Ernest Brown grave context - Glenwood Cemetery - 2014-09-19
Grave of Ernest Willis Brown at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Brown was born on August 26, 1873, newar Auburn, New York, and educated in the New York City public schools. He attended the Business College of New York before moving to Washington, D.C., in 1890 to take a job as a clerk at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was a whopping 6'1" tall at a time when most people were 5'8" in height, and he weighed more than 225 pounds. One day, someone took him aside and said, "You should be a cop."
Brown asked his father for permission to become a policeman, and he gave his consent. Brown joined the Metropolitan Police Department on January 10, 1896, as a private. His first beat was the Georgetown and Foggy Bottom waterfronts, then crime-infested nest of industrial plants, wharves, and brothels. He recalled that his first arrest was of a drunk woman, whom he took to jail. (He let her sleep it off, and released her.)
Brown married Ella R. Jones (a clerk in the Treasury Department) on December 5, 1900, in Philadelphia. He kept the married a secret, and they lived apart for ten years. He allegedly asked her for a divorce in 1910, and at first she agreed. She traveled to Philadelphia, where she could file for divorce on grounds of desertion (she had no grounds for divorce in D.C.). She changed her mind, and sued him for support on September 6. The couple remained married until her death on January 13, 1935.
He was widely admired as the "one honest cop", and received numerous civic, social, and religious awards for his policework and for his service to the community. He was transferred to the White House beat and for three years helped guard President William McKinley. He promoted to segeant in 1905 lieutenant in 1917, and captain in 1920.
As Captain, he supervised the training school, worked as a plainclothes detective, and then commanded the Third Precinct.
He was promoted to Inspector and named head of the newly created Traffic Division in 1925, and oversaw the city's chaotic conversion from horse-and-buggy to automobile. It was there where the city's first traffic laws and regulations were formed. He was promoted to Assistant Superintendent in charge of the Traffic Division.
On October 22, 1932, the Board of Police Commissioners promoted Brown to Major (the department's highest rank) and named him Superintendent of Police. Brown believed youth should like and respect the police, not fear them. Juvenile delinquency was a major concern at the time, and in 1934 Brown founded the Metropolitan Police Department Boys Club as a means of providing safe, nuturing, organized athletic and educational opportunities for city youth. He also created Youth Safety Patrols as a means of involving young men in keeping their neighborhoods clean and safe.
Brown married 51-year-old Olga Krumke on February 16, 1935. They had no children.
Brown remained Superintendent until 1941. During this time, he continued to bolster the Traffic Division, and was the first Superintendent to put police officers in automobiles, created the first mounted police unit, installed public police call boxes, and moved officers from desk duty to foot patrols.
In April 1934, Brown was also appointed D.C. Boxing Commissioner. On June 17, 1940, Brown sanctioned the first racially integrated boxing match in D.C. history when Kid Cocoa (Herbert Lewis Hardwick, an African American from Puerto Rico) bested "Wild" Bill McDowell (a white from Dallas, Texas) 7-to-5 in a ten-round match. There wasn't a peep of protest, despite concerns that the city wasn't ready for an integrated sport.
In 1940, press reports claimed that the MPD was being mismanaged under Brown. The department was accused of failing to close over 90 percent of the most serious cases such as rape, assault, and murder. A crime commission created which found that although Brown had largely suppressed illegal gambling and solved several high-profile murder cases, the detective bureau was not well-managed and many murder cases went unsolved.
One of the commission's reccommendations was that superintendents have a mandatory retirement age of 65. The rule would not apply to the 68-year-old Brown, but he was disenchanted by the crime commission's criticisms and retired on October 15, 1941. Camp Brown, the MPD's boys' summer camp on Maryland's eastern shore, was named after him.
Brown was a deeply religious man who for decades worshipped at the Congress Street Methodist Church in Georgetown. He remained active in the MPD Boys Clubs, the D.C. Youth Council, and the board of directors of Casualty Hospital. He suffered a heart attack while attending a hospital board meeting on May 20, 1966, and died later that day.
