28 Mar 2024

Windsor honours Black police officers
Windsor Black police officers
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Windsor honours Black police officers 

Windsor police honour pioneering black officers as part of Black History Month

There were few, if any, ordinary work days for three of Windsor’s first black police officers.

Frieda Steele is photographed at her home in Windsor on Feb. 3, 2017. Windsor police are making a movie honouring some of their trailblazing black police officers. Steele is the daughter of Windsor’s first black police officer, Alton Parker. TYLER BROWNBRIDGE/ WINDSOR STAR
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There were few, if any, ordinary work days for three of Windsor’s first black police officers.

Alton Parker, Howard Watkins and Charles Peterson took an oath to serve and protect during an era when society was quite comfortable barring them from most restaurants, movie houses and golf courses.

They weren’t allowed to rent a city apartment based solely on the colour of their skin.

These barrier-bashing pioneers patrolled the streets of Windsor during the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s when it was rare to see a black person in a position of authority.

In the early 1940s, black men were still being lynched south of the border and racial tensions boiled over into a deadly riot in Detroit in 1943.

“You can imagine that these men faced prejudice and discrimination from the public, to whom they served and even more hurtful from those they worked with,” said Sgt. Wren Dosant, diversity officer for Windsor Police Service, which is paying tribute to the trio during Black History Month. “Like all great men, they rose above these dark clouds of despair to be leaders.”

Detective Alton Parker is surrounded by happy younDetective Alton Parker is surrounded by happy youngsters on July 24, 1969. on July 24, 1969. WINDSOR STAR

The Windsor police corporate communications department has been researching the lives and careers of these trailblazers, interviewing family members and compiling a 15-minute video tribute.

“It’s a real living testament to their accomplishments,” Dosant said.

The final product will become part of an educational outreach targeting those in grades 6-8.

“We’re trying to educate them on what life was like here in the City of Windsor in the ’40s and ’50s when blacks were not in prominent city positions,” Dosant said. “We’re trying to bridge the gap between the past and now.”

All three men are deceased.

David Watkins was just four when his father Howard, by then a respected detective, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1968 at just 40 years old.

David said his mother shared some of the racially motivated indignities his father faced on the job.

“I remember she told us how he arrested one guy and basically found a sign-up sheet for the KKK on him,” David recalled. “These were the kind of things he dealt with every day. You wish you knew how he could do what he did.

“He carried himself with pride and respect. To protect and serve, I really believe that’s why he went into policing, to serve. When you’re in that position, you serve and protect everybody. You grit your teeth and plug your nose and do it. He became a real example for a lot of people in the community.”

Const. Howard Watkins goes over the Police Athletic League’s rules and regulations in this Feb. 2, 1957 file photo.FILES / WINDSOR STAR

Peterson was Windsor’s first black employee when he was hired as a mechanic in 1930. He joined the police force in 1954.

Parker left a good job as a foreman with a Detroit car company and took a pay cut to become Windsor’s first African Canadian constable when he was hired in September 1942.

His daughter, Frieda Steele, said both her parents felt strongly about giving back to their community.

As part of an organization called the Central Citizens Association, Parker and others approached then Windsor Mayor Art Reaume about the lack of black employees on the city payroll.

“They had been taxpayers and landowners since Windsor was incorporated and even before it was incorporated and they just thought it was time,” Steele said.

Reaume told them to send forth some candidates and the association tapped Parker as one.

“It was shocking,” Steele said. “My father was comfortable and loved what he was doing. He had to take a pay cut and he and my mother had many discussions about that. After he passed the physical, he was really faced with a put up or shut-up moment.”

As it turned out, Parker’s strong people skills made him an outstanding police officer.

Cherie Steele, Frieda Steele (nee Parker), Dianne Steele, Debbie Steele and Alton Parker march during a walk on March 29, 1965. FILES / WINDSOR STAR

Steele said he protected his family from the darker moments of his career, preferring to dwell on “the lighter moments because he didn’t want to worry my mother.”

Parker became Canada’s first black detective in 1951.

He broke yet another colour barrier on the executive council of the Windsor Police Association and became a champion in seeking fair treatment for all association members.

There’s a statue of him in a park named after him in recognition of Parker’s significant contributions to youth and community service.

For more than 20 years, “Uncle Al” and his family hosted an annual children’s party at Mercer and Niagara streets. At its height, more than 1,000 children attended.

The Order of Canada, the Queen’s silver jubilee medal and the Harry Jerome Award were all bestowed upon him.

Parker died in 1989 but to this day Steele still runs into people who knew her father and his extensive community outreach.

Dosant, now a 27-year Windsor police veteran, says he is forever indebted to these original pioneers.

“Courage, strength, resilience were all characteristics that were pushed to the limit with these three men,” he said. “How they persevered through all the indignities is a testament to the human spirit and the fight for what is right in all of us.”

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Uncle Al Parker, with throngs of children in the background, is all smiles at his party on Aug. 9, 1988. RANDY MOORE / WINDSOR STARSource: Windsor Star

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