The Struggle for Seattle's Police Chief
A power struggle erupts between the city's gambling interests and a Chief of Police who refuses to play their game.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Frank Jackson has met the enemy, and he is hard on top. It is to be a fight to the finish and the final rounds are yet to come. The gamblers are now desperate, and they seem determined, with the aid of Acting Mayor Miller, to 'down' Jackson at any cost. Mr. Jackson has not made a model chief of police, nor has he succeeded in entirely suppressing gambling. He doubtless has done his best, however, and the gamblers have evidently not been able to make a tool of him. Some time ago, the edict went forth that Jackson must go. Acting Mayor Miller has done his best to carry out the purpose for which he was elected. With the aid of Commissioner Wallingford, he has succeeded in partially disorganizing the police department in the hope that by so doing he could force Chief Jackson to resign. This plan failed and the grand coup was executed yesterday. The acting mayor removed Chief Jackson summarily 'for cause,' as he expressed it, although what the cause was has not been made public. Deputy Sheriff McDonald was appointed to fill the vacancy. His tenure of office, however, was short-lived. The police commissioners met last night and by a unanimous vote reinstated Chief Jackson, at the same time writing the acting mayor that if he had any charges to prefer to submit them to the board.
“To the public the contest is interesting. It is a square fight between the gambling fraternity and a public official who seems to have had the courage to try and do his duty.”
The ongoing tension between Seattle's elected officials and the police department—often centered on the influence of private interests over public policy—remains a hallmark of local civic life. Much like today's debates regarding police accountability and political reform, the 1891 struggle highlights a city that has always felt caught between law enforcement, local politics, and powerful underground economies.
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