William P. Lawson (1879 or 1880 – July 2, 1946) was an American investment banker and politician who served as commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) from 1937 to 1938.

Although he maintained his innocence, he temporarily resigned the next day, stating that his business dealings "[have] no connection whatsoever with the affairs of the Police Department or my duties as commissioner."

]Therefore, I feel it will be in the best interest of your administration and the conduct of the affairs of the department that, pending the disposition of the proceedings in the United States District Court, that I temporarily relinquish my duties as commissioner.

In June 1938, a credit report revealed that Lawson had been involved with the Consolidated Distillers Corporation, a business dealing in whisky, where he served as its spokesman, owning at least 1,000 shares in the company.

[5] Calls rose for Nice to ask that Lawson resign due to his dealings in the liquor industry and increasing crime rates.

[3] On July 30, 1938, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a petition against Lawson, accusing his brokerage firm, William P. Lawson and Co., of at least six illegal practices, relating to selling securities of its customers without their consent as collateral for personal loans, while continuing to pay dividends to obscure that they had been sold, as well as having over 2,000% of its net capital in debt.

[3][6] Lawson hired the law firm Weinburg, Sweeten, and Green, to defend him, while he asserted that he was confident he could fight off the claims, which he described as "a vicious attempt to attack me".