Deadshot Mary, The Sharpshooter Woman Cop Of The 1930s
A woman, her bottle of whiskey, and her .32-caliber revolver
If you were to walk past Mary Shanley on the bustling streets of New York, chances are you wouldn’t have given her a second glance.
As she pushed her way into the crowd in her modest polka-dot dress, veiled hat, and sensible shoes, she could pass for any ordinary housewife looking for a bargain at the department store.
She was anything but.
Instead of lipstick and loose change, her white leather handbag held a 32-caliber revolver and an NYPD detective badge. Using her unassuming appearance to her advantage, Mary made over a thousand arrests, catching petty thieves and pickpockets with their hands in the cookie jar.
Mary Mary, Quite Contrary
Red-haired, hot-tempered Mary grew up in an Irish family in Hell’s Kitchen and got to know New York’s shadowy side at an early age.
She had little money but plenty of street savvy, and instead of choosing a traditional path and becoming a nurse, a maid, or maybe a schoolteacher, she set her sights on an unconventional ambition — being a policewoman. And she meant business: in 1931 she joined the NYPD, and by 1939 she achieved the rank of first-grade detective. She was the…
