Thomas Archibald Brown (February 7, 1889 – January 5, 1959), also known as Big Tom, was an American law enforcement official who served as chief of the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) during the Great Depression and became notorious for flagrant police corruption.
Brown's predecessor, John O'Connor, had developed the so-called "O'Connor system" in which fugitives from other jurisdictions were immune to arrest and extradition in Saint Paul, Minnesota, so long as they kept a low profile and committed no violent crimes within the SPPD's jurisdiction.Mahoney, pp. 5–6. Upon taking over the department in June 1930, Brown refused to obey or enforce the traditional ban on unnecessary violence, and allied himself with the Dillinger and Barker-Karpis Gangs. The violent crimes resulting from this alliance inadvertently aided in the rise of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and its director, J. Edgar Hoover.
Through the FBI's influence, Brown's many felonies were publicly exposed during a Civil Service Board hearing, leading to his dismissal from the SPPD. He was never indicted or prosecuted, however, and died a free man in Ely, Minnesota, in 1959.
Early career Thomas Archibald Brown was born in a coal mining region of West Virginia, into a Baptist family of mixed German-Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 160. and Scotch IrishMahoney (2013), page 9. descent. At Brown was too tall to work in the mines, so he worked as conductor for the Great Northern Railroad before settling in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1910. He worked at various jobs before joining the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) as a traffic patrolman in 1914.Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 159.
Brown quickly learned how to use his authority as a police officer to engage in corrupt activities, committing extortion and many other crimes. Although he was careful to never to accept a bribe in front of eyewitnesses, in conversations with his brother-in-law, George Rafferty, he boasted that seeking bribes for a Saint Paul cop was easy: "Go into taverns with your hand out." In 1919, Thomas A. Brown was promoted to Detective.
As a detective, Brown achieved local fame after killing Edwin Rust, an escaped murderer, in a gunfight. He was appointed to the SPPD's "Purity Squad", assigned to identify and close down illegal casinos, speakeasies, and brothels. He quickly learned to build contacts with the criminals who ran these establishments and extorted protection money from them in return for advance warnings of raids. In 1926, during the height of Prohibition, Brown was arrested for stealing a large quantity of alcohol that had been confiscated in a raid.Mahoney, p.10-12. The same year he was suspended for thirty days after a federal judge ordered him extradited to Ohio to face charges of conspiracy and liquor smuggling. He was subsequently reinstated.
The Purity Squad became notorious for its repeated failure to find any illegal activity during raids, and a board of inquiry investigating the matter was prepared to dismiss Brown. The dismissal was withdrawn.
Chief of Police In June 1930, Leon Gleckman engineered Brown's appointment as chief of the SPPD.Folsom, Robert, The Money Trail: How Elmer Irey and His T-men Brought Down America's Criminal Elite, Potomac, 2010, pp. 247–8. To the public, Brown depicted himself as a racket-buster and a fearless crimefighter, declaring war on Chicago organized crime figures who were allegedly investing in Minnesota's bootlegging and slot machine rackets. In reality, however, notorious criminals, including Dillinger Gang associate Homer Van Meter, had donated large sums to Brown's campaign in exchange for being allotted certain rackets in Saint Paul. Under Brown, Gleckman was granted a monopoly on all illegal gambling in the city.Paul Maccabee (1993), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crook's Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul, 1920-1936, page 36.
When Gleckman was kidnapped by rival racketeer Jack Peifer, Brown worked hard for his release. The ransom was paid, but one of the kidnappers was later found shot dead by an unknown assailant. Brown took the ransom from the man's safe;Robert O’Connor, "St. Paul's Gangster Era", 3AM Magazine he later claimed that he stored it at police headquarters, but it was never located.
Brown's tenure as chief came to an end when he became involved with the Barker-Karpis Gang, who had come to Saint Paul at Peifer's invitation. The gang committed a series of robberies in the city until a neighbor recognized them from pictures in True Detective magazine. Brown delayed responding to the information, and he or one of his associates tipped off the gang. Believing that Ma Barker's lover Arthur Dunlop had informed on them, the gang shot Dunlop and dumped his naked body before fleeing. The Dunlop murder sealed Brown's fate as chief, as the publicity led to questions about how the gang had gotten away. He was demoted by the new mayor, who was elected on an anti-corruption ticket, from Chief of Police to head of the SPPD's Anti-Kidnapping Squad.
Head of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad After his demotion, Brown ran for election as sheriff of Ramsey County. According to FBI informants, members of the Dillinger's Gang, particularly Van Meter, donated $1,500 into Brown's ultimately unsuccessful campaign.George Russell Girardin et al., Dillinger, The Untold Story, Indiana University Press, 2004, p. 340 Meanwhile, with the end of Prohibition, Brown, acting through Peifer and Harry Sawyer, suggested that the Barker-Karpis Gang should move onto other crimes.
