Bureau of Prohibition

The Bureau of Prohibition was the United States federal law enforcement agency with the responsibility of investigating the possession, distribution, consumption, and trafficking of alcohol and alcoholic beverages in the United States of America during the Prohibition era. The enumerated enforcement powers of this organization were vested in the Volstead Act. Federal prohibition agents of the Bureau were commonly referred to by members of the public and the press of the day as "prohis," or "dry agents." In the sparsely populated areas of the American west, agents were sometimes called "Prohibition Cowboys." At its peak, the bureau employed 2,300 dry agents.

History

Volstead Act and formation in the Department of the Treasury

Prohibition Unit

The Prohibition Unit was formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919 which enforced the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution regarding the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. When it was first established in 1920, it was a unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The commissioner of Internal Revenue, Daniel C. Roper, strenuously objected to absorbing the responsibilities of managing a prohibition organization, as he believed they were beyond the scope and mandate of his Bureau which had primarily been responsible for investigating tax violations.
Initially, there were 960 dry agents in the Prohibition Unit.

Elevation to Bureau status

House Resolution 10729, passed by the 69th Congress, became law on March 3, 1927 and simultaneously created two new bureaus out of Treasury's efforts: the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Prohibition. The new bureau would consist of a commissioner of prohibition, an assistant commissioner, two deputy commissioners, a chief clerk, and their staffs. On April 1, 1927, with 10729 becoming effective, the organizational restructuring was officially completed, and prohibition was elevated from Unit status to Bureau status.

Transfer to the Department of Justice

On July 1, 1930, the Prohibition Bureau was transferred from the Treasury Department to the Department of Justice.

Mission

The Bureau of Prohibition's main function was to stop the sale and consumption of alcohol. Agents would be tasked with eliminating illegal bootlegging rings, and became notorious in cities like New York and Chicago for raiding popular nightclubs.
Agents were often paid low wages, and the Bureau was notorious for allowing many uncertified people to become agents. Doing so strengthened the bureau, as they were able to hire agents in greater numbers.
In 1929, the Increased Penalties Act increased penalties for violations previously set in the Volstead Act. First time offenders were now expected to serve a maximum of five years and a $10,000 fine as opposed to the previous six months and $1,000 fine. This strengthened animosity toward Prohibition agents, as many of them, were already hated for their raids on popular clubs frequented by New York City's elite.

Transfer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Early in 1933, with the repeal of Prohibition imminent, as part of the Omnibus Crime Bill, the Bureau was briefly absorbed into the Bureau of Investigation. The Prohibition Bureau was demoted from Bureau status to Unit status and became the FBI's Alcohol Beverage Unit. Though part of the FBI on paper, J. Edgar Hoover, who wanted to avoid liquor enforcement and the taint of corruption that was attached to it, continued to operate it as a separate, autonomous agency in practice.

Repeal of Prohibition and dissolution

In December 1933, once repeal became a reality and the only federal laws regarding alcoholic beverages were limited to their taxation, the ABU was removed from the FBI and the DOJ and returned to Treasury, where it became the Alcohol Tax Unit, ultimately evolving into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

Leadership and organization

Directors of Prohibition, Internal Revenue

Prior to the 1st of April 1927, the chief duties for leadership of prohibition enforcement and investigation were vested in the director of the Prohibition Unit.

James E. Jones
John H. Kramer
Commissioners

After April 1927, with the elevation of the Prohibition Unit to the Bureau of Prohibition, the chief administrator of the organization was the commissioner of prohibition.

