San Francisco Police Department Records Series 1
1949-1970
bulk
Arrangement
Arranged by type of record, then chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Chiefly records from a long-term undercover vice investigation, 1954-1959; together with a few memos, publications, press
releases, and audio recordings, 1954-1970. A handful of memos concerns Mafia investigations of 1968-1970.
The undercover vice investigation, led by Head of the Super Vice Squad Frank Ahern, (who was partners with Cahill as a homicide
inspector and was later promoted to Chief) includes correspondence, transcripts, and partially-identified audio recordings.
Most of the material seems to be documentation gathered by an undercover operative investigating prostitution and bookie rings,
gambling, narcotics, and homosexuals. There were a series of public trials around 1956 based on the information obtained through
the investigation's wiretaps, in which Mabel Malotte and Inez Burns both figure prominently.
Audio includes several partially-identified or unidentified wire spools and reel-to-reel tapes, including a set of seven reels
housed in an envelope labeled "Homicide detail," with a note to Cahill enclosed from John B. Hood. Some of the audio might
match up to the transcripts in this series.
box 1, folder 1-24
Vice investigation: Internal Documents
1954-1959
box 1, folder 25-40
Vice Investigation: Transcripts
1954-1959
box 1, folder 41
Vice Investigation: Correspondence
1954-1959
box 9, disk 1-11, box 6, folder 1-10
Audiorecordings
1949-1956?
Scope and Contents
6/1 “Dictation of Polly Gould on Meeting with Bones Remmer,”
November 12, 1949 (wire spool).
6/2-3 [Polly Gould recordings] (wire spools), [1949]
6/4-5 [Polly Gould recordings] (reel-to-reel), late 1949
6/6 Unidentified wire spool recordings "Trans. 1-3," [195?] (3 spools)
6/7 "Homicide detail" (7 reel-to-reels), [195?]
Box 9 Memovox discs sent to Inspector Frank Ahern (11 discs), [195?]
6/8 "Hoodlum organization" (reel-to-reel), Apr. 22, 1956
6/9 "Tape of conversation with Chief" (reel-to-reel), undated
6/10 Unidentified recording (reel-to-reel), undated
box 2, folder 2-18, box 7, folder 1-3
Correspondence Series 2
1950-1999
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Incoming and outgoing correspondence, mostly concerning Cahill's promotions and appointments, speaking engagements and public
appearances, and work in professional associations and government commissions. Several folders contain letters, cards, and
telegrams of congratulation on his appointment to Deputy Chief in 1956 and Chief in 1958, including one disbound scrapbook
devoted to Cahill's appointment as Chief. Notable items include: a copy of General Order No. 69, dated Sept. 10, 1958 and
a letter from Richard Nixon thanking Cahill for his letter regarding J. Edgar Hoover's death. The series Includes a few photographs
that were enclosed with correspondence, now filed separately: Visit to Waterford Garda Barracks, Ireland (Aug. 29, 1969),
Cahill and unidentified man in antique car (undated), and John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and John F. Kennedy, Jr. (undated).
Please see Appendix B for corresponding folders.
Professional Activities Series 3
1951-2000
Arrangement
Arranged by type of activity or document, then chronologically.
Scope and Content
Scheduling diaries; speeches and interviews; papers documenting Cahill's attendance at conferences, events, and trips, as
well as his bids for public office; typescripts; certificates and awards; biographical sketches, and SFPD ephemera. Includes
photographs and audiorecordings documenting various speeches, interviews, events, and trips.
box 2, folder 20-24, box 3, folder 1-2
Scheduling Diaries
1957-1969
Physical Description:
7 folders
Scope and Contents
Includes one scheduling diary of Chief Ahern, 1958.
box 6, folder 11, box 7, folder 4, box 3, folder 3-19, box 9
Speeches and Interviews
1951-1995
Scope and Contents
Speech materials consist mostly of undated handwritten notes, along with typescripts, drafts, and some speeches of other people.
Includes a a few police photographs that accompanied a speech on crime from the 1950s; a phonograph recording of Cahill and
Ahern with Senator Kefauver and Senate staffer George Reedy in March 1951 for the Special Committee to Investigate Organized
Crime in Interstate Commerce; a transcript and phonograph recording of Cahill's appearance on Meet the Press on Feb. 19, 1967;
a reel-to-reel audiorecording of a speech Cahill made at a testimonial dinner for Archbishop McGucken on June 16, 1967, at
which Cahill was master of ceremonies; and a reel-to-reel audiorecording of an interview with Cahill conducted by a student
at Red Bluff High School and published in the school newspaper on March 14, 1969.
box 3, folder 20-21
Typescripts
1960-[1980]
Scope and Contents
Includes a typescript of Cahill's report, Outlook for Civil Disobedience, 1967.
box 3, folder 23
Conference: International Association of Chiefs of Police
1960
box 7, folder 5
Conference: Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit
1963
Scope and Contents
This folder consists of photographs only.
box 3, folder 24
Conference: National Conference on Crime Control
1967
box 3, folder 25
Conference: California Disaster Council, Governor's Disaster Council Task Force
Jan. 29, 1970
box 3, folder 26
Conference: California Peace Officers Association Midwinter
Feb. 1970
box 4, folder 2
Soviet Premier Khruschev's visit
Sept. 1959
box 4, folder 3-8, box 7, folder 6-8
Testimonial dinner
June 23, 1967
Scope and Contents
Includes materials from two scrapbooks, plus photographs from one small album and one Sheraton Hotel album.
