Retired Intelligence Unit Detective Gary Jenkins brings you his unique perspective on organized crime.
The Bulldog Detective: William J. Flynn’s Battle Against the New York Mafia and More Introduction: In the tumultuous landscape of early twentieth-century America, where threats from organized crime, espionage, and terrorism loomed large, one man stood as a bulwark against the rising tide of criminality. Meet William Flynn, the Bulldog Detective, who played a pivotal role in shaping the course of American law enforcement. gary and author Jeffrey Simon look into the remarkable career of William Flynn, focusing on his crusade against the New York Mafia and his enduring legacy in the fight for justice.
Early Life and Education: Born on November 18, 1867, in the heart of New York City, Flynn’s journey into public service began in 1897 after a standard public school education. Little did the nation know that this unassuming figure would become a central force in combating some of American history’s most notorious criminal organizations.
Early Career: Starting as a Manhattan plumber, Flynn’s trajectory shifted dramatically when he joined the United States Secret Service. His early focus on counterfeiting soon led him to confront the Black Hand extortionists and the infamous Morello crime family members. Flynn’s tenacity and strategic acumen set the stage for his future battles against organized crime. Collaboration with Detective Giuseppe “Joe” Petrosino: Flynn’s path intertwined with that of Detective Giuseppe “Joe” Petrosino, who met an untimely end in 1909 while investigating gangsters in Sicily. Undeterred by Petrosino’s tragic fate, William Flynn continued the pursuit, successfully building a case that resulted in the imprisonment of Giuseppe Morello and his associates in 1910.
Reorganization of the New York City Detective Force: In 1911, Flynn showcased his leadership skills by successfully reorganizing the New York City Detective Force. This began his rise in law enforcement, earning him recognition for his influential and innovative approach. World War I and Espionage Investigations: As the shadows of World War I loomed over America, Flynn’s role expanded to include investigating threats of sabotage. His dedication to national security became evident when he exposed a German-owned wireless station on Long Island, leading to the seizure of critical documents.
Director of the Bureau of Investigation: Flynn’s crowning achievement came in 1919 when he was appointed Director of the Bureau of Investigation. Praised by Attorney General Palmer as “the leading, organizing detective of America,” William Flynn uncovered a German spy network operating on U.S. soil. His relentless pursuit of justice and national security earned him the nickname “the Bulldog.”
Challenges, Resignation, and Reinstatement: Flynn’s hardline approach and public statements on German espionage strained relations within the German-American community, resulting in his resignation. However, in the face of escalating terrorist actions, Flynn was reinstated to lead the charge against the perpetrators, assigning a young J. Edgar Hoover to monitor suspected radicals.
Semi-Retirement and Legacy: William Flynn ventured into business, founding a detective agency with his children after his tenure in the Bureau of Investigation. Despite challenges, he contributed to the field through writing and scenario development for the motion picture industry. Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction, the magazine he edited, became a lasting testament to his influence in crime fiction.
Conclusion: William J. Flynn’s legacy is one of resilience, dedication, and an unyielding commitment to justice. His battles against the New York Mafia, German spies, and terrorists shaped the trajectory of American law enforcement. The Bulldog Detective’s story serves as a beacon, reminding us of the indomitable spirit required to confront and overcome the challenges of our times. William J. Flynn, America’s first line of defense against the underworld, may have been forgotten by history, but his legacy lives on in the annals of crime-fighting heroism.Support the Podcast
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Transcript
William Flynn Det.
Gary: [00:00:00] Welcome all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio of Gangland Wire. I have an interview today with Jeffrey Simon. Jeffrey Simon is an author, a researcher, a policy analyst, and an expert on terrorism and on a certain area of organized crime.
Now, I saw somewhere, I think maybe on LinkedIn or something, I saw this book, and I hadn’t heard of this guy, an early mafia detective in New York City named William J. Flynn, and Jeffrey had done a book on him, and like, our Kansas City mob, he wasn’t a detective, he was, but he was a mob investigating patrolman, and then Joe Remo, and I, Joe Remo, and then Joe Petrosoni, I had done shows on them, but I had not heard of William J.
