Quinn Tamm
Encyclopedia
Quinn Tamm was an assistant director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
, and later influential executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police
(IACP). Tamm's older brother Edward Allen Tamm
was also an FBI official and later a federal judge.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Tamm graduated from the University of Virginia
. Tamm entered the FBI in 1934, and by 1938 had become what was the youngest person promoted to inspector. Tamm worked the Identification Division for seventeen years until moving up to assistant director of the Training and Inspection Division in 1951. During his tenure as assistant director, Tamm had a tumultuous relationship with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
, who instructed Tamm to influence IACP activities, such as controlling the election of officers. In 1961 Tamm resigned from the FBI and was elected executive director of the IACP, where he "turned it from a genial club to a highly expert organization." When Tamm joined the IACP they had six full-time staff in makeshift offices, but within five years they had 70 staff and their own building. Hoover considered Tamm a personal threat to his law enforcement power and personally considered Tamm to be his third most hated enemy (after Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.). Tamm died January 23, 1986 at Washington Suburban Hospital after suffering a heart attack.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, and later influential executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police
International Association of Chiefs of Police
The International Association of Chiefs of Police was founded in Chicago in 1893 as the National Chiefs of Police Union. The primary goal of this organization was to apprehend and return criminals who had fled the agency jurisdictions in which they were wanted...
(IACP). Tamm's older brother Edward Allen Tamm
Edward Allen Tamm
Edward Allen Tamm was a United States federal judge.Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Tamm earned an LL.B. from the Georgetown University Law School in 1930. From 1930 to 1948 he was deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation...
was also an FBI official and later a federal judge.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Tamm graduated from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. Tamm entered the FBI in 1934, and by 1938 had become what was the youngest person promoted to inspector. Tamm worked the Identification Division for seventeen years until moving up to assistant director of the Training and Inspection Division in 1951. During his tenure as assistant director, Tamm had a tumultuous relationship with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, who instructed Tamm to influence IACP activities, such as controlling the election of officers. In 1961 Tamm resigned from the FBI and was elected executive director of the IACP, where he "turned it from a genial club to a highly expert organization." When Tamm joined the IACP they had six full-time staff in makeshift offices, but within five years they had 70 staff and their own building. Hoover considered Tamm a personal threat to his law enforcement power and personally considered Tamm to be his third most hated enemy (after Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.). Tamm died January 23, 1986 at Washington Suburban Hospital after suffering a heart attack.