Atlanta, Georgia, in many ways ahead of the game for decades, was the cradle of the American Civil Rights Movement, though it took more than gentle rocking to get the movement fully underway, as well as later keep those freedom fires burning.
This month marks the 75th anniversary of the integration of the Atlanta Police Department, among the first cities within the then-Jim Crow South.Atlanta MayorWilliam B. Hartsfieldwas facing a tough reelection campaign in1946, when a Supreme Court decision outlawed prohibitingBlack voters from participating in Democratic Party primaries in Georgia.
Up to that point and for more than 15 years to come, a healthy majority of African American voters were still voting Republican, dating back to the days of Lincoln and Reconstruction.But the end of poll taxes and the primary voting prohibition brought many Black Atlantans into Atlanta’s Mayoral politics, where the majority of candidates were long-established white Democrats, like Hartsfield.
Pastors, funeral home directors, and many minority business owners had been quietly advocating for years that police in their communities should also include persons of color.The issue began to gain momentum and heat, landing before the Atlanta City Board of Alderman in the spring of 1948, whereby a vote of only 8-7, it was decided that Atlanta would hire its first Black police officers. Though cautious, Hartsfield had been lending a sympathetic ear.
A long list of speakers expressed their sentiments the night of that vote, but City Clerk records quote only one speaker directly: Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr.
Daddy Kingemphatically told city leaders,“The hour and the time is now for change, advancement, and courage.”
Reverend King, Sr., much lesser known than his prodigal son, is credited by some as birthing the Atlanta Civil Rights Movement from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, as well as through his local radio program on WAEC-AM.
The first eight Black Atlanta Police Officers operated out of a separate precinct in the basement of the Butler Street YMCA.Initially, the officers were allowed only to patrol and make arrests in Black neighborhoods; however, thanks to the continuing voice and urgings of Rev. King, Sr., and aided by the editorials and reporting ofTheAtlantaDaily World and educator Benjamin Mays,among others, minority officers eventually would not only become equal to their white peers in blue but would eventually lead the force.
The Atlanta Police Department is now not only the state’s largest but among its most diverse.Better training is needed, particularly in these days of policing after the racial justice protests of 2020, but to build that better-trained police officer, you need better facilities in which to train.
More and better training is particularly needed in critical areas such as conflict de-escalation and resolution, equitable policing in minority communities, and appropriate use of deadly force.Atlanta Police cadets already receive significantly more training than required by state minimums or for P.O.S.T. certification, but a new state-of-the-art training center for Atlanta police andfirefighterswill mean not only better training, but better officers and firefighters, while hopefully helping to reduce shortages and staffing gaps in both departments.
The Atlanta Police Foundation is privately raising in excess of $90 million to fund and construct the bulk of theAtlanta Public Safety Training Center(APSTC)on land utilized for decades as the Atlanta Prison Farm, adjacent to the Metro Transitional Correction Center, a state prison.The land is owned by the city, though inside DeKalb County.
As we look ahead to building broad-based public support for the APSTC, I’d like to propose naming the education and training facilities therein honor of Daddy King.TheMartin Luther King, Sr. Center for Racial Justice and Equity in Policingcould not only set the standard for 21st-century police training but also might become a beacon for police departments and agencies across the nation that are wrestling with many of Atlanta’s same issues and concerns.
Though I never had the pleasure of meeting Daddy King, or his best-known offspring, I have met each of his grandchildren, including ReverendBernice King, now CEO of the King Center.She might have a word or two of reminder for those continually advocating to “Stop Cop City,” on the realities and constraints of truly peaceful and non-violent protest as well.So, again, in the wise words of her grandfather: “The hour and the time is now for change, advancement, and courage.”