Pinkerton (detective agency) facts for kids

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Pinkerton

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Private security contractor
Founded	Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (c. 1850; 175 years ago)
Founder	Allan Pinkerton
Headquarters	Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Services	Security management, risk management consulting, investigations, employment screening, protective services, security, crisis management, intelligence services
Parent	Securitas AB (1999–present)

Pinkerton is a company that provides private security and detective services. It was started around 1850 in the United States. A Scottish-born American named Allan Pinkerton and Chicago lawyer Edward Rucker founded it.

The company was first called the North-Western Police Agency. Later, it became Pinkerton & Co., and then the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. From the 1870s to the 1890s, it was the biggest private law enforcement group in the world. Today, it is part of a Swedish company called Securitas AB.

Pinkerton became well-known for claiming to have stopped a plan to harm President-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Lincoln later hired Pinkerton agents to gather information during the American Civil War. They also acted as his personal guards.

After the Civil War, Pinkerton agents often worked against organized labor unions. Businesses hired them to watch unions and guard factories during strikes. They also helped keep striking workers away from workplaces. During the Homestead strike in 1892, Pinkerton agents were involved in a violent event. Three agents and nine steelworkers died.

In the 20th century, Pinkerton changed its focus. It became a company for personal security and managing risks. It still exists today as Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, Inc. It is known as Pinkerton Corporate Risk Management.

How Pinkerton Started
Protecting Presidents: Early Secret Service Work
Working for the U.S. Government
The Molly Maguires Investigation
The Homestead Strike of 1892
Tracking Outlaws and Competition
Pinkerton in the Modern Era
See also

How Pinkerton Started

In the 1850s, Allan Pinkerton, an immigrant from Scotland, met Edward Rucker. They met in a local Masonic Hall in Chicago. These two men created the North-Western Police Agency. This agency later became known as the Pinkerton Agency.

Allan Pinkerton was skilled at gathering information. He used these skills to attract clients and help his agency grow. In 1855, he worked with six railroad companies. He then set up his detective agency in Chicago. The Pinkerton Agency began hiring women and minority groups. This was unusual at the time, but they were useful as spies.

Protecting Presidents: Early Secret Service Work

"We Never Sleep" logo

One of the agency's first big jobs was to safely get President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, to Washington, D.C.. There was a threat to assassinate him. Pinkerton detective Kate Warne was given this important task. She successfully helped Lincoln reach the capital city. She used disguises and stayed awake for the entire long trip.

Because of this success, the company chose an open eye as its logo. Their slogan became, "We never sleep." Around this time, Allan Pinkerton also worked for the "Secret Service" part of the U.S. War Department. These actions helped set the stage for the United States Secret Service. This official group was formed in 1865. It protects U.S. Presidents to this day.

Working for the U.S. Government

Pinkerton guards escort strikebreakers in Buchtel, Ohio, 1884

In 1871, the U.S. Congress gave money to the new Department of Justice. The money was for finding and prosecuting people who broke federal laws. There wasn't enough money to create a new government unit. So, the Department of Justice hired the Pinkerton National Detective Agency for these services.

However, people learned about Pinkerton's involvement in breaking strikes. Lawmakers began to oppose government contracts with the agency. The Pinkertons were very active in the 1870s and 1880s. They often used force against striking workers. A major example was their role in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.

The event in Homestead, Pennsylvania, in 1892, caused a national outcry. After this strike, Congress took quick action. They passed the Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893 in 1893. This law greatly limited the government's ability to hire the Pinkerton agency. The act says that people working for Pinkerton or similar groups cannot be hired by the U.S. government.

The Molly Maguires Investigation

In the 1870s, a railroad president named Franklin B. Gowen hired Pinkerton. He wanted them to "investigate" labor unions in his company's mines. A Pinkerton agent named James McParland went undercover. He used the name "James McKenna."

He joined the Molly Maguires, a secret group of Irish-American coal miners. His work led to the downfall of this labor group. This event later inspired parts of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear.

The Homestead Strike of 1892

Pinkerton men leaving a barge after their surrender during the Homestead Strike

Frick's letter describing the plans and munitions that will be on the barges when the Pinkertons arrive to confront the strikers in Homestead

On July 6, 1892, during the Homestead Strike, 300 Pinkerton agents were called in. They came from New York and Chicago. Carnegie Steel's Henry Clay Frick hired them. Their job was to protect the mill near Pittsburgh and act as strikebreakers.

This led to a violent fight and a standoff. Sixteen men were killed, and 23 others were hurt. After the fight, the Governor of Pennsylvania sent state police and the National Guard. Both private and government forces ended the strike. Workers then returned to the steel mill.

Local news called the strike "The Battle of Homestead." It caused a huge stir across the United States. Many Americans were angry about how the Pinkertons acted and how the strikers were treated. The Homestead Strike of 1892 is a key moment in American labor history. It led Congress to start cracking down on the Pinkertons.

Tracking Outlaws and Competition

Pinkerton agents were hired to find famous western outlaws. These included Jesse James, the Reno Gang, and the Wild Bunch. This group included Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In 1874, two Pinkerton detectives and a deputy sheriff met the Younger brothers. Three people died in the fight.

Pinkertons also transported money and valuable goods between towns. This made them targets for outlaws. Pinkerton agents were usually paid well and carried weapons.

A former Pinkerton employee, George Thiel, started his own company. It was called the Thiel Detective Service Company. This company became a competitor to Pinkerton. Thiel's agency worked in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Pinkerton in the Modern Era

Because of its past conflicts with labor unions, the name Pinkerton is still linked to strikebreaking. After hearings in 1937, Pinkerton stopped focusing on spying on labor. Their detective work also changed as police forces grew stronger. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) became more important.

With less work in labor and criminal investigations, the company focused more on protection services. By the 1960s, the word "detective" was even removed from their official papers. Today, the company focuses on understanding threats, managing risks, protecting important people, and responding to dangerous situations.

In 1999, a Swedish security company called Securitas AB bought Pinkerton. They also bought the William J. Burns International Detective Agency. This was a long-time rival of Pinkerton. Together, they formed Securitas Security Services USA. Today, Pinkerton's main office is in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In 2018, Securitas AB had a dispute with a video game company. They claimed the game Red Dead Redemption 2 used the Pinkerton name and badge without permission. They asked for money for each game sold. However, by 2019, Securitas AB dropped their claim.

In recent years, Pinkerton has been hired by large companies. In 2020, Amazon hired them to watch warehouse workers for signs of union activity. In 2022, it was reported that Starbucks hired a former Pinkerton employee for similar reasons.

In 2023, Wizards of the Coast hired Pinkerton. They wanted to get back card sets for the game Magic: The Gathering from a YouTuber. He had received the cards early and showed them online. Pinkerton used legal warnings to get the cards back. Wizards of the Coast said they tried to contact him privately first.