Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: In 1944, the City of Miami hired its first five black police officers who were sworn in as "emergency patrolmen" to enforce the law in what was then called the Central Negro District. These stalwart men were Ralph White, Moody Hall, Clyde Lee, Edward Kimball, and John Miledge. By 1945, ten more officers were added. A precinct building was constructed in 1950, and served as a station house and courtroom. It was designed by Walter C. DeGarmo (1876-1951), one of Miami’s first and most prominent architects. Lawson E. Thomas, judge of the Negro Municipal Court, presided over the precinct’s courtroom. He was the first black judge elected in the South since Reconstruction, and Miami’s first black judge. In 1955, the City of Miami appointed its second black municipal judge, John Johnson. He presided alongside five Jewish judges, who had sacrificed their careers to serve at the “colored courthouse.” The Negro Precinct was unique because it was designed, devoted to, and operated as a segregated station house and court. There was no other known to exist in the country at that time. It served as a blueprint for community policing practices, and provided an opportunity for black defendants in Miami to receive proper due process.