O’Connor Opens St. Paul
O’Connor’s method of keeping St. Paul safe resulted in an unwritten policy, now referred to as the O’Connor Layover Agreement, in 1900. The goal was to keep crime out of St. Paul by turning the city into a sanctuary for gangsters. The police ignored their smuggling, gambling, (later) alcohol production and distribution, and other offenses, at least the ones kept underground and discreet. Police quietly protected the criminals while they were within St. Paul, letting them know about federal raids before they happened.
As long as the gangsters behaved themselves within St. Paul’s borders, they were welcome to do as they pleased in other districts. St. Paul wouldn’t even extradite them to these other jurisdictions if they got caught. It kept crime down within O’Connor’s realm, the other cities, even St. Paul’s twin city of Minneapolis, be damned. They could deal with their own crime.
