Professional criminals of America PDF book by Officer Thomas F. Byrnes (1886)





The writer has confined himself to facts, collected by systematic investigation and verified by patient research, during a continuous, active and honorable service of nearly a quarter of a century in the Police Department of the City of New York. Necessarily, during this long period, Inspector Thomas Byrnes has been brought into official relations with professional thieves of all grades and has had a most favorable field for investigating the antecedents, history, and achievements of the many dangerous criminals continually preying upon the community.These opportunities have been improved to their utmost extent, and the result has been the accumulation of a vast store of useful knowledge, such as has never before been gathered by any other public officer or private individual.The book is complete, and, in my opinion, trustworthy in all its details, and in these points consist of its great value and desirability. It contains over two hundred photographs of important and dangerous criminals, thus forming a public Rogues' Gallery. In addition, among its pages will be found the methods and records of several hundred Burglars, Bank Thieves, Forgers, Swindlers, and law-breakers of every description. The book also contains valuable criminal information relative to a large number of bank burglaries, notable forgeries, and mysterious murders, all of which have been collected from the best possible sources, together with the Prison Commutation Laws and other interesting matters. It is not claimed that there will be found in these pages an account of each particular arrest of those whose records are given. This would be impossible, for a professional thief, in a locality where he is a stranger, uses every means in his power to conceal his identity, and in many instances celebrated robbers have been convicted and sentenced under fictitious names. My experience as a judge in the principal criminal court of the city and county of New York has assured me of the great value of the contents of this volume, and my knowledge of the writer permits me to cheerfully endorse the trustworthiness of the information with which his book is replete.In my estimation, the circulation of the volume will tend to familiarize the public with the faces, appearance, and methods of the army of malefactors who, with keen eyes and active brains, are forever watching and planning to their detriment. The author has spread his vast knowledge of the criminal classes in a simple, straightforward narrative of facts, and the book supplies a want long felt in the community. There cannot be the slightest doubt but that it will prove an important medium in the prevention and detection of crime, and I therefore cheerfully give it my fullest endorsement and recommendation.