LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Los Angeles Police Department dedicated the roll call room at a downtown police station to honor the memory of one of the first Black officers in the agency’s history.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore presided over a ceremony on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at the LAPD Central Station honoring Robert William Stewart, who joined the department in 1889.
Stewart “was wrongly accused of sexually assaulting a white teenage girl in the year 1900,” LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman said in a statement.
“While awaiting trial, the city of Los Angeles voted to fire him,”
Eisenman said. “Despite being acquitted of all charges by a jury trial, Mr. Stewart was never offered his job back and spent the rest of his life working as a janitor and laborer.
“This event is designed to honor his memory and address the wrong that Mr. Stewart endured. The Los Angeles Police Department [is] dedicating the Central Division Police Station roll call room in his honor and dedication plaques have been installed to continue his legacy.”
On Feb. 23, 2021, Moore and the Los Angeles Police Commission voted to posthumously reinstate Stewart into the LAPD.