Police Commissioner Francis Looney

Francis Looney was born in the Looney farmhouse in 1916, the eighth of nine children. He attended St. Ignatius Parochial School from 1923 to 1931 and then went to Farmingdale High school from 1931 to 1935.  Francis Looney was drafted into the Army in November 1941. In 1942, he was assigned to military intelligence. Before he was drafted, Francis graduated from St. John’s Law School. He was the first Nassau County Police Officer with a law degree in the history of the department. After extensive training in counter-intelligence and espionage detection, he was ready for his first overseas assignment.

In February 1943, he was assigned to the Army Counter-Intelligence Crops in Algiers, North Africa. When he arrived, the American armies were engaged in battled with the Italian army and the German Afrika Corps. While there, he ferreted out spies and counter-intelligence agents whose activities were damaging the allied war effort.

His most exciting case was the Carla Costa affair. Carla Costa was on to the best spies in the German spy network. She was one of the most difficult spies to get information from.  She was captured enroute to Rome to gather intelligence. After five days of intensive questioning, she would not confess. She referred to her parents briefly and Francis was sent to Rome to find them. His report broke the case. It contained information from her parents and the confession of another spy, a friend of Carla’s. Upon hearing this, she gave a detailed account of German intelligence and several spies were arrested.

He was discharged in 1946 and rejoined the Nassau County Police Department. He began as a patrolman in a radio car.  By the end of his first year, he made Detective and passed the Sargent’s test a year later. .In 1948, he was made legal adviser to the Chief of Staff.  He was the Chief Inspector from 1961 to 1964.When Commissioner James J. Kelly resigned in 1964, Looney became the Commissioner. He served as Commissioner for five years. His proudest accomplishment was offering college training to all Nassau County Police Department personnel. The Police Department was the first one in the United States to require a two-year college degree for appointment and a four-year college degree for promotion.

During his time as Police Commissioner, Francis Looney recommended the creation of the Police Cade Program, created the Scientific Advisory Board, started the bi-monthly police publication Signal One, and opened a police library at the headquarters.

After his tenure, he served as Assistant to the New York City Police Department and then as Deputy Police Commissioner. In 1993, he served as a consultant advisory to the New York State Director of Criminal Justice. Francis Looney passed away in August 2003 at the age of 96.

Francis Looney served as President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Chairman or the Nassau County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

His awards include: Fellow of Adelphi University, Niagara University’s President’s Medal, Law Enforcement Man of the Year by the Nassau County Detectives’ Association, Nassau County Municipal Police Chiefs Association, and the Nassau County American Legion.

Sources:

Francis B. Looney, Nassau County Police Commissioner 1966-1971.

Thompson, Ed. Farmingdale Biographies: A Look at the Lives of Some Prominent Citizens.