Acting Prohibition Commissioner Roy Asa Haynes
Prohibition Commissioner James M. Doran
Prohibition Commissioner Henry W. Anderson
District headquarters offices

Source:
In the summer of 1925, the 48 state enforcement districts were abolished and replaced with 22 federal prohibition districts, closely aligned with the federal judicial districts. This number would grow by 1929 to 27 districts.
Offices not seen above:

Twenty-Third District, Honolulu, Hawaii
Twenty-Fourth District, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Narcotics Division

With the establishment of the Prohibition Unit in 1920, leadership established a Narcotics Division with the enumerated powers to investigate all violations of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, taking over the duties of investigations and enforcement from the agents of Revenue's Miscellaneous Division. Narcotics Agents and Narcotics Inspectors in these early days primarily were responsible for investigating medical licenses for the distribution of narcotics, but their duties evolved over the course of the decade. Narcotics Agents overall secured more convictions to federal prison for Harrison Act violations than their Dry Agent counterparts did for Volstead Act violations.
In the single fiscal year of 1920, more than half a million dollars were budgeted for narcotics enforcement. The requirements for entry into the Narcotics Division were far more stringent than for their dry agent counterparts; narcotics recruits were required to have an accredited bachelor's degree in pharmacology or medicine.

Deputy Commissioner for Narcotics

developed the Narcotics Division - sometimes called the Narcotics Field force prior to 1927, and was appointed the position of assistant commissioner for narcotics. His position would absorb the dual capacity as Secretary of the Federal Narcotics Control Board with its establishment in 1922. He was a registered pharmacist, who had worked with Treasury since 1900. He led the division to the arrest of tens of thousands of drug addicts and dealers in the 1920s. After 1927, with the elevation of Prohibition to Bureau status, he was promoted to deputy commissioner for narcotics.

Rothstein Scandal

Nutt's biological son Rolland Nutt and son-in-law L. P. Mattingly were attorneys for racketeer and gangster Arnold Rothstein in tax matters. After an investigation into the relationship, in 1930 a grand jury found no criminal impairment of Narcotics Division activities, but Nutt lost his position as chief of the Narcotics Division.

Anslinger

assumed his duties as the assistant commissioner for narcotics. On July 1, 1930, the Narcotics Division would be merged into the newly established Federal Bureau of Narcotics under the leadership of Anslinger, the first United States commissioner of narcotics. Anslinger remained the commissioner of narcotics until his retirement in 1965. The FBN is considered a predecessor to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Prohibition Service fallen officers

Source:
The first narcotics agent to lose his life in the line of duty was Charles Wood, fatally shot in the back after a two-hour gunfight following a whiskey raid in El Paso, Texas.

Position	Name	Date	Cause of Death
Narcotics Inspector	Charles Archibold "Arch" Wood	March 21, 1921	Gunfire
Narcotics Inspector	Bert S. Gregory	October 25, 1922	Gunfire
Narcotics Agent	James T. Williams	October 16, 1924	Gunfire
Narcotics Inspector	Louis L. Marks	October 24, 1924	Automobile crash

Narcotics Field Divisions

The Narcotics Division consisted of between 100 - 300 Narcotics Agents and Inspectors based out of 15 Narcotics Field Divisions;

Industrial Alcohol and Chemical Division

In 1925, the Industrial Alcohol and Chemical Division was headed by James M. Doran.
With the Prohibition Reorganization Act of 1930, this division was elevated to bureau status and became the Bureau of Industrial Alcohol.

Audit Division

In 1925, the Audit Division was headed by J.M. Young.

Famous agents

The Untouchables

The most famous dry agent of the bureau was undoubtedly the "Untouchable" Eliot Ness. The group of agents that Ness oversaw, "The Untouchables," were by far the most famous group of prohibition agents. Ness was overseen by the northwest district administrator, Malachi Harney, based out of the Chicago Prohibition Office. Their fame resulted from their investigation to capture and arrest the infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone. They earned their nickname after members of the Chicago Outfit repeatedly failed to bribe or intimidate them, proving they were not as easily corrupted as other prohibition agents. Through their efforts, Capone was indicted on 5000 separate counts of conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act, though it was ultimately decided not to bring these charges to trial, but rather to concentrate on income tax violations. Nevertheless, the Untouchables gained national acclaim, in particular, Eliot Ness, who ran the group.

Georgia Hopley

The first female prohibition agent was Georgia Hopley. In early 1922, Hopley was sworn in as a general agent, serving under Federal Prohibition Commissioner Roy A. Haynes. Her appointment made news around the country. Her hiring encouraged local law enforcement agencies to hire more women to investigate women bootleggers.