America's modern detective bureau."Secrets of New York We the Italians
Death Thomas Byrnes died on May 7, 1910, at 9 o'clock at his home, 318 West Seventy-seventh Street, of stomach cancer. He was surrounded by his wife Ophelia and five daughters. His funeral was held at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament at Broadway and Seventy-first Street in Manhattan, New York City.
In fiction Julian Hawthorne's series of five novels between 1887 and 1888 were collectively called From the Diaries of Inspector ByrnesPanek, LeRoy Lad. The Origins of the American Detective Story. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.: 2006: 21. Byrnes was featured as a fictional character in Jack Finney's time travel novel, Time and Again. In addition, he was a character in the juvenile detective series, Broadway Billy, as well as a number of other detective "dime novels". His name appeared as the author on the fictional turn-of-the-century true-crime novel The Bone Collector, which was featured in the film of the same name. Byrnes also appeared in Caleb Carr's novel The Alienist. In the television adaptation, he is portrayed by Ted Levine. Byrnes appeared as a character in Rick Yancey's The Curse of the Wendigo. Byrnes appeared in issues 696 to 699 of italian comic book series Tex.
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