Carl Anthony Lind
- Cincinnati Police Captain 1945-1972
- Program Management Bureau Director 1972-1985
For a full account of the life, career, death and legacy of Captain Carl A. Lind in our LEGENDS page.
Carl was born June 28, 1920 as an American citizen in Romania. He came to the United States at 2½ years old, on December 7, 1922.
On April 19, 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army. On April 26, 1943, he began basic training and marine service training at Charleston, South Carolina. For nine months he served as a Technician/4th Grade and Master of Motor Tow Launch, towing barges, transporting pilots, berthing and unberthing small vessels, and ship-to-shore service in Glascow, Ireland. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant and plied his specialty in Liverpool, England. He was then assigned to Port of Operations, Cherbourg, France as Master of Army Tugboat with added duties of moving troop-laden barges, harbor obstacle clearance, and rescue and distress work. Staff Sergeant Lind was honorably discharged on July 2, 1945 with a Good Conduct Medal, Unit Citation, Battle Star, and Bronze Star.
On December 1, 1945, Carl followed his brother, Sergeant Peter Lind, into the Cincinnati Police Division, joining the 15th Recruit Class. After the first portion of their training at the Cincinnati Police Academy (314 Broadway), on February 16, 1946, Recruit Lind was assigned to the prestigious Highway Safety Bureau (City Hall). Having completed his training, Patrolman Lind was transferred to District 2 (314 Broadway) on June 1, 1946.
Two years later, Patrolman Lind’s nephew, Joseph Lind, joined the Police Division.
During 1949 and 1950, Carl completed the Delehanty Correspondence School “Police Practice, Procedure, and Science” course. On February 8, 1951, he transferred to District 5 (1024 York Street).
On September 30, 1951, after 5½ years as a Patrolman, he was promoted to Sergeant, issued Badge S-47, and assigned to District 7 (813 Beecher Street). During 1952, he completed the International City Managers Association “Municipal Police Administration” course. Also in 1952, the city promoted Captain Stanley Schrotel to Police Chief, and he immediately instituted a semiannual performance evaluation system with ratings from 0 to 100. Perfect efficiency was considered to be unattainable. So, when on March 1, 1952, Sergeant Lind earned a 95% performance evaluation, it was extraordinary. It would also be the lowest of his career.
On November 6, 1953, the Cincinnati Civil Service Commission announced that Sergeant Lind, having barely completed the two years necessary to compete, finished second in the Police Lieutenant promotional examination with a score of 94.28%. He was promoted on November 15, issued Badge L-19, and assigned to District 6 (3295 Erie Avenue). On February 22, 1955, during a reorganizing of the Division and restructuring district boundaries, Lieutenant Lind transferred to the new District Four (7017 Vine Street). When Assistant Chief William C. Adams retired in September 1955, with the domino of promotions and transfers, Lieutenant Lind transferred to District 2.
During the summer of 1957, Lieutenant Lind and Sergeant Charles Killinger were transferred to assume command of a new, larger Vice Control Bureau. After gangland-like bombings of two ‘numbers racket’ locations his bureau arrested three kingpins and nine lieutenants almost immediately and Lieutenant Lind wrote a 14-page history on the numbers racket. That was submitted it to City Council in order to bolster the Division’s plea for greater penalties, which they passed almost immediately. In March 1960, the VCB seized leger books including people and bets going back nine years. Gambling in Cincinnati came to a near standstill.
By 1960, the Cincinnati Police Division was shouldering the bulk of liquor enforcement intended for Ohio State Liquor Control agents. Of the 173 of Cincinnati’s liquor permit premises cited to the Ohio Department of Liquor Board, 96 were cited by the Police Division. Those did not include the thousands of arrests made in liquor establishments that could not be directly attributable to the bar management.
In February 1958, based on intelligence received from informants, Lieutenant Lind and the VCB staked out a Dayton airport, followed a man to a Dayton bus terminal, followed the bus to Cincinnati, and arrested the man at the Cincinnati bus station with three ounces of pure heroin which he intended to cut and sell here in 2500 capsules. Also in February, in the first opium arrest in Cincinnati in years, the bureau arrested two men at 15th and Walnut Streets with two ounces of the illicit substance. It had been so long between opium arrests that no one in local or federal agencies could estimate the value of the seizure. By August 1958, the VCB arrests for and seizures of heroin were so great that it was estimated that the city’s five hundred addicts were without a source to feed their addiction.
