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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – During the 1960s, black officers in the St. Petersburg Police Department were forced to work under a different set of rules than their white counterparts.
Black officers were neither allowed to work in white neighborhoods, nor could they arrest whites. They could not work behind the front desk, and blacks on the force were forbidden from taking the sergeant’s exam to move up the ranks.
Then, in 1965, a dozen officers dubbed the Courageous 12 sued the city for discrimination – and won.
“We paved the way for African-Americans in law enforcement in the entire nation,” said Leon Jackson, one of the two surviving members of the group. “And it should be known.”
While Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and Malcolm X became civil rights icons, there were many others like Jackson and his fellow officers who are the unsung heroes of the movement.
Leon Jackson
retired St. Petersburg Police Department officer
In 1963, Jackson joined the St. Petersburg Police Department. He had been working as a waiter when Officer Jimmy King recruited him. Jackson, then 23, wasn’t that keen on joining the force, but took the officer’s exam anyway to please King.
“[King] said, ‘Oh, go ahead and take the test because we need some more black police officers at the police department,’" the 74-year-old recalled. “I was hoping I’d never get off the waiting list.”
But Jackson did. His biggest challenge at the time wasn’t the community he was sworn to serve. Instead, it was the police force that hired him and its treatment of black officers.
“They were more or less a centerpiece of the struggle for equality in St. Petersburg,” said the Rev. Wayne G. Thompson, lifelong resident and pastor of First Baptist Institutional Church. “Growing up in St Petersburg was like being a part of two cities – one white, one black.”
At the time the civil rights movement was in full swing across the country, including segregated St. Petersburg. There had been lunch counter sit-ins and even visits from the Freedom Riders, volunteers who were intent on desegregating public transportation.
In the mid-'60s, there were only 15 black officers on St. Petersburg's police force, including Jackson. The group repeatedly took their grievances with the status quo to the chief. But when he ignored their concerns, 12 of the officers turned to the courts.
“It was Freddie Crawford’s idea,” said Jackson, smiling. “I was the one who said that this man was not going to do anything. Then, Freddie Crawford got angry. And I’m cleaning it up, but, Freddie said, ‘Sue ‘em.’”
Speaking out could have cost them their jobs, or worse, their lives. But it was a risk they were willing to take – a bold step that led the men to became known as the Courageous 12.
The men cobbled together their meager earnings and enlisted the help of civil rights attorney James B. Sanderlin, who took the case without hesitation but only after warning the 12 officers of the potential fallout.
“Remember, we had families to take care of. We had children in school. We had homes to pay for,” Jackson said. “We felt so deeply that we should go ahead and file this lawsuit to pave the way – not only for us, but other black police officers in the entire nation. That’s why we sacrificed to much.”
They lost at first. But in 1968 – the same year Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated – a federal appeals court in Tampa ruled in their favor. By the following spring, Jackson became the first black officer assigned to an all-white neighborhood.
The white officer who trained him told Jackson that no other whites in the department would work with a “colored man,” he said.
“I told him, ‘Thank you for accepting the opportunity to work with me, and you’ll find out that I am no different from any other police officer,’” he said.
Married with two daughters, Jackson said he had few problems on his new assignment. He served on the force until 1972 before pursuing a career in sales to support his family.
Today, blacks serve at all levels of law enforcement in St. Petersburg. Yet, Jackson said he continues to see a familiar struggle in places like Baltimore, Ferguson, Missouri, and McKinney, Texas.
Even though police departments have become more diverse, he and other longtime observers wonder if even black officers can lose touch with the people they serve.
“There may not be enough sensitivity training to help officers handle cases involving race. And that's a serious issue for us now,” Rev. Thompson said. “I often say the lack of respect negates the ability to protect. I’m just hopeful that in this tenor of times that we’ll soon be able to stem this tide against black life.”
Current St. Petersburg Chief Anthony Holloway said he would not be where he is today were it not for the Courageous 12.
“Today, we can patrol anywhere partly because of what they’ve done I’m able to be the chief here in St. Petersburg,” Holloway said. “Here were 12 African-American guys that said, 'You know what, we want to do more for our city and you should be allowed to let us do more for our city.'”
Despite recent high-profile cases nationwide that put the policing of minority communities in the headlines, Holloway said rebuilding the trust between police and the community will take work.
“My idea of success would be both sides trusting and believing in each other,” he said. “You know we always say serve and protect – we got the protection part down we just got to figure out how we do that service again and people believe that we are there to serve and help the community.”
Today, Jackson is one of only two of the Courageous 12 still living, a bittersweet position he said leaves a weight on his shoulders.
“I hate to think about it,” he said, shifting his eyes to the floor. “The reason I hate to think about it is because we were just like brothers. We were very close. Very, very close.”
Although most of his fellow officers involved with the lawsuit are now gone, he’s vowed not to let them be forgotten.
“Believe me,” he said. “As long as I have breath in my body, I am going to speak about the Courageous 12.”
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