The Hamm kidnapping They kidnapped wealthy businessman William Hamm. Brown informed them of plans by police to trap them. The ransom money was successfully collected, and a cut given to Brown.
With the assistance of mobbed up Captain "Tubbo" Gilbert of the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago Outfit succeeded in tricking the FBI into believing that the Outfit's mortal enemy, Irish mob boss Roger Touhy, had masterminded the Hamm kidnapping and many other crimes just like it in States all over the Midwest. Despite the Bureau's best efforts, however, a Federal jury in St. Paul acquitted Touhy and his enforcers of all charges.
Armed robbery and murder in South St. Paul According to Paul Maccabee, "No crime illustrated how far the O'Connor System had eroded" than the Barker Gang's next robbery,Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 165. which was carried out at the South St. Paul post office on August 30, 1933 by Charles Fitzgerald, Alvin Karpis, Fred Barker, and Chicago Outfit gangsters Byron Bolton and Fred Goetz.Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 166.
After the Great Western Railroad delivered a $33,000 Swift and Company payroll from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis to the local post office, South St. Paul Police Officer John Yeaman and rookie Patrolman Leo Pavlak were assigned as escorts. At 9:45 AM, as both officers walked down the post office steps, the Barker-Karpis Gang drove up in a black sedan. Doc Barker stepped out, wielding a saw-off shotgun, and shouted, "Stick 'em up!" After Officer Pavlak surrendered his sidearm and obeyed, Doc Barker screamed, "You dirty rat, son of a bitch", and shot Pavlak in the head. Meanwhile, Fred Barker opened fire on Officer Yeaman, who survived until 1971, but was left permanently maimed.Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 166-169. The Barker Gang then seized the payroll, but, went on a shooting spree before fleeing the scene of the robbery.Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 166-167. According to a report by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, "The bandits put on a Jesse James exhibition by shooting up and down Concord St., shooting about a dozen shots into the Postal Building and across the street. These bandits used a Thompson submachine gun and a sawed-off shotgun with which they did their shooting, and it is a miracle that no one else was shot and wounded. They appeared to be cool and reckless, not giving a damn who they shot."Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 167.
In an interview with Paul Maccabee, Robert Pavlak recalled about the day of his father's death, "I ran home... That's all I remember. My mother was dying of cancer at the time -- we had so much grief then."Paul Maccabee (1995), John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crooks Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul 1920-1936, Minnesota Historical Society Press. Page 169. While talking to the FBI, disgraced former St Paul Inspector of Detectives James Crumley alleged, "Truman Alcorn, former Chief of Police of South St. Paul, is very close to Tom Brown and... there is no question but Brown and Alcorn were in on the payroll robbery in South St. Paul." When asked by Maccabee about the possible complicity of fellow cops in his father's murder, Robert Pavlak responded, "There was so much criminality then, both within and without the Department, that Lieutenant Jeff Dittrich used to tell me, 'You never went to take the garbage out at night without having a gun in your hand.'"
The Bremer kidnapping Another kidnapping by the Barker-Karpis Gang soon followed. Edward Bremer, a mobbed up Twin Cities banker and brewery heir, was abducted on his way to work after dropping his daughter at school on January 15, 1934. The FBI became actively involved. When it became evident that leaks were coming from the St. Paul Police's Kidnap Squad, Brown was isolated from the investigation.
On August 23, 1934 Brown was involved in the killing of former ally Homer Van Meter at the corner of Marion Street and University Avenue in St. Paul. Van Meter was lured to a supposed meeting, but was confronted by four police officers who were waiting for him, led by Chief of Police Frank Cullen. All were heavily armed with rifles and Brown carried a Thompson submachine gun.Morton, James, The Mammoth Book of Gangs, Constable & Robinson Ltd., (2012), p. 1931 The officers later claimed Van Meter ignored their command to stop and fled into a nearby alley, where he fired twice on the officers with a .45 caliber pistol. Chief Cullen, armed with a rifle, held his fire as a bystander walked past, but the remaining officers opened fire on Van Meter, who fell dead."Homer Van Meter Walks Into Police Trap and Dies Shooting", Lawrence Journal-World, 24 August 1934 He was 27 years old. Brown continued to fire at Van Meter as he lay prone; the impact of the bullets ripped off one finger and nearly severed a thumb and finger of the right hand.Dillinger Mob Man Shot Down, Prescott Evening Courier, 24 August 1934 The body was found to be armed with a .45-caliber Colt automatic pistol. The number and severity of Van Meter's wounds were attributed to the use of the Thompson submachine gun. Van Meter's family later said that their kin had been used for "target practice".
Out of disgust over Detective Brown's betrayal of Homer Van Meter, the Barker-Karpis Gang decided to divide what would otherwise have been the Detective's share of the Bremer ransom among themselves.