Brookline Policeman Related To Author Alice Walker: Black History

BROOKLINE, MA — It's February and that means Black History month. Organizations and individuals across the country are taking the opportunity to spotlight the achievements and experiences of African Americans. The Brookline Police Department, also took to social media to celebrate black officers over the years.

The first black police officer to join the force, Harry Courtney, did so in 1972. His grand nephew followed in his footsteps and joined the force 42 years later in 2014. But there a few more fun facts about this particular officer. He's got ties to historical legends.

Officer William Walker is also a relative of the author, poet and activist Alice Walker - yes that Alice Walker, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her novel tackling issues of racism and violence against women, "The Color Purple." And if that wasn't enough, his cousin Hiram Little was a Tuskegee Airman and, one of the first African American supervisors in an Atlanta area post office. President George W. Bush gave him a Congressional Medal in 2007.

So he was an easy choice for Officer Casey Hatchett, who puts together the social media profiles during Black History Month.

"He’s a really great guy, like family to me (and my family) spending holidays with us and I had the honor to pin him at his swearing in! When I asked him if I could profile in on our social media, I told him I would like to celebrate him and his achievements every day of the year – not just for Black History Month – but that certainly his journey to Brookline may be inspiring to other young black men who are considering a career in law enforcement," Hatchett wrote to Patch.

Walker was born and raised in Dorchester and attended Boston Latin Academy before he went on to Northeastern University where he studied criminal justice.

As part of his Northeastern program, he worked as a co-op in the Brookline Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit in 2011. That's what sealed the deal and Walker decided he wanted to become a Brookline Police Officer.

He started out as a meter collector and moved to Brookline, entered the Lowell Police Academy and graduated in the fall of 2014.

Now, he's assigned to the Patrol Division on the day shift in the Coolidge Corner area, according to Brookline Police. He is also a member of the Department’s Special Response Team, the Bike Unit and the Warrant Unit.

Although the number of minorities on the Brookline Police Department has increased little by little since 1974, today there are still only a handful. Still, the department has 22 minority officers in total – five black, eight Hispanic/Latino and nine Asian. Add to that figure the 15 women who are considered “diverse” officers, and the Brookline Police Department has a 31 percent representation of diversity within its rank and file, according to Brookline Police Officer Casey Hatchett.

When compared to the Brookline Census Data, the police department does have a higher percentage of black officers than the percentage of black residents living in Brookline as of the last census which put the percent of black residents at 3.4 percent. At last census the town had 5 percent of residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino, compared to the police department's 7 percent. As for Asian representation, the Brookline Police representation is only 8 percent compared to the town's 15.6 percent.

The department has been accused in the past of racial profiling, but former Police Chief Dan O'Leary became one of the first chiefs in the state to participate in a study and add race to the list of things to record when pulling someone over so the department could track it.

Still, the department is in the middle of a years-long court battle involving accusations of racism within the police department. When two black police officers came forward with accusations of racial harassment within the department among fellow officers the town and department brought in consultants, who recommended, among other things, to recognize and acknowledge diversity among the department more regularly.

Across the country about 58,000 black officers were working in the U.S. in 2013. Compare that to some 55,000 in 2007. By 2015, the percent of black officers within the total number of police remained flat at about 12 percent, the most recent data.

More about Black History Month: Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator, and publisher created “Negro History Week” in 1926 for the second week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. By 1976, 26 years after Woodson died, Negro History Week became Black History Month as a way to celebrate and honor African Americans and their achievements.

Check out the cheery photo of the first African American on the Brookline Police force, Walker's Grand Uncle:

Photos courtesy Brookline Police Department.