The charter of Minneapolis gave the mayor considerable appointing
power. He was virtually the dictator of the Police Department.
This was the great opportunity of Ames and his floating vote. His
own brother, a weak individual with a dubious record, was made
Chief of Police. Within a few weeks about one-half of the police
force was discharged, and the places filled with men who could be
trusted by the gang. The number of detectives was increased and
an ex-gambler placed at their head. A medical student from Ames's
office was commissioned a special policeman to gather loot from
the women of the street.
Through a telepathy of their own, the criminal classes all over
the country soon learned of the favorable conditions in
Minneapolis, under which every form of gambling and low vice
flourished; and burglars, pickpockets, safe-blowers, and harlots
made their way thither. Mr. W. A. Frisbie, the editor of a
leading Minneapolis paper, described the situation in the
following words: "It is no exaggeration to say that in this
period fully 99% of the police department's efficiency was
devoted to the devising and enforcing of blackmail. Ordinary
patrolmen on beats feared to arrest known criminals for fear the
prisoners would prove to be 'protected'. . . .The horde of
detective favorites hung lazily about police headquarters,
waiting for some citizen to make complaint of property stolen,
only that they might enforce additional blackmail against the
thief, or possibly secure the booty for themselves.
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