Jim O'Neil: Biography
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I was educated in the New York City public school system until 1953 when I enlisted in the Navy. After serving aboard the USS Darby D.E. 218 as a radar man and navigator I was discharged in 1957 at the age of 21. The next five years were spent in retail management.
In 1963, I entered the NYPD as a patrolman and was assigned to the elite "Tactical Patrol Force". In 1966 I was promoted to detective and spent the next five years in the 73rd Precinct Detective Squad in Brownsville. This entailed investigations of various crimes including numerous homicides in this very violent area of Brooklyn. My next assignment in 1972 was to the Brooklyn North Robbery Squad. It was here that I cracked the "Black Liberation Army" case, involving bank robbery and the execution of Police Officers throughout the United States. I was also the first detective on the scene at the notorious "Dog Day Afternoon" bank robbery.
1973 brought a promotion to sergeant and various assignments in uniform before returning to the investigative end of law enforcement for the rest of my career. I saw action as the boss of the Harlem Homicide Taskforce during the drug wars. My last six years on the job were spent as the supervisor of detectives in the "Manhattan North Senior Citizen Robbery Squad", one of the most successful investigative units in the Country. Some of the cases described in the book were horrific in nature, committed by what I considered to be animals.
Over the years, I obtained dual degrees in Criminal Justice and Behavioral Sciences on my off duty time. For many, many years, family and friends who heard my stories urged me to write a book. I considered it because I thought the story could also pay tribute to my partners and other officers I had worked with over the years, some of the finest cops and detectives in the world. Unfortunately, I just never got started. Finally, my friend Mel Fazzino convinced me, saying, "Come on Jim, lets do it together. I always wanted to write a book." The rest is history.
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