114 Years of Service

Los Angeles Police Sgt. John Thomas had an epiphany when, as a new aide to Chief Bernard C. Parks, he was asked to look through the department’s archives for old photos to adorn his boss’ office suite.

Thomas discovered photos spanning more than a century of history of black officers in the Police Department. He realized that, for all the images, there were no stories to accompany them.

Three years later, he’s done something about it: Blacks in Blue, a 2001 calendar featuring highlights of 114 years of service by African American officers.

And there will be more. Thomas said he plans to write a book on the recent history of black LAPD officers and will prepare a documentary covering the same period.

“What I want people to see today is that the history of the Los Angeles Police Department is rich,” said Thomas, a historian and board member for the LAPD’s historical society and the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, the department’s association of black officers.

“It’s tied in with the community,” he said. “It’s a part of the fabric that made Los Angeles what it is today.”

The calendars, researched by Thomas, went on sale Thursday, and proceeds will go toward the foundation’s annual scholarships and the Los Angeles Police Historical Society.

Using black and white photos from the archives, the 28-page calendar celebrates such LAPD pioneers as Robert William Stewart, who in 1886 became the department’s first black officer, and Charles Williams, the first black officer known to have died in the ‘line of duty. He was shot to death while investigating a disturbance in a brothel.

Before Thomas’ research, it was widely believed that Oscar Joel Bryant, who served in the 1960s, was the first black officer to die on the job.

Also featured are Jesse Brewer, a respected African American assistant police chief for whom the palatial 77th Street station is named; the late Mayor Tom Bradley, who retired from the force in 1961 as a lieutenant and the highest-ranking black; and Parks.

Parks said he hopes the history will serve as a lesson for the 1,258 black officers who make up nearly 14% of the department today. Many may not be aware of the predecessors who breached the racial barrier, he said.

“I think the No. 1 value is to educate, not only the community, but also educate black officers, as to how the black history of the department was developed,” Parks said.

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The calendar summarizes the two-front battle fought by black officers over the years: crime in the street and racism in the department.

Throughout most of the LAPD’s history, black officers could work only with other blacks and were assigned to black neighborhoods, the calendar says.

Even promotions were difficult. When, in 1940, officers Roscoe “Rocky” Washington and Earl C. Broady were made the LAPD’s first black lieutenant watch commanders, they could supervise only a specially created shift of all-black officers in the Newton Street Division.

Broady was demoted for no reason, and after being passed up for a lieutenant’s promotion 18 times, left the department to become a lawyer and, later, a judge, Thomas said.

In researching these and other historical items, Thomas, a 16-year veteran, has become a walking encyclopedia. He spouts obscure historical facts with ease, and wears inside his own badge the name and badge number of his favorite black LAPD hero: Officer Jesse Kimborough, who served on the force from 1915 to 1939.

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“Here’s a guy who had no education, and became a writer and the first black detective lieutenant in the department,” said Thomas, adding that Kimborough wrote two books. One, titled “Defender of the Angels,” is an semiautobiographical novel about his career.

Although black officers faced obvious racial barriers in the past, today’s officers must deal with more subtle ones, Thomas said.

“It’s not as blatant as it was then,” he said, noting that black officers can move up the ranks to sergeant or lieutenant with relative ease, but choice assignments and promotions within those designations are slow in coming.

Parks agrees that some barriers of “insensitivity” exist among people throughout the LAPD. “We haven’t reached perfection yet; we have to keep working,” Parks said.

Still, Thomas said, he and other black officers owe a debt to the African American LAPD pioneers.

“They withstood a lot of hardship for me to be here,” Thomas said.

The calendars, published by Blue Line Press Inc., sell for $13.95 and can be obtained through the publisher, at selected retail outlets or online through the Bryant Foundation (https://www.ojbfoundation.org).