In 1960, the Annapolis Police Department hired Andrew Turner and George Leverette, the first African Americans to work as officers in the city. On Wednesday, members of the department celebrated the 65th anniversary of the landmark hires and all of the African American Annapolis police officers who followed.

The event came 25 years after a similar event in 2000, which celebrated 40 years of African American Annapolis police officers.

“Although we celebrate the legacy of the first officers to serve, lest we never forget, yes, the struggle to overcome the many unjust historical obstacles and barriers to serve with dignity in the Annapolis City Police Department,” Chief Edward Jackson said to the crowd at the First Baptist Church of Annapolis. “[Turner and Leverette] were appointed because we had to acknowledge that it was time to break down these very evil caste systems of bigotry, racism, supremacy; they were all barriers to men and women of color given the opportunity to serve in the city that most were born and raised in.”

Their hiring came five years after the lynching of Emmett Till and six years after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ended legal segregation in schools.

Jackson also spoke in favor of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which have been purged in both private and public workplaces across the country since President Donald Trump, a Republican, took office a second time.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion in anything has nothing to do with lowering standards, has absolutely nothing to do with unintelligence,” Jackson said. “I’m not worried about the city of Annapolis with all this misinformation about DEI, I’m giving people an opportunity. … If you go out there in the spirit of service as opposed to the spirit of adventure, then you’re welcomed in the Annapolis Police Department. I don’t care what color you are.”

Jackson is the department’s second African American chief after Chief Joseph Johnson, who led the department for 14 years starting in 1994.

The event featured speeches from many Annapolis police and community figures including historian Janice Hayes-Williams, Annapolis Ward 3 Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell-Charles, District 30 State Sen. Shaneka Henson, and Caucus of African American Leaders Convener Carl Snowden.

Often mentioned during the event was an editorial published in the Evening Capital on March 19, 1960, which came out against the hiring of the two officers, but which acknowledged they deserved the opportunity to prove themselves. Many of the speakers looked to the piece to benchmark how far Annapolis has come, while others reflected on their own experiences.

“The Navy has a term that they use called Silent Service. And here stateside, our silent service is our family,” said retired Annapolis Police sergeant James Spearman. “I want to give a shout out to all the family members who support us when we got in the street, the ones who look out for us in our dark times, cheer for us when we get the bad guys, and we save a life.”

Spearman joined the department in 1986, and recalled instances of racism he experienced, including a civilian calling him slurs. In 2013, he was part of a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Black officers internally. The suit was ultimately dismissed.

Spearman joined other officers in presenting a plaque to chief Jackson listing every Black officer hired since the original commemoration in 2000, nearly 80 officers, including the chief himself.

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