Old photos of slot and gambling raids

[Dave]

Go to http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-130130-policy-racket-gambling-slot-machines-pictures/ if you want to see some great photos of slots being sledge hammered to death, burned, and tossed in landfills.

I would post photos here but that is a violation of their copyright.

[WS65711]

Too cool!
Thanks for posting!

[cpdretired]

Dave when I started working for the Chicago PD policy was the source of gambling for the black community. The address of 610 E. 50th. St & 3850 South Park (Martin Luther King Dr.). was in my district. You would usually see the old timers around 6PM going door to door taking bets. Then after the drawing about 1000 PM they would drop off the police slips in the mail box. We hardly ever arrested them as it was a waste of court time. The cases were all thrown out.

As for some old slots. We used to get a burglar alarm at a CPD warehouse. It was amazing to see the contents. Just a few slots but it would have been nice to have one. One of the officers assigned asked us if we have ever been in the vault. He opened a large steel door. Like a bank vault. Inside was nothing but firearms. The CPD had to save all firearms from unsolved cases. Some of the weapons go back to the Capone era.

Ron

[SLOT DYNASTY]

OK Ron..........Now lets hear all about the Slot Machine Vault as well.

[cpdretired]

There were only a few slots there. I can't remember who made them as I wasn't a collector at that time. There must have been a thousand weapons in the vault. A few Thompson's but most were rifles, shotguns & handguns. The vault was about 10 X 10 ft with an 8ft ceiling. It was loaded with weapons. As I said these were for unsolved crimes. Some were recovered in the 20's & 30's everyone involved would be dead. Once a firearm is no longer need we escorted an evidence truck to the Indiana state line. This was back in the 70's. Helicopter flew overhead we had our shotguns. At the state line the Indiana State police took over. The weapons were taken to the steel mills and melted. When a firearm has entered the court system for a criminal case the county takes custody of it. In my 32 years I have recovered mostly junk street guns.

[3reel]

Years ago, I was friends with the mayor's son in a city just north of Boston. two people had the key to the property room, the chief of police and the mayor. Well, we used to lift the key from his dad's key ring and go-a -searchin' in the property room on very quiet days. This was in the days when tight security was really not in place like it is today. Like cpdretired said, this room was FILLED with hundreds of antique and newer weapons, countless boxes of ammo that went back to the 1800's, even a water cooled type machine gun on a tripod. Another room filled with beer kegs, booze and bicycles. When I spotted three old slot machines, I knew somehow I'd have to get them out of "jail" somehow, legally, of course. FIVE years later, I was able to prove they were "antique" slots to the Essex County Sheriff's dept. (a new provision in Ma. at the time), and was told they will be auctioned off in a public auction. Well, I got two out of the three, one just sold on E-bay this past week. (.25 Mills Castle w/ vendor). I kept the old Jan. 1, 1966 confiscation tags that were on the machines and the Department's paper work. When I opened up the quarter Castle front, it was filled with all "NEW" quarters! For years, I wouldn't drive through that city, since I was told that I took away "someones" toys from the property room. Hmmm... wonder who they were? Don't think we have to call in Columbo for that one.