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Hollywod often depicts Allan Pinkerton and the Pinkerton Detective Agency negatively in its movies. However, Pinkerton was actually an innovative pioneer and leader in the filed of criminal investigation.Today, he continues to be credited for his many valuable contributions to law enforcement and private security practices.
Allan Pinkerton was born in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland - one of the most crime- and vice-ridden, polluted, and poorest areas in Europe (Jones, 2005). This area was so notorious that Sir John Fielding, leader of the famed Bow Street Runners-the first detectives in England, once said that his detectives could track a thief anywhere in the United Kingdom unless they made it to the Gorbals (Mackay, 1996).
The Pinkerton family was one of the oldest families in the Gorbals (Mackay, 1996). In the 1790's, a minister from the Gorbals remarked sadly that many children born to depraved parents were abandoned in the community, where they became involved in crime and deviant behavior with no fear of God or respect for other people. In this community, there was a great deal of alcohol consumption, with approximately one drinking establishment for every 12 families, not including the unlicensed ones (Mackay, 1996). The community had many brothels and many of the prostitutes hung out in the pubs. This was the part of Scotland where honest law abiding citizens went for fun.
Pinkerton was born to William and Isabell Pinkerton on August 25, 1819, during the worst of times in the Gorbals' community (Mackay 1996). The wars with France caused widespread unemployment in the area. Also, there were many crop failures as well as changing technology, both of which contributed to high unemployment. There were a number of strikes and violent confrontations in this period of time between the workers and the manufacturers. There was a huge influx of immigrants. The immigrants were from Ireland, but over time many people emigrated to the Gorbals from Eastern Europe. Today the community is largely Pakistani (Mackay, 1996).
Pinkerton's father worked as a handloom weaver, making him more skilled and educated than most in the community, though still poor. Later he worked as a jailer and was injured on the job. He eventually died from the injuries. Many sources report that Pinkerton's...