Honoring Richmond’s first Black police officers
5/6/2021, 6 p.m.
Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney offers greetings at Sunday’s commemoration honoring the hiring of the first Black police officers in Richmond 75 years ago. The commemoration was held Sunday at Abner Clay Park in Jackson Ward, near the historic marker noting the May 1, 1946, employment of Howard T. Braxton, Doctor P. Day, Frank S. Randolph and John W. Vann. The four were assigned to the city’s 1st Precinct at Smith and Marshall streets and had walking beats around the Jackson Ward and Navy Hill area. The late Ruth B. Blair, the first Black woman hired by the police department in late 1949, also was honored at the event. Today, 229 of the Richmond Police Department’s 686 officers are African-American, or 33.3 percent, according to the department. Police Chief Gerald M. Smith also is African-American. Chief Smith was the keynote speaker for the event. Among the attendees: Henrico Police Chief Eric D. English, City Council President Cynthia I. Newbille and 2nd District City Councilwoman Katherine L. Jordan.
