Black Police Precinct & Courthouse in Overtown
The story of the five first black officers to be hired by the Miami Police Department in 1944, and the precinct and courthouse constructed in Overtown in 1950.
On September 1, 1944, the Miami Police Department swore in their first five black police officers. The officers were Ralph White, John Milledge, Clyde Lee, Edward Kimble, and Moody Hall, who were responsible for patrolling what was known as the Central Negro District, also referred to as Overtown, the black section of Coconut Grove, and Liberty City.
During this time, the City of Miami was racially segregated which is why the responsibilities of the black police officers were exclusive to Overtown, Coconut Grove, and Liberty City. During the re-charter of the city’s government in 1921, racial segregation was codified into law with the approval of the Miami City Charter, which listed “to establish and set apart districts for white and negro residents” as a power granted to the re-organized city government. The segregation of patrolling areas by race was consistent with the Jim Crowe era thinking of the day in Miami.
The Overtown residents had been lobbying for black patrolmen years before the first five were hired in 1944. Community leaders such as Annie Coleman, Richard E.S. Toomey, Captain James Scott, Father John Culmer, Dr. I.P. Davis, and Lawson Thomas, among others, felt that the black community would be much better served with black police officers.
Prior to 1944, as a hallmark of the Jim Crowe era in the south, white officers would mistreat even the law-abiding members of the black community they were entrusted to keep safe. Vagrancy laws provided justification for arresting people for simply loitering on a street corner. By the early 1940s, the Miami Police Department agreed to hire black officers to patrol the segregated black communities in Miami.
The Early Years: 1944 - 1950
While the black officers were officially employed by the Miami Police Department, they were not given the same equipment, or even a building, during the early years. The first precinct was the dentist office of Dr. I.P. Davis, and the officers had to patrol their beat on foot or by bicycle. They did not have radios, which made it difficult to coordinate a call response, or to request backup when needed.
On November 1, 1946, one of the first five officers hired, John Milledge, was on duty when he chased away several kids who were trying to climb a fence to watch a football game at Dorsey Park. The juveniles went to one of the kid’s home to retrieve a .22-caliber rifle and, when they returned, the kid holding the riffle saw the officer standing in the park when he fired and hit Milledge in the throat, killing him. The boy who pulled the trigger fled to New York City and remained at large for 43 years until he was arrested in 1989. Milledge was the first black officer killed in the line of duty in Miami.
James Washington, who joined the force on October 20, 1944, shortly after the hiring of the original five officers, was chosen by the police department staff as the “Officer of the Month” in September of 1949 for a strong record of serving the community. An article in the Miami Herald on March 12, 1955, wrote about Washington:
“His file contains several commendations from his superiors. He has been praised by the FBI, by a city manager, and by the United States Immigration and Naturalization service for his work.”
Washington was also lauded by a local merchant, Al Bart, who said:
“I have been around the neighborhood for a number of years, and while conversing with a number of old timers, we came to the conclusion about a colored officer we have learned to respect and admire.”
By the late-1940s, the policing by black officers was improving community relations and was providing more equitable law enforcement in the segregated black neighborhoods than what was experience prior to the fall of 1944. However, the black police force had grown, and the officers needed a precinct building to do their job. In addition, the community needed a place to help adjudicate the arrests that were being made by the black officers and to help relieve the gridlock of cases bogging down the court system.
Precinct & Courthouse Constructed
By the late 1940s, the City of Miami allocated $60,000 to construct a “negro police headquarters, detention quarters, and a branch city court.” Ground was broken for the two-story building on Tuesday, October 25, 1949. The structure was designed by Walter DeGarmo, who was a prominent architect responsible for designing Miami’s first City Hall, and many other buildings and residences during his time working with Carl Fisher on Miami Beach, and George Merrick in Coral Gables during the 1920s.
The precinct building was completed and opened at 480 NW Eleventh Street in early May of 1950 (see video above of for a tour of the precinct in May of 1950). While the officers occupied the downstairs, which provided the precinct with a small jail, or detention quarters, the upstairs court would not be ready to hear cases until later that the month. The purview of the court would be to rule on misdemeanor cases in the black community, while felony cases would be heard as they always had prior to the establishment of the black court.
Judge Lawson E. Thomas
Lawson E. Thomas, a graduate of the University of Michigan law school who was a highly respected trial attorney in the black community, was unanimously appointed on April 19, 1950, to the position of judge of the new black municipal court. His job was to handle the misdemeanor cases of arrestees by members of the black police force. In the Miami Herald article announcing the appointment, it was written that “he (Judge Thomas), will be the first Negro judge in the South since reconstruction days. His court also will be the first ever set up on purely racial lines, it is believed.”
The court officially opened on May 22, 1950. The Miami Daily News announced the opening of the court the day before the official opening and wrote:
“Tomorrow morning at 8am, a brief civic ceremony will precede the opening of the police court over the Negro police precinct station at NW 5th avenue and 11th street. Before city clerk Frank L. Correll swears in Lawson E. Thomas as the first Negro to serve as court judge in Florida since the days of reconstruction, several civic group representatives will be on hand to extend best wishes for his success. Representatives from the city, police force, etc. will be present.”
Judge Thomas served the court for all but a two-year term from 1950 until the precinct and court closed in 1963. He died at the age of 91 on Thursday, September 14, 1989, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. His obituary in the Miami Herald wrote that he never closed his Overtown law office and, until shortly before his illness progressed, he continued to practice law.
Precinct Closed in 1963
By the early 1960s, Miami had begun the process of desegregation of all institutions including the police and court systems. This led to the end of the black precinct and courthouse in the summer of 1963. The officers assigned to the black precinct were integrated into the main police force leaving the building on NW Eleventh Street vacant.
In July of 1964, the City of Miami appropriated $28,000 to convert the abandoned black police precinct station into a youth and adult recreational community building. For years to follow, the building became the Culmer Community Center which offered recreational activities, adult education classes, and economic development training. By the late 1990s, the building was vacant and in a state of disrepair.
Opened as Museum in 2009
In 2000, several former officers who served in the courthouse appealed to the City of Miami to preserve the building, and worked with their city commissioner to get funding to convert the former police precinct and courthouse into a museum. Otis Davis, Clarence Dickson, who was the first black officer to graduate from the Miami Police Academy and the city’s first black police chief, were two of several former officers working toward the preservation of the precinct and the establishment of a museum.
After gathering artifacts for the museum, and waiting for money to complete the full restoration of the building, the Historical Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum finally opened in February of 2009. The museum commemorates the nation’s only known facility specifically built as a courthouse for blacks and a station for black police. The museum is at 480 NW Eleventh Street in Overtown and is open from 10:30am – 3:30pm, Tuesday through Saturday.
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Website: Officer Down Memorial Page
I visited the museum a few years ago & got a great tour from a man that was quite involved with the whole museum. He said that those early officers didn't have guns either, but nonetheless, crime was drastically reduced. If a white person was caught criming, they would have to call in a white officer. Also the involvement of three notable Jewish lawyers was instrumental in setting up the court. I would recommend a visit to anyone (and have !)