Charles Stoker - ThickerN Thieves

THICKERN THIEVES is the full, fearless expose by former vice-squad officer,Charles Stoker, of the shocking and unbelievable graft and corruption whichprevailed in 1940s Los Angeles city government.

Ex-LAPD Vice Squad Sgt. Charles Stoker (1950)

In writing this story, and in his long fi ght to have it published-most publishersconsidered it too hot to handle-the highest compliment paid to Stoker was thefrequent remark, Publish this book and it will cost you your life!

Here you will read how a Main Street street-walker, Marie Mitchell, zoomedto national fame as, Brenda AllenL.A.s notorious vice queenwith the help andprotection of the city fathers in cahoots with the underworld. You will listen in onthe wire-tap recordings of Brenda getting her instructions from the high brass onthe police forceyou wont believe the conniving, crime-full corruption, that costStoker his job when he finally trapped, call house madame, Brenda Allen.

Stokers expose provides us with a real-time, ride-along with LAPD as theysecretly wire-tap gangster Mickey Cohens mansion, then demand $20,000 inextortion monies for the incriminating tapes.

You are present in the jury-room as Sgt. Stoker presents his secrettestimony to the 1949 Grand Jury, detailing police corruption and pay-offs.His whistle-blowing revelations resulted in a felony indictment and the forcedretirement of LAPD Chief of Police, C.B. Cowboy Horrall as well as causingformal charges to be filed against four of Horrals top command officers.

Copyright 2011 by Thoughtprint Press

Los Angeles, California

Published in the United States of America

Visit our Web site at www.thoughtprintpress.com

ISBN 9780983074410

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

A hardcover edition of this book was originally published in 1951 by the Sidereal Company, Santa Monica, California

THE REPRINTING OF THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF

IN RECOGNITION OF HIS DEDICATED SERVICE AND SACRIFICE TO THE CITIZENS OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

TO MY AUNT

EVELYN P. COATS

who gave so much

LAPD detective, Charles Stoker. Hundred-to-one, youve never heard the name. NYPD detective, Frank Serpico. Hundred-to-one you have!

Well:

Twenty-years before SERPICO there was STOKER!

This book, THICKERN THIEVES THE FACTUAL EXPOSE Of Police Pay-Offs, Graft, Political Corruption and Prostitution in Los Angeles and Hollywood, was written by LAPD Sgt. Charles Stoker during two of Los Angeles most politically volatile years 1948-1950.

His book was originally published by the Sidereal Company, Santa Monica, California, in April, 1951.

Due to the original limited print run, a copy of THICKERN THIEVES (in any condition) is almost impossible to locate. This morning, November 26, 2010, I made a search of the Internet and discovered that a mere seven (7) copies are available for purchase-worldwide. The prices range from $200-$500, with five of the editions priced over $400.

Reproduced below is the original text summary found on the 1951 jacket copy. Written sixty-years ago, and forged out of the heat and headlines of that day, as real-time, daily breaking news stories, it best captures the essence and spirit of The Stoker Story.

ThickerN Thieves front and back flaps:

This is the full, fearless expose by former vice-squad officer, Charles Stoker, of the shocking and unbelievable graft and corruption which prevail in the city government of Los Angeles.

In writing this story, and in his long fight to have it publishedmost publishers considered it too hot to handlethe highest compliment paid to Stoker was the frequent remark, publish this book and it will cost you your life!

Few men in his position in any city have ever had the courage to do what Stoker has done in this startling book. Here is an underworldcrimeracket story out of real life...with the true identity of those who play a part in it.

Here you can read how a Main Street street-walker, Marie Mitchell, zoomed to national fame as Brenda AllenL.A.s notorious vice queenwith the help and protection of the city fathers in cahoots with the underworld. You can listen in on the wire-tap recordings of Brenda getting her instructions from the high brass on the police force...you wont believe the conniving, crime-full corruption that cost Stoker his job when he finally trapped call-house madame, Brenda Allen. You remember the headlines proclaiming: STOKER WAGES 1-MAN VICE CRUSADE? This is a vital part of that crusade. This is a story that should be read with the lights on. If you cant readit should be read to you!

THICKNERN THIEVES is the first definitive, factual account of the Hollywood and Los Angeles underworld, told by Charles Stoker, former vice-squad officer and police sergeant who saw it from the inside and wrote many pages of its ignoble history on police blotters and in the city courts.

The Stoker Story is devoid of analysis, rationalization, deduction and philosophy. It is rather the breathtaking account of a police officer who ran into the political-underworld buzzsaw which is part and parcel of every big city.

Where corrupt police officers, venal politicians and office-holders claimed to have been fighting the underworld, Stoker fought it personally, furiously and with everything at his command to the point where he was framed and fired for CONDUCT UNBECOMING AN OFFICER because he testified to the facts before the 1949 Los Angeles Grand Jury.

Aside from being a cold steel account of what transpired within the Los Angeles Police Department during his tenure as an officer, this is the highly human story of young Texan, Stoker.

All men claim to have the courage of their convictions, but after you have read this book ask yourself whether or not you would have had the fortitude to go through this curtain of fire to uphold your ideals of honesty and integrity in city government.

Stoker was not only fighting individuals. He was fighting an underworld organization with all the money and angles. Added to that, he was fighting the concentrated might of a highly organized and powerful city administration which had the help of a district attorneys office in its attempt to assuage and soften the impact of...The Stoker Story.

For all who read all or part of the newspaper accounts bearing on the activities of those involved, THICKERN THIEVES is the down-to-earth, factual hook-up of political-police graft and corruption in the third largest metropolis in the nation!

A Little History

The fact that Sgt. Stoker has little to no name recognition TODAY would lead one to believe that sixty-years ago, he was just a blip on the radar screen. Maybe a disgruntled rogue cop that had his fifteen minutes of fame then sank below the surface?

The historical truth is quite the contrary.

Sgt. Charles Stoker and his real-time expose of political and police corruption dominated the headlines