On August 8, 1957, the VCB raided four stores: Main Street News Shop, Derby News Company, Cliff’s Confectionary, and Sontag’s Pharmacy. They cited their owners under a new Ohio “smut law.” On March 17, 1958, the VCB took 398 smut magazines from a news shop on Ludlow Avenue, Al’s Smoke Shop on Main Street, and a confectionary on West Fifth Street, and cited the three owners. By October 1958, Lieutenant Lind was going after distributors of smut magazines. On October 1st, he and six of his detectives raided the Marshal Distributing Company on Spring Grove and seized a truckload of indecent magazines. There was a continued effort to obtain public support for the work that he, the VCB, and advocates like Charles H. Keating, Jr. were doing. On February 27 and 28, 1960, the second national conference of Citizens for Decent Literature was held in Cincinnati at the Netherland Hilton. Moderators for the workshop included Lieutenant Lind, Chief Schrotel, Juvenile Court Judge Benjamin Schwartz, Attorney Charles H. Keating, Jr., and other nationally known opponents of obscenity.
It is apparent that by 1958, Lieutenant Lind was more than just an investigative unit commander. He was a common spokesman for the Police Division regarding vice issues and other law enforcement topics. Having successfully established the “Quadrant System” to replace the obsolete “General Alarm” system in Hamilton County, on February 24, 1960, the Hamilton County Police Association and Cincinnati Police Division solicited expansion of the system into northern Kentucky. One of the men Chief Schrotel brought with him to negotiate interstate cooperation was Lieutenant Lind. Other notable Cincinnati names included future Cincinnati Police Chief Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Schott, future Safety Director Lieutenant Colonel Henry Sandman, and Sheriff Dan Tehan. Clearly, Lieutenant Lind was becoming more involved in administrative affairs than the typical Police Lieutenant.
On November 1, 1959, Lieutenant Lind announced that vice in Cincinnati was at an all-time low. Handbook operations were down 90% from their heyday in the 1940s. He estimated that only 50 bookies remained in the city. Narcotics traffic was almost at a standstill with addicts going out of town for their supply. Prostitution arrests were expected to be less than the year before. Numbers betting was far below normal. Word had gotten around that vice is not desired in Cincinnati. After almost four years of working nights and dealing with the lowest level of humanity, Lieutenant Lind requested a transfer. The chief was reticent but transferred him to District 2 (314 Broadway) on March 19, 1961.
After three years, Chief of Detectives Henry Sandman had Lieutenant Lind transferred to the Crime Bureau at Headquarters on March 8, 1964 to command his Larceny Investigation Squad. At the end of 1965, after only 1½ years in his new position, his performance rating was assessed at 98%.
On March 21, 1966, the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce announced their first annual Police Appreciation Awards and Lieutenant Lind was awarded the Academic Achievement Award for his “continued study and maintaining and A-average in police studies at the University of Cincinnati,” In May, the Chamber further awarded him $100 to continue his studies.
On December 23, 1966, the new Chief, Jacob Schott, named Lieutenant Lind as Acting Chief of Detectives at City Hall until a new Assistant Chief could physically assume the duties and he was promoted to Police Captain on January 11, 1967. Captain Lind was also appointed as the liaison between the Hamilton County Sheriff and Cincinnati Municipal Court.
On February 20, 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Welz assumed his new duties at Crime Bureau and Captain Lind was then assigned as Night Chief. On May 14, 1967, the Chief transferred him to the Patrol Bureau as the Deputy Patrol Bureau Commander. On June 12, 1967, when the race riots broke out in Cincinnati, Captain Lind was one of six field commanders. When the rioting began to ease he was placed in charge of the Forward Command Post. When antiwar/anti-draft protestors were anticipated at the Federal Building in December 1967, Captain Lind was the ranking member of the delegation that met with federal officials to plan their reaction to the event and any permutations resulting from it. Captain Lind was again the incident commander at the riot at the Hamilton County Jail on Christmas Day 1967. News accounts indicate that even when Sheriff Dan Tehan arrived, he deferred to Captain Lind to command the involved patrolmen and sheriff’s deputies.
When Lieutenant Colonel Welz retired on January 19, 1968, Captain Lind was again assigned by Chief Schott as Acting Chief of Detectives until a new assistant chief was appointed. After four months, On May 12, 1968, he returned to his Assistant Patrol Bureau Commander duties.
After two years at Headquarters, on February 23, 1969, Captain Lind transferred to District 3 (3201 Warsaw Avenue). While there, he represented the Division at numerous community meetings and presentations on various law enforcement topics.