box 4, folder 9
Testimonial dinner
Mar. 17, 1970
box 4, folder 10
Testimonial dinner
June 5, 1975
box 4, folder 11
Stockton Police Facility tenth anniversary
1980
box 7, folder 19, box 4, folder 13
90th birthday party
June 8, 2000
Scope and Contents
Includes photographs of the event at United Irish Cultural Center.
box 4, folder 14, box 7, folder 9-18
Hall of Justice Rededication Ceremony
March 10, 1994
Scope and Contents
Includes photographs from three albums plus some loose photos.
box 4, folder 15
Hibernian Newman Club Luncheon
March 27, 2000
box 4, folder 16, box 7, folder 20
Trip to Hawaii
Oct. 1968
Scope and Contents
Includes photographs.
box 4, folder 17, box 7, folder 21-22
Trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dec. 1-18, 1968
Scope and Contents
Include photographs, originally housed in a photo album embossed: Buenos Aires (Republic of Argentina), December 1-18, 1968.
box 4, folder 18
Trip to Ireland
Aug. 1969
box 4, folder 19
Professional service: International Association of Chiefs of Police
1962
box 4, folder 20
Professional service: San Francisco Charter Commission
1978
box 4, folder 21
Professional service: Bank Advisory Board
[1978?]
box 8, folder 1
Certificates and awards (oversize)
1948 and 1958
box 4, folder 22-23
Certificates and awards
1951-1995 and [undated]
box 4, folder 24
Press releases
1970 and 1992
Clippings and Printed Material Series 4
1936-2002
Physical Description: 35 folders, 1 flat box
Arrangement
Arranged by type of document, then chronologically.
Scope and Contents
Includes clippings about or sent to Cahill, as well as those concerning investigations in which he was involved or topics
in which he was interested. Some clippings might have been used to prepare speeches. Clippings sent by the San Francisco Police
Credit Union have orange tags glued to them. There is also a scrapbook/case file compiled by Pacific Telephone Company about
the January 1954 kidnapping of Leonard Moskovitz, documenting the company's—and particularly Chief Special Agent Doug Hayden's—role
in apprehending the kidnappers and effecting Moskovitz's release.
Other printed materials include magazines, journals, government documents, and monographs that Cahill collected, containing
articles about him or featuring topics about which he was concerned. A few items are written or co-written by him in his capacity
as Police Chief or commission member, including: 128 Hours: A Report of the Civil Disturbance in the City and County of San
Francisco (1966), published by the SFPD in the wake of the riots spurred by the police shooting of an African American youth
in Hunters Point; and The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society and Supplemental Statement on Constitutional Limitations,
both issued in 1967 by Lyndon B. Johnson's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, on which Cahill served.
box 5, folder 1-7, box 4, folder 27-36, box 8
box 5, folder 8
Periodicals: Police and Peace Officers' Journal, San Francisco edition
1953-1956
box 5, folder 9-10
Periodicals: Police Chief
June 1958-2001
box 5, folder 11
Periodicals: FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
Oct. 1960-Mar. 1970
box 5, folder 12-13
Periodicals: Miscellaneous titles
1960-1968
box 5, folder 14
Periodicals: University of San Francisco
1969-1980
box 5, folder 15
Periodicals: San Francisco Police Department yearbook
1982
box 5, folder 16
Periodicals: West's Who's Who in U.S. Law Enforcement Leaders
1990-1991
box 5, folder 17
Periodicals: The Watch Report
1998-1999
box 5, folder 18
Government documents:
1960-1971
box 5, folder 19-20
Government documents: The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: a Report by the President's Commission on Law Enforcement
and Administration of Justice
1967
box 5, folder 21-23
Newsletters and pamphlets
1940-1997 and [undated]
box 5, folder 24
Monographs: 128 Hours
1966
box 5, folder 25
Miscellaneous Monographs
[1966]-1994
Unidentified Photographs Series 5
1962-2000
Physical Description: 4 folders, 1 oversize folder
Scope and Contents
Consists of photographs that are not identified as being part of other series. Most of the photographs are described as part
of other series; please see other series descriptions and container list for further information.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 8, box 7, folder 24-26
Photographs transferred to San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection Appendix B
box 7, folder 1
Visit to Waterford Garda Barracks, Ireland
Aug. 29, 1969
General
Removed from Box 2 Folder 13.
box 7, folder 12
Cahill and unidentified man in antique car, undated
General
Removed from Box 2 Folder 17
box 7, folder 3
John F. Kennedy, Caroline, and John F. Jr. Kennedy 2/18
undated
General
Removed from Box 2 Folder 18.
box 7, folder 4
Police photographs from speech on crime
1950s
General
Removed from Box 3 Folder 3.
box 7, folder 5
Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit 8th Annual Conference, Los Angeles
April 1963
General
Removed from Box 3.
box 7, folder 16
Testimonial dinner, small album
June 23, 1967
General
Removed from Box 4 Folder 8
box 7, folder 7-8
Testimonial dinner, Sheraton Hotel album
June 23, 1967
General
Removed from Box 4 Folder 8
box 7, folder 9-17
Hall of Justice re-dedication ceremony albums 1-3
March 10, 1994
General
Removed from Box 4 Folder 13
box 7, folder 18
Hall of Justice re-dedication ceremony
March 10, 1994
box 7, folder 19
90th birthday party at United Irish Cultural Center
June 9, 2000
General
Removed from Box 4 Folder 15.
box 7, folder 20
Trip to Hawaii
mid-October 1968
General
Removed from Box 4 Folder 16
box 7, folder 21-22
Trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina from album)
Dec. 1-18, 1968
General
Removed from Box 4 Folder 17
box 7, folder 23
Miscellaneous photographs
1962-2000
box 7, folder 24-26, box 8
box 8
Oversized magazine and newspaper clippings Appendix C