William P. O'Brien (June 15, 1891 – December 17, 1960) was an American law enforcement officer who served as

New York City Police Commissioner The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsib ...

from 1949 to 1950.

Early life

O'Brien was born on June 15, 1891, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. His parents had immigrated to New York from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and his father was a

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

patrolman. Prior to becoming a police officer, O'Brien studied shorthand and typing and spent 8 years working in an office. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the Military Police Corps of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant.

Early career

O'Brien joined the police department on May 4, 1916. He was promoted to sergeant in 1923, lieutenant in 1928, captain in 1937, deputy inspector in 1939, inspector in 1941, and deputy chief inspector in 1943. In 1946 he was promoted to assistant chief inspector and given command of the

Manhattan West Manhattan West is a mixed-use development by Brookfield Properties, built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment. The project spans 8-acres and features four office towers, one boutique hotel, one residential building, of retail space an ...

district, which was seen as the most important police district in the city. In 1948 he was named third deputy police commissioner.

Commissioner

First deputy commissioner Thomas F. Mulligan died on January 23, 1949. O'Brien was chosen to succeed him and was sworn in on February 1, 1949. However, one day before O'Brien was to take office, commissioner Arthur W. Wallander announced his resignation, meaning that O'Brien would serve as acting commissioner while Wallander spent his final month in office on vacation then succeeded him on March 1. On December 11, 1949, the ''

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

'' published an exposé detailing police protection of bookmakers.

Brooklyn District Attorney The Kings County District Attorney's Office, also known as the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, is the district attorney's office for Kings County, coterminous with the Borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The office is responsible for the ...

Miles F. McDonald launched a grand jury investigation and during an April 8, 1950, raid on a policy shop, McDonald's investigators found five plainclothes policemen and evidence of payoffs in the shop. Four months later, Mayor

William O'Dwyer William O'Dwyer (July 11, 1890November 24, 1964) was an Irish-American politician and diplomat who served as the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950. Life and career O'Dwyer was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ir ...

resigned. On September 15, 1950, MacDonald's men raided a $20 million betting syndicate and arrested bookmaker Harry Gross. After O’Brien was presented with wiretap evidence of Gross paying off police officers he announced the department would begin its own investigation into the matter. On September 24, 1950, acting mayor

Vincent R. Impellitteri Vincent Richard Impellitteri (born Vincenzo Impellitteri; February 4, 1900 – January 29, 1987) was an American politician and judge who served as the 101st Mayor of New York City, 1950–53. He was elected as a Democrat as president of the City ...

announced that O'Brien would be fired if he did not resign. The following day, O'Brien announced his resignation.

Later life

O'Brien spent his later years working in real estate. In May 1952, Gross alleged that when O'Brien was a division commander in Brooklyn, the two had an arrangement that allowed Gross to operate as a bookmaker. O'Brien denied the accusation. He died on December 17, 1960, at his home in

Hollis, Queens Hollis is a residential middle class, middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. While a predominantly African-American community, there are small minorities of Hispa ...

. He was 69 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Brien, William P. 1891 births 1960 deaths New York City Police Commissioners People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn People from Hollis, Queens United States Army personnel of World War I