On February 28, 1969, Captain Lind was initiated into University of Cincinnati’s Beta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda Scholarship Honorarium for their Evening College. In June, he was awarded an Associate of Arts degree.
On June 22, 1969, as a result of recommendations from a $60,000 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) survey, the Crime Bureau was redesignated the Criminal Investigation Section (CIS) and Captain Lind was assigned as its first commander. On September 24, 1969, four women were executed in the vault of Delhi Township’s Cabinet Supreme Savings and Loan Association in the worst bank robbery in the history of Greater Cincinnati. Delhi Township Police Chief Howard Makin requested assistance. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, and Captain Lind responded with detectives and special agents. By September 28th, due mostly to the efforts of Cincinnati’s Robbery Squad, Regional Crime Information Center, and a New Mexico State Patrolman, all four perpetrators were in custody. He also managed the investigation into and arrest and conviction for the ambush shooting of Cincinnati Patrolman Edmund Schindler on August 23, 1970.
The Regional Crime Information Center, established in 1969, gave Captain Lind another tool besides finding criminals. He was able to quickly discern numbers and do statistical analyses. He reported that by 1971, all crime was increasing at a dramatic pace, but especially property crime. Burglaries increased 55% in three years. On February 6, 1971, Captain Lind and the Division created a 60-man squad called the Crimes Against Property Unit. The Homicide and Robbery Squads each were augmented by two more detectives, and seven detectives were assigned to work at night.
On March 7, 1971, Captain Lind was transferred back to the Chief’s Office to become the Administrative Assistant to the Chief. Three months later, his son, Thomas A. Lind joined the Police Division as a civilian employee and later became a police officer.
On June 4, 1972, Captain Lind was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati.
The Police Division created a Program Management Bureau, intending to be directed by a civilian. Hundreds of people applied for the new position and forty were seriously vetted. Captain Lind rose to the top and was named the bureau’s first director. He retired on July 1, 1972 with 26½ years of service as a law enforcement officer and 73 letters of appreciation and/or commendation, including four from Cincinnati chiefs and others from the Indian Hill Police Chief, Hamilton County Sheriff, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Hamilton County Coroner, Cincinnati Safety Director, Chief Enforcement Officer of the Ohio State Liquor Control, Ohio Attorney General, United States Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and Miami, Florida Chief of Detectives. The next day, on July 1, 1972, he returned as the new Program Management Bureau. His new bureau contained the Research and Development Section and Fiscal and Budget Section. The position was a two-year commitment but lasted 13 years under Chiefs Carl V. Goodin and Myron J. Leistler.
On December 31, 1975, Director Lind attained a previously perceived unattainable rating of 100%. He maintained that proficiency for the rest of his career. To illustrate the importance of Director Lind, during March 1976, City Councilman James T. Luken, in a politically charged assertion, alleged that Director Lind was “the de facto police chief” and that, “using his authority as assistant to the Safety Director, he [had] effective control over the Police Chief.” Luken added, “as far as I am concerned, he IS the police chief.” It was nonsense, but Chief Leistler did rely upon him more than his other bureau chiefs.
During March 18 through 24, 1979 Director Lind completed the Northwestern University Traffic Institute (NUTI) “Police Budget Preparation Workshop.”
On December 31, 1982, Police Chief Myron J. Leistler wrote, “Probably the most competent individual with whom I have been associated in 39 years in law enforcement.” In 1984, he wrote, “It’s difficult to put into words what this man has meant to the Police Division. ‘Indispensable’ comes close.”
Captain Lind retired again in 1985, with a total 42 years of service to his country and community. He is a legend in local law enforcement and his expanded, legendary biography can be found at Captain Carl Anthony Lind (1920-1989).
Captain Lind’s great grandnephews (Patrolman Joseph Lind’s grandsons) also joined the Police Department, Robert J. Lind in 2005 and Christopher Lind in 2021. His son, retired Sergeant Thomas A Lind, is the Webmaster for the Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society and still maintains the electronic Memorial Page on the Society’s website, as well as the memorial websites of the Cincinnati Police Department and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Captain Lind’s grandnephew, retired Superintendent of Operations for the Southern Ohio Region Transportation Authority (SORTA) Philip L. Lind (Patrolman Lind’s son) has served for decades as Secretary, Treasurer, and Registrar for the Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society and Museum.
© This biography was revised on May 3, 2024 by Cincinnati Police Lieutenant Stephen R. Kramer (Retired), Greater Cincinnati Police Museum Historian. All rights are reserved to him and the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum.