Listen to Guardians of the Avenue: African-American Officers with the Indianapolis Police Departm by Patrick R. Pearsey

Book Description

"Guardians of the Avenue" is the story of African-American officers with the Indianapolis Police Department (known since 2007 as the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department). "The Avenue" is Indiana Avenue, the African-American district they were largely restricted to for the first decades they patrolled. Five Black men were appointed to the department on May 13, 1876. It was an experiment, five Black men also being appointed to the Fire Department on the same date. The future of African-Americans as public safety workers depended on these men to prove they could do the job and interact with the citizens of Indianapolis successfully. The proof came in three years later, from this article in the local paper on December 6, 1879: A gentleman who was a former resident of this city, but has been out West for four or five years, and has returned for a visit, remarked while passing along Indiana avenue, "that everything was so orderly that it did not seem to be the same old thoroughfare." He was apprised of the fact that the avenue is under the guardianship of three of the most efficient policeman in the city, viz, Thornton, Temple and Hart. These were three African-American officers. Benjamin Thornton and Carter Temple Jr. were partners on the Avenue for 10 years, until Thornton was promoted to detective in 1886. He quickly showed the department's trust in him was justified. With guile and natural detective skills, he sent 400 criminals to the prison in the next 10 years. Author Patrick Pearsey highlights the achievements of generations of African-American officers, from the first women appointed to the department in 1918 (Mary Mays and Emma Baker) to Spurgeon Davenport, who rose to the rank of Deputy Chief in 1968. There were still struggles to overcome in the hiring and promotional process and the champions of this cause are also outlined, such as Patrolman Willie Larkins, one of the founders of "The Guardians" in 1969, the first minority police officer's group in Indianapolis. The major cases investigated by African-American detectives are outlined by the author. The book has dozens of vintage photographs from the department's archives.