The Badge

Ex-East St. Louis officer, 95, recalls old times

BY WALLY SPIERS - News-Democrat

Sheriff Mearl Justus' dinner for retired law enforcement officers on Thursday at the St. Clair County Jail produced a lot of camaraderie.

"It's a chance to get together, see people you haven't seen for a long time and talk about old times," Justus told the crowd.

The dinner attracts men and women from the Sheriff's Department, the Illinois State Police and police departments from surrounding towns.

Justus introduced this year's honored guest, Tommy O'Brien, 95, a longtime East St. Louis police officer and a friend of many in the crowd.

O'Brien said he retired from that department sometime in the early 1960s as a lieutenant colonel and the assistant police chief.

He now lives in Grand Manor in Swansea.

"I had five children, I had to work after I retired," he said.

With Justus' help, he said he got a job in security with Cerro Copper and later worked at the East St. Louis Federal Courthouse.

O'Brien joined the East St. Louis Police Department in 1939, he said.

"It was the height of the Depression. I needed a job. I tried for two years to get on at the fire department. When I came up, they switched me to the police department," he said.

He survived a long and distinguished career, which nearly ended one Christmas Eve at the old Broadview Hotel. It most likely was 1958 when he was 42, he said.

"We got a call about a guy in a room with a gun," O'Brien said. "We walked in the room and he had a gun in his hand. We were talking him out. My partner grabbed him and was struggling with him."

Still the man managed to shoot O'Brien five times, with one bullet missing an artery in his leg by just a whisker the doctors said.

Tommy said he figured that relieved him of his duty to hold fire so he shot and killed the man.

"He must have been mental," Tommy said.

Bob Frisse, another retired East St. Louis police officer, said Tommy had a phenomenal memory.

"If you brought a guy in and he saw him, he could remember where he had seen him in our book before," Frisse said. "He is a legend."

Have a column idea? Call Wally at 239-2506 or 800-642-3878; or email: wspiers@bnd.com

Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2011/12/16/1981700/ex-east-st-louis-officer-95-recalls.html#ixzz1gi2tWiOX

More on our Tommy Gun

From the Belleville News Democrat, January 26, 1927

So that the local Sheriff’s forces will be adequately protected in the event of a bank robbery, the Illinois Banker’s Association has purchased for the artillery of the county office a 45 calibre  Thompson machine gun.The high powered weapon was received by Sheriff Ahrens Tuesday afternoon and within the next few days a squad of deputies will practice their skills at marksmanship with the gun. Accompanying the gun, were 500 rounds of ammunition and two magazines, one of the cylinder type with a capacity of 50 bullets, and another of the clip variety which holds 20 bullets. Besides being held in reserve in the event of bank robberies, the machine gun will also be used in any other urgent call for the sheriff forces, Sheriff Ahrens said Wednesday. 

See the original article here .

Kevin Gordon has an interesting article about our Tommy Gun  on his website.