Ernest Brown grave context - Glenwood Cemetery - 2014-09-19
Grave of Ernest Willis Brown at Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Brown was born on August 26, 1873, newar Auburn, New York, and educated in the New York City public schools. He attended the Business College of New York before moving to Washington, D.C., in 1890 to take a job as a clerk at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was a whopping 6'1" tall at a time when most people were 5'8" in height, and he weighed more than 225 pounds. One day, someone took him aside and said, "You should be a cop."
Brown asked his father for permission to become a policeman, and he gave his consent. Brown joined the Metropolitan Police Department on January 10, 1896, as a private. His first beat was the Georgetown and Foggy Bottom waterfronts, then crime-infested nest of industrial plants, wharves, and brothels. He recalled that his first arrest was of a drunk woman, whom he took to jail. (He let her sleep it off, and released her.)
Brown married Ella R. Jones (a clerk in the Treasury Department) on December 5, 1900, in Philadelphia. He kept the married a secret, and they lived apart for ten years. He allegedly asked her for a divorce in 1910, and at first she agreed. She traveled to Philadelphia, where she could file for divorce on grounds of desertion (she had no grounds for divorce in D.C.). She changed her mind, and sued him for support on September 6. The couple remained married until her death on January 13, 1935.
He was widely admired as the "one honest cop", and received numerous civic, social, and religious awards for his policework and for his service to the community. He was transferred to the White House beat and for three years helped guard President William McKinley. He promoted to segeant in 1905 lieutenant in 1917, and captain in 1920.
As Captain, he supervised the training school, worked as a plainclothes detective, and then commanded the Third Precinct.
He was promoted to Inspector and named head of the newly created Traffic Division in 1925, and oversaw the city's chaotic conversion from horse-and-buggy to automobile. It was there where the city's first traffic laws and regulations were formed. He was promoted to Assistant Superintendent in charge of the Traffic Division.
On October 22, 1932, the Board of Police Commissioners promoted Brown to Major (the department's highest rank) and named him Superintendent of Police. Brown believed youth should like and respect the police, not fear them. Juvenile delinquency was a major concern at the time, and in 1934 Brown founded the Metropolitan Police Department Boys Club as a means of providing safe, nuturing, organized athletic and educational opportunities for city youth. He also created Youth Safety Patrols as a means of involving young men in keeping their neighborhoods clean and safe.
Brown married 51-year-old Olga Krumke on February 16, 1935. They had no children.
Brown remained Superintendent until 1941. During this time, he continued to bolster the Traffic Division, and was the first Superintendent to put police officers in automobiles, created the first mounted police unit, installed public police call boxes, and moved officers from desk duty to foot patrols.
In April 1934, Brown was also appointed D.C. Boxing Commissioner. On June 17, 1940, Brown sanctioned the first racially integrated boxing match in D.C. history when Kid Cocoa (Herbert Lewis Hardwick, an African American from Puerto Rico) bested "Wild" Bill McDowell (a white from Dallas, Texas) 7-to-5 in a ten-round match. There wasn't a peep of protest, despite concerns that the city wasn't ready for an integrated sport.
In 1940, press reports claimed that the MPD was being mismanaged under Brown. The department was accused of failing to close over 90 percent of the most serious cases such as rape, assault, and murder. A crime commission created which found that although Brown had largely suppressed illegal gambling and solved several high-profile murder cases, the detective bureau was not well-managed and many murder cases went unsolved.
One of the commission's reccommendations was that superintendents have a mandatory retirement age of 65. The rule would not apply to the 68-year-old Brown, but he was disenchanted by the crime commission's criticisms and retired on October 15, 1941. Camp Brown, the MPD's boys' summer camp on Maryland's eastern shore, was named after him.
Brown was a deeply religious man who for decades worshipped at the Congress Street Methodist Church in Georgetown. He remained active in the MPD Boys Clubs, the D.C. Youth Council, and the board of directors of Casualty Hospital. He suffered a heart attack while attending a hospital board meeting on May 20, 1966, and died later that day.