Thomas Anthony Reppetto (August 17, 1931 – May 5, 2020) was a police officer, crime watchdog, historian, educator, and author. He was a commander of detectives in the Chicago Police Department and the president of New York City's Citizens Crime Commission for over 25 years. He was the dean of the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...

in New York.

Childhood

Reppetto was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. His mother was a secretary for the Chicago Police Department and his father was a saloonkeeper who spent time in prison for a variety of criminal activities. Reppetto visited his father in prison on Sundays.

Education

Reppetto attended

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

in Chicago. While he was working in the Chicago Police Department, he got a PhD in public administration from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

Reppetto joined the Chicago Police department in 1952 and became the commander of detectives. While working there, he pursued his PhD, but once it was completed and he rejoined the force, but, however, he was sidelined from holding advanced positions. In 1970 he became a criminal justice researcher at the Joint Center for Urban Studies of M.I.T. and Harvard. In 1971 he moved to be a professor at New York City's

; he eventually served as dean and vice president of the school. In 1979, Reppetto was approached by a group of businessmen who formed the nonpartisan New York City's Citizens Crime Commission. He served as the president of the commission for over 20 years. He advised New York City mayors on how to reduce crime, pointing to many historical mistakes which led to public distrust and unrest of police officers.

Publications

He wrote ''American Mafia'', ''Bringing Down the Mob'', ''Blue Parade'', ''Battleground New York City'', ''American Detective'', and ''Shadows over the White House''. He also wrote about the criminal justice system for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reppetto, Thomas 1932 births 2020 deaths Writers from Chicago American police officers John Jay College of Criminal Justice faculty Roosevelt University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni