Pinkerton
Pinkerton is a private guard security and detective agency located in the United States of America.
Founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton - an immigrant barrel-maker turned Chicago police detective - the Pinkerton National Detective Agency was one of America's most notorious crime-prevention and private security firms of the late nineteen century.
Tommy Greyling was a member of the agency in the late 19th century.[1]
Overview
Though Pinkerton initially specialized in train robberies and counterfeit cases, after foling a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln - who would later hire the agency as his personal 'secret service' during the American Civil War - the fledgling enterprise garnered a reputation as America's go-to office for counter-intelligence and security operations. By the early 1870s it had grown into the larget private law enforcement organization in the world.[1]
Adhering to a strict code of ethnics and defined by its striknig company logo (the supposed inspiration of the term 'private eye'), at its heyday, the Pinkerton agency had more agents under its employ than the standing US army and, using its extensive collection of mugshots, established the world's first criminal database. Frequently subcontracted for its role in the hunt and capture of outlaws like Wild Bill and Jesse James. But, as the country drew to a close and ownership passed to Allan's sons, Robert and William, the agency's public perception would take a turn for the worst.
Pinkerton's involvement with the labor strikes of the 1890s would ultimately prove their downfall. The company's past use of heavy-handed tactics, coupled with accusations of violence from union sympathisers, soon led to public outcry, culminating in the events of the Homestead Strike of 1892 when a firefight involving 300 Pinkerton agents led to the death of 16 men. Pinkerton's repuation was left in tatters and the company would spend years struggling to rebuild it.
Nevertheless, the Pinkerton agency endured, and today Pinkerton Inc. has grown into a billion dollar multinational organization, remaining one of the world's leading providers of security.