Gem City Gamble: Dayton’s police corruption, gangsters and the downfall of Pete Rose

Former Dayton police Detective Dennis Haller’s career spanned a dark time for the Dayton police department, giving him a front seat to the city’s criminal networks and questionable law enforcement tactics.

Haller was a source for Dayton Daily News reporter Wes Hills — who retired in 2004 after 30 years at the paper — and agreed to share information with Hills on the condition it stay confidential until Haller’s death, which happened in 2023.

This series uses Hills’ interviews and notes to shed new light on the largest police corruption scandal in city history, and how police wiretapping and a spurned bookie may have contributed to the downfall of baseball legend Pete Rose.

Part 1: The Dayton cop

Dayton Police Sgt. Dennis “Denny” Haller not only exposed Pete Rose’s bookie, but also sparked an investigation of police corruption characterized as the greatest scandal in Dayton police history.

Read Part 1.

Part 2: The Pete Rose tapes

Prior to his death in July 2023, Haller suggested Rose’s downfall traces back to his failure to pay Richard “The Skin Man” Skinner. Haller believed Skinner was also an FBI informant whom the feds went to great lengths to protect.

Read Part 2.

Part 3: The gambling Dayton industrialist

Coming Tuesday

Part 4: The Dayton bookie

Coming Wednesday

Part 5: The gangs of Dayton

Coming Thursday

Part 6: The Rose investigation

Coming Friday

DIGITAL EXTRAS

Hear Pete Rose discuss his gambling debt with his Dayton bookie (Coming this week).

Read excerpts from the “Anonymous Memo” that blew the whistle on Dayton police corruption (Coming Wednesday).

About the author

Wes Hills retired in 2004 after 30 years of service with The Dayton Daily News where he was awarded numerous state and national awards for his investigative reporting. Hills’ reporting led to reforms in power utilities and laws against dog fighting, and led to the bombing of his office in Detroit before moving to Dayton. Hills is a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard and graduate of Michigan State University.

Armed with sources ranging from prostitutes and disgruntled mobsters to courageous cops, attorneys and politicians, Hills exposed organized crime kingpins who evaded prosecution for decades. After retiring, Hills returned to his roots to resume his life as hunter-fisherman in Northern Michigan’s magnificent forests, lakes and rivers.

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About the Author

Josh Sweigart

Josh Sweigart is an investigative reporter at the Dayton Daily News. His stories have focused on government waste, fraud, abuse and accountability in southwest Ohio, as well as the statehouse and U.S. Capitol.