Flynn, so I wanted to get him on and learn about Mr. Flynn, an early Mafia detective, because, you know, I’m a later day Mafia detective, and [00:01:00] now I want to find out about the roots of my chosen profession over the years, so Jeffrey, I really appreciate you coming on the show. Welcome.
Jeffry: Thank you for having me.
Gary: It’s a pleasure. All right. So, so Jeffrey tell us a little more about yourself. I was looking, you got a ton of books in there, several more about terrorism and then this book and, and you’ve been a researcher and an analyst for the Rand Corporation on Terrorism. And, and I think that’s interesting as heck.
So tell us a little more about yourself and guys, by the way, I’ll have a link to to Jeffrey’s Amazon site to see all of these books in the show notes. So go ahead, Jeffrey.
Jeffry: Oh, sure. I had actually gone to undergraduate school at UC Berkeley in the late 1960s and I majored in history there.
And then I went for graduate school in political science. So my career kind of started looking at international conflict political violence. And then I had worked at the Rand Corporation for a number of years where the main specialty was on [00:02:00] terrorism. But as I continued to write about terrorism, I also kind of ventured into interesting biographies of people that might be involved in either having been terrorists or in combating terrorists.
So one book I wrote was about a terrorist group. And this book, when you write a book, you try to figure out a couple of things. One, has it been done before? Because if it’s done before, what are you going to really? Say or are you going to say it differently? And so it spends a lot of I spend a lot of time searching for a good topic That’d be an interesting topic and from one of my books.
I had a little section Excuse me on william. J. Flynn But I didn’t really know about his life. And then I was shocked to learn, one, nobody’s written a biography about him, and then he had such a fascinating career beyond what I had known in terms of some of the combating of a terrorist group. So then the next problem is, are you going to have enough information?
To write a full book [00:03:00] 80 to 100, 000 words, you know, if you can say everything in one page, you don’t have a book. So I just started doing the research. And then I looked out because William J. Flynn turned out to be a prolific writer. So he wrote a lot. He wrote essays. He was always in the news. And that’s where I was shocked because he was like a rock star, a law enforcement rock star during the early 1900s.
And yet he’s basically forgotten today. So that’s sort of how I got into, you know, his story. And because he was head, most of his career was with the secret service. I got great information from the archives and the secret service. And just, you know, you get a lot of help as you’re doing a book, you know, interviews or people tell you about this other person.
So basically that’s how I got into the story of William J. Flynn.
Gary: So he has the nickname of Bulldog. How’d he get that nickname?
Jeffry: It’s from Tenacity. And I want to read a little quote here. He [00:04:00] called it steady hammering. So he said, steady hammering, that’s my doctrine and advice. It doesn’t do to drop a case under pressure of a new matter.
Reserve a place for it in the back of the head. Think of it, hammer away at it, hear a little, there a little, until the men you are after are either apprehended or dead. So, he had this tenacity, so he got the nickname Bulldog, and he was a big man on the cover of the book, You could see his walking. He’s like 300 pounds.
I mean if you’re older younger viewers may not remember what Orson Welles looked like. Orson Welles is a famous movie director, but big big man and he had a big family. So Flynn had that nickname Bulldog and He lived up to it.
Gary: Interesting. Now you mentioned that, that he he, he knew Joe Petrosino, who was the famous New York City mob detective.
And, and, and [00:05:00] William J. Flynn, he didn’t really start out with the NYPD. I don’t believe he, he came to it later on. He started out with the Secret Service. So maybe you should start back to about his career in the Secret Service and counterfeiting because counterfeiting. And the mafia back in these days, that was, that was a big money maker for him before really got into gambling and that other stuff.
Jeffry: Yeah. Yeah. His NYPD,
