NATION IN BRIEF : ALABAMA : Black Man to Head Mobile Police Force

A veteran of the Detroit police force, Harold L. Johnson Jr., has been hired as police chief of Mobile, Ala., the first black police chief in a major Alabama city. A second black man, Reuben Greenberg, was chosen for the post of public safety director, which is above that of police chief. Greenberg is chief of police in Charleston, S.C. Mobile’s population of 200,000 is about 37% black. Lt. Sam Cochran, vice president of the Mobile County Law Enforcement Assn., said the organization objected to hiring Johnson at more than $65,000 a year because starting salary for a uniformed officer is $14,000 a year. Cochran, who is white, said race was not a factor in opposition to the hirings.