MAN OF
GOD AND GUN
(Ebony, September 1983)

Dr. Robert Ingram is minister and police chief in
Opa-locka, Fla.

By Raymond Lang

On WEEKDAYS, he runs a tight ship as he battles for law and order on the streets of Opa-locka, Fla., a thumb-nail-sized town on the outskirts of Miami. It’s a nonstop fight. He’s the police chief.

On Sundays, Bible clenched in hand, Dr. Robert Ingram really shifts into high gear as a licensed minister in the African Methodist Episcopal church, preaching love, patience and perseverance in sometimes gentle, sometimes thundering tones.

"I know that, as I look out over the years, I was not in charge of my life or where I was going to arrive. I did everything opposite that would ever see me in the pulpit," admits the 47-year-old veteran police office, who will be fully ordained in October. He has a master’s degree from Florida International University and a Ph. D. in applied behavioral sciences from Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities in Cincinnati.

"A police chief in the pulpit," rumbles the bearish, bearded lawman, as though the idea has suddenly dawned on him. "How much stranger could that be?"However strange, most of the 16,000 people in Opa-locka , a 4.5 square mile town, are singing his praises and whispering "Amen."Dr. Ingram, one of Miami’s most-honored office, in 1963 became the first Black Miami police officer to be assigned to an all-White beat, the heart of the city’s downtown business district. In 1969, he was chosen the year’s most outstanding officer and was tapped as one of the nation’s top police officers by the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police. He left the Miami police force as a sergeant after 21 years, and in January 1980 took the helm of the troubled Opa-locka Police Dept.

He has virtually lifted the department by the bootstraps, touching the lives of young and old through innovative programs and a new awareness for human relations. His officers show a keen sense of professionalism.

Crime is down significantly in Opa-locka. Following a major reshuffling of Police Dept. personnel and new appointments and strategies, the crime rate dropped almost 13 percent in 1981, and 8.4 percent in 1982. Perhaps for the first time, Opa-locka’s citizens are feeling good about themselves and their Police Dept.

"Chief Ingram deserves all the accolades," beams Newall J. Daughtrey the former Opa-locka city manager who pinned the badge on Dr. Ingram after interviewing 11 candidates. "He took a racist department known for brutality, especially against Blacks, a department riddled with improprieties, corrupt and illegal activities, and made it into a model department."

When Dr. Ingram was named Opa-locka police chief, "it was like trying to right a capsized ship," he recalls.

But right it, he did. "My first inclination was to lash out, but I think that is what was invited, that I would lose my cool. I backed off, asked for guidance," Dr. Ingram says, "and looked at what was happening as objectively as I could, being in the middle of it."

Much like Daniel in the lion’s den, he escaped unscathed, though undoubtably much wiser. He has brought Opa-locka’s youth directly into the Police Dept., organizing an Explorer’s post, as well as Boy and Girl Scout troops – all racially integrated. "If youngsters such as these get no guidance, we (the police) are going to have them ultimately. My preference," he explains, "is to get them now give them that guidance and fill the void."

Dr. Ingram has won several grants for the department. These include a $400,000 grant to establish a much-needed mental health facility, and a crime prevention project which brings residents, the elderly and business people closer to the department.

An able administrator, Dr. Ingram has increased the department’s strength from 35 to 42 full-time officers. They

are backed up by six auxiliary and six reserve officers. He has nudged the budget from $800,00 to $1.2 million. One of the three commanders in his department is Dorna Love who, as head of patrol, is the only Black woman with that job in Florida and, perhaps, the nation. Dr. Ingram has added a Black woman to the K-9 team, another rarity in police work. Meanwhile, in-house training goes on, courses such as officer survival and stress control.

The ministry and the power of the scriptures have guided his life." One time, it was clearly war on crime, police and the criminal," he says. "But now, with a spiritual insight, I began to see there was not a war.

"We are not at war with the people I the community, but rather we have to work to resolve these issues," he adds in strong, measured tones. Persons who break the law are "pieces, parts of families. We cannot write them off. They must be chastened for what they did, by chastened with love."

Al Chandler, Opa-locka’s city manager, stands firmly behind his police chief. "This man is a great resource," he says. "He’s like a father figure to a lot of young officers. They look up to him; they respect him. His being a minister is a great asset. We have to deal with crises I this city from day to day. Wit both Bob and myself being spiritual men, this has helped us get through these crises."

As vice president of the national Organization of Black Law enforcement executives, Dr. Ingram is working constantly to create better ways to serve the public, to bring police and the community closer together. A strong source of strength has proven to be his family, his wife Delores and daughters Tirzah, 21 who is married, and Tamara, 18, a Florida International University freshman.

"All the faults I had, all the problems, the things I have done, have given me a sense of humility and caring for my fellow man and woman," Dr. Ingram says. "I can be more accepting, I see problems a lot clearer. You have to accept that the road is going to be rough – accept that the going will be tough. Accept that, in spite of all this, there are no excuses.

"I know," he says "that I run against the wind. But I run…and run…and run."