Robert William Stewart (March 1, 1850– July 27, 1931) was an American police officer. Appointed in 1886, Stewart was the first Black officer on the Los Angeles Police force.[3][4]
Biography
Stewart was born March 1, 1850, into a Garrard County, Kentucky, slave family. He gained his freedom after the US Civil War.[1]
Stewart moved west to California, where he joined the LA Police force in 1889.[1][2] He worked at the LAPD until May, 1900, when he was accused by a white teenager of sexual assault, and arrested.[1][2] While he was awaiting trial, the police commission voted to fire him.[1][2] A trial jury later heard the sexual assault charges, and acquitted him.[1]
After he left the police force, he worked as a janitor and laborer in Los Angeles.[1][2] He died from prostate cancer in Los Angeles on July 27, 1931.[1][2]
In 2021, 90 years after Stewart's death, the Los Angeles Police Commission voted to posthumously reinstate him.[1][5] In a statement, the commission said that Stewart had been "unjustly fired".[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Fortin, Jacey (3 March 2021). "A Black Police Officer Is Reinstated, 121 Years Later". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Lost History of Robert Stewart, LAPD's First Black Cop". spectrumnews1.com.
- ^ Dulaney, W. Marvin (1996). Black Police in America. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21040-1.
- ^ Hays, Thomas G.; Sjoquist, Arthur W. (2005). Los Angeles Police Department. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3025-3.
- ^ Rector, Kevin (24 February 2021). "Police Commission reinstates one of LAPD's first Black officers, undoing 120-year-old injustice". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Booker, Brakkton. "One Of LAPD's 1st Black Officers Reinstated More Than 120 Years After His Firing". NPR.org.
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