Edmund Leo McNamara (1920-2000) was an American law enforcement officer and professional football player who served as commissioner of the
Boston Police Department
The Boston Police Department (BPD), dating back to 1854, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. The ...
.
Early life
McNamara was born on April 13, 1920 in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
He grew up in
Clinton, Massachusetts
Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census.
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massach ...
and attended
Clinton High School. He played tackle on Clinton's undefeated 1938 football team.
Football career and military service
McNamara attended the
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...
on an athletic scholarship. He was selected by the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
in the 27th round of the
1943 NFL Draft
The 1943 National Football League Draft was held on April 8, 1943, at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Detroit Lions selected running back Frank Sinkwich. This draft is the first NFL draf ...
. That same year he graduated from Holy Cross with a bachelor's degree in education. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, McNamara served in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
as a Lt. Jg. and was skipper of the PT 127, where he earned a
Silver Star
The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...
for courageous action while under fire.
After the war, McNamara returned to football. On October 9, 1945, Giants head coach
Steve Owen announced that he had sold McNamara's contract to the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
. Owen admired McNamara's military service and wanted him to play where he would have a better chance at a steady job.
FBI
In 1945, McNarama joined the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
. He worked in the Bureau's
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
and
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
offices before returning to Boston in 1948.
In 1950, he became the FBI's liaison to the Boston Police Department. He was a principal investigator in the
Brinks robbery.
Boston Police Department
Boston police commissioner
Leo J. Sullivan resigned on March 15, 1962 after a bookmaking scandal revealed by the ''
CBS Reports
''CBS Reports'' is the umbrella title used for documentaries by CBS News which aired starting in 1959 through the 1990s. The series sometimes aired as a wheel series rotating with '' 60 Minutes'' (or other similar CBS News series), as a series of i ...
'' documentary ''
Biography of a Bookie Joint
"Biography of a Bookie Joint" is an American documentary that aired on November 30, 1961, on CBS under the network's ''CBS Reports'' banner. It documented Swartz's Key Shop, an illegal bookmaking establishment located at 364 Massachusetts Avenue in ...
'' rocked the department.
The scandal also caused the
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
and Governor
John A. Volpe to transfer control of the department from the
Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachusetts ...
to the
Mayor of Boston
The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...
On April 5, 1962, Volpe officially ceded control and Mayor
John F. Collins sent a cable from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, where he was vacationing, to confirm McNamara's appointment as commissioner. McNamara submitted his resignation to Boston's special agent in charge
Leo L. Laughlin that day and assumed control of the department on a temporary basis. On May 1, he received a full five-year appointment to the position. McNamara was the first career law enforcement officer to serve as Boston police commissioner in the twentieth century.
During McNarama's first year in office, the city had to contend with the
Boston Strangler
The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in the Boston, Massachusetts, area during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, details revealed in court during a separate case, ...
murders, charges of police brutality, and an uproar in the predominantly African-American
Roxbury neighborhood over inadequate police protection. During his first term, McNarama implemented a number of changes, including changes proposed by the
Quinn Tamm
Quinn Tamm (August 10, 1910 – January 23, 1986) was an assistant director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then later an influential executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). Tamm's older bro ...
report.
These changes included the consolidation of police stations, modernization of the personnel record system, creation of a community relations program, and the formation of tactical patrol force to police high crime areas. His critics, however, believed that the department was undermanned and opposed his consolidation of neighborhood police stations.
During a 1963 investigation by the
Boston City Council
The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no ...
into the city's towing contracts, it was revealed that McNamara had listed his voting address as an apartment that was rented to Nathan Baker, a bail bondsman who formed a garage after McNamara took office which received most of the police department's towing business. After this came to light, McNamara ordered that all police towing cease. The Council did not find McNamara guilty of any wrongdoing.
In 1967, Collins reappointed McNamara to another five-year term.
After
Kevin White succeeded Collins as Mayor in 1968, he wanted to replace McNamara as commissioner. However, McNamara refused to resign and remained in office until his term expired on May 31, 1972.
Later life and death
After leaving the BPD, McNamara served as president of Ogden Security, a Boston-based corporation that provided residential and business security. He left Ogden in 1981 and started his own management and security consultant firm. In
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
and
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Boston City Council.
McNamara died on February 20, 2000, in Boston.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Edmund
1920 births
2000 deaths
United States Navy personnel of World War II
College of the Holy Cross alumni
Commissioners of the Boston Police Department
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents
Holy Cross Crusaders football players
New York Giants players
People from Boston
People from Clinton, Massachusetts
Pittsburgh Steelers players
United States Navy officers
Military personnel from Massachusetts