In his first three terms as Mayor the doctor had been relatively restrained, but knowing this would likely be his last term in office, he “set out upon a career of corruption which for deliberateness, invention and avarice has never been equaled.” 3 “The Shame of Minneapolis.” Penny. Ames was a physician and surgeon widely known in the community, and had seized upon that opportunity to get elected to office as both a Republican and a Democrat. Three years earlier, in 1900, Albert Alonzo “Doc” Ames had been elected to his fourth term as Mayor of Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Police Department briefly became the national poster child for bribery, graft, and extortion. Minneapolis was no exception to this in 1903, thanks to an article written by journalist Lincoln Steffens, the Minneapolis Police Department briefly became the national poster child for bribery, graft, and extortion. O ur Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America (2015). In many cities around the country, early police departments were part and parcel of the political machine: when a candidate won election, they would appoint their friends and supporters to cushy police jobs and, in turn, cops would use their unique position to help their benefactors stay in power. Police departments have a long and storied history of corruption.
1890) appointed his brother as chief of police and ushered in an era of corruption in the city. In his fourth term as Mayor of Minneapolis, Albert Alonzo “Doc” Ames (seen here c.