He served in the 82nd Airborne Division.He served with the San Francisco Police Department, from 1959 to 1985, reaching the rank of deputy chief.He has written in magazines and newspapers (The San Francisco Chronicle) on criminal justice issues.
Mr. Mullen clearly demonstrated that crime and violence in the city were not so much a consequence of the wild rush for gold but the conflict created by disparate groups with different values occupying the same space. His new book, which reflects more than a decade of research, develops a similar theme but over a century and a half. The breadth and depth of the study is spectacular and should firmly establish Kevin Mullen as the authority on crime and violence in San Francisco. At the same time, the book is full of interesting anecdotes and colorful descriptions that could hardly be surpassed by a detective novel.