Jim Purcell

This article is about the Portland police chief. For the Illinois congressional candidate, see United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2010.

“Diamond” Jim Purcell was the Chief of Police in Portland, Oregon during the 1950s.

Purcell was an associate of Jim Elkins, a Portland mob boss, and helped protect Portland's pinball racket and other organized crime activity in the city. In this regard, Purcell was not unique among public servants in Portland, many of whom did business with the highly-influential Elkins.

The character of Diamond Joe Quimby, mayor of the fictional town of Springfield on the television show The Simpsons, created by Portland native Matt Groening, is loosely based on Purcell.

References

• MacColl, E. Kimbark, The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1915 to 1950. Portland Georgian Press, 1979. ISBN 0-9603408-1-5
• Lansing, Jewell Beck, Portland: people, politics and power, 1851-2001, Oregon State University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-87071-559-3
• Stanford, Phil, Portland Confidential