Bill was born and raised in the City of Cleveland and worked part time as a Cleveland Police Cadet while attending Cuyahoga Community College where he received his AS in Law Enforcement in 1968.
Bill was appointed to the Cleveland Police Department as a sworn officer in October of 1969. As a Patrolman he was assigned to respond to calls for assistance from citizens. Bill graduated in 1974 from Kent State University with his BA in 1974. He was promoted to Detective in 1974 and assigned to the Citizens Dress Detail as an undercover vice officer responsible for the enforcement of liquor, gambling and sex crime laws. During this assignment he began his life long study and subsequent expertise in the area of gambling and prostitution. Based on this expertise, he was transferred to the Organized Crime / Public Corruption Unit and was assigned to assist the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office to investigate fraudulent carnival games. This led to his first book; “An Enforcement Guide to Carnival Games, Gambling and Fraud” (1981). The book has been under several revisions and is in both the Cleveland Public Library and the Library of Congress. The book is used by Ohio, Michigan and Florida law enforcement agencies as a source and training manual.
In 1981 Bill had the misfortune of being shot in the head and back in the line of duty which relegated him to inside duties. During his convalescence he completed the first analysis since the mid 1950’s of the “Numbers Rackets” operating in Cuyahoga County and NE Ohio. He performed the first analysis in the State of Ohio on the Draw 1980 Poker Machines (coin operated gambling devices) and subsequently began testifying as an expert witness for the next 26 years as a gambling expert.
Bill volunteered his services with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff and the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office and authored “An Enforcement Guide to Coin Operated Gambling Devices or Slot Machines.” The text is used by Local State and Federal Prosecutors to better under gambling devices and the case law associated with them. He played a key role in major Charitable Gambling and Fraud Investigations, 1999-2003 in the State of Ohio, and Major Illegal Gambling Investigations in Florida and Ohio, 2003-2004.
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In December of 2000 Bill obtained his EMBA from Baldwin-Wallace College and since February of 2002 Bill has been a Professor in the Criminal Justice Studies Program for Tiffin University.
In November of 2005, Bill undertook a one year assignment for the United States Department of State / Department of Justice to provided advanced criminal investigator forensic and counter terrorism training to Iraq's National Information and Investigation Agency (NIIA); this Agency functions as Iraq’s FBI. He prepared the material and curriculum for all of the Advanced Criminal Investigation Courses taught to all police officers in Iraq and at Baghdad Police College in Baghdad and for the Ministry of Interior in Iraq.
He received an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy in International Police Studies from Baghdad Police College, (Baghdad, Iraq) in November of 2006 for his dedication and professional expertise contributing to the democratic future of the people of Iraq.
Contact Bill directly at wriedthaler@enforcementguide.com