Real Cops and Soldiers: The first Black assistant DC Chief of Police was Tilmon O’Bryant. He was my mentor and the Original Officer Friendly in the Black Community. He swore me in as a DC cop to walk the streets during the 1968 riots with nothing but a DC Police badge. When I asked him for a gun with the badge, he made me think I was bulletproof. I survived three days and three nights on those mean streets.

O’Bryant’s partner was Burtell Jefferson. The two held a class in their homes to help teach black officers how to pass exams for promotions. Jefferson became the 1st Black DC Police Chief. He was a man of integrity.

Army MP Sgt. Earl K. Bell aka Sgt. “Bull Bell.” He stood up against racism in the U. S. Army only to come home and experience the same racism in the DC Police Department. He discovered black officers with rank in the Army were no different than blacks in white shirts in the DC police department-sellouts!

40 years ago Sgt. Earl “Bull” Bell was in a head-on collision with a 16-wheeler on the way to his new assignment at the Police and Fire Clinic on Southern Avenue SE DC. The 16-wheeler almost won. I passed the crash scene on the way to the hospital. I thought no way he had survived. “Bull Bell”, did barely survive. He was paralyzed for life from the waist down.

My older brother Bobby was a U. S. Marshall for 20 years. He also encountered The Thin Blue Line and Code of Silence. Thanks to Judge Luke C. Moore, he was issued an apology. The codes have protected the racist and brutal acts of violence against the black community for decades and the struggle continues.

Andrew Johnson, my friend since 12 and under Little League Baseball, high school teammate, and KIT community sidekick for 70+ years. His distinguishing law-enforcement career included DC MPD Top Cop-No. 1 Homicide Detective. He traveled the World for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to combat drugs entering the U. S. He retired in 1995 as a DEA Supervisor. He was a no-nonsense cop with integrity and “Officer Friendly” beyond the call of duty. Coincidently, as Andrew retired another young man in Forsyth County, NC would follow in his footsteps, Bobby Kembrough. 1995 would be a good year for good cops..

From 1995 to 2016, Kimbrough served the United States Department of Justice as a Special Agent in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He specialized in investigating crimes against the government, including organized crime, money laundering, gang violence, and drug trafficking. His fluency in Spanish allowed him to work extensively throughout the United States and other Spanish-speaking countries.

Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough began his law enforcement career in 1984 as a Police Officer for the Winston-Salem Police Department. In 1987, he became an Arson Investigator with the Winston-Salem Fire Department while serving as Assistant Fire Marshal. He then moved to work with high-risk offenders at the North Carolina Department of Probation and Parole. He was elected to the Office of Sheriff of Forsyth County in 2018 making him the first black to serve.

I heard his story several years ago on television while attending Winston-Salem State University’s homecoming.

There was no way I could be in Winston-Salem and not stop to see my homegirl, Peggy Chapman. Peggy is a native Washingtonian. She came to Winston-Salem State University, fell in love, and stayed for the long haul after graduation. I asked her about Kembrough’s service as a police officer in the Winston-Salem Police Department.

Her praise had nothing to do with how many bad guys he had arrested and locked up. The praise was all about his love for the community and finding ways to change the lives of the young men in his hometown. He was determined to help prepare them for The Game Called Life. There was no hidden agenda, he was all about the children. I was intrigued, he really made children first.

Kids In Trouble was and still is “All About The Children.”

Peggy, introduced me to Bobby before I left Winston-Salem. I invited him to be my guest on my podcast, and he accepted my invitation. He was a breath of fresh air. Sheriff Kimbrough is the 2025 definition of “Officer Friendly” and the type of hands-on and not “Hands-Up” leadership we need in our police departments across America. I am disappointed when I hear a cop say, “It is us against them!”

Sheriff Carr and his boys, are the future of Forsyth County.

Congressman Tom Davis (R-Vir) and the late Jim Brown (NFL) were the guest co-host for the KIT Police/Communty Youth Forum at Bible Way Church, Washington, DC (Host- Pastor James Silva).

Montgomery County’s finest motorcyle officers join me for lunch at Bens Chili Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvmdLzVSf38&feature=em-share_video_user  BEN’S CHILI BOWL POLICE FORUM  

The Kids In Trouble Team led by Park Police Chief Andre Jordan with Businessmen Bob Oates, Jake Jasmine, DC Judges Eugene Hamilton, and Luke Moore attend a KIT television talk show panel on youth crime in Alexandria, Virginia.

KIT Police/Community Youth Forum at the Grand Hyatt in downtown DC. The Montgomery County Police Department’s first Black Police Chief, Clarence Edwards was a guest panelist (before his appointment). The Clerk of the Prince George County Court is seated on Edwards’ right, Rev. John Edwards on his left, and standing in a white sweater, Kojo Nnamdi WHUR TV/WAMU Raio were the other panel members that participated along with Washington Redskin LB, Carl Banks.

KIT Board of Directors Member, Prince Georges County State’s Attorney, and former Federal Judge Alex Williams was a guest panelist to discuss the law and youth crime

KIT Men of the Year “Reach Back Awards.” L-R Dr. George Logan-El-Clarence Edwards-HBell-Alex Williams and Boxing Historian, Bert Randolph Sugar. The 3-year-old sitting on the Grand Piano is Antonio Logan-El, HS All-American, a graduate of Towson State and now employed by DC Stay School-at Ballou High School.

My mentor, was the first modern-day U. S. Marshall-In-Charge, DC Superior Court Judge Luke C. Moore and Chief Judge of the DC Superior Court, Eugene Hamilton, join me on a tour of the Bolling Boys’ Base on Bolling AFB in SE DC. It was the first-ever juvenile facility of its kind on a military installation.

Boys in the Hood, Ricky Duggan, and Kirby Burks talk sports with 4th District “Officer Friendly” Charles Roberts. Their focus was the upcoming championship softball game with the officers from the 7th District.

The 4th District won the city softball championship, beating the 7th District 7-5. The “Officer Friendly” goodwill relationships established by the youth and the officers were destroyed by internal politics in the police department.

The Washington Post’s columnist Bill Raspberry won a first-ever Pulitzer Prize under the heading of ‘Community’ for his coverage of Kids In Trouble and other community politics in DC.

Raspberry and Dewey Hughes keep their eyes on the ball during a KIT charity basketball game at Georgetown University.

I am in Philadelphia with Mayor Wilson Goode and my mentor, playground basketball legend Sonny Hill. Goode was the city’s first Black Mayor. We were on a tour of playgrounds in the city of brotherly love.

Wayne Davis was the first Black FBI Director In-Charge in the Detriot Office. Wayne was working under cover when I met in the streets of DC during the 1968 riots. In 1980 I was in Detriot for the Thomas Hearns and Jose ‘Pipino’ Cuevas Championship Fight. Wayne and I attended the fight and watched Hearns knock Cuevas out in the second round for his first title.

Sheriff JD Carr is a 20-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department in Prince George County, MD. He grew up in Prince George County in Suitland, Md. He was voted into office in 2022 replacing the late Chief Melvin High. I met Sheriff Carr in a Honey Ham Restaurant in Forrestville Mall. He was campaigning for the office. One of his campaign staff introduced us. He won the office easily. Sheriff Carr is seen above during a Driveby, stopping to wish me a happy birthday at a Fitness Center on Walker-Mill Road. He is seen with the late great vocalist and community activist Royal Height. His first community endeavor was “One Hundred Men Who Read.” A program designed to help our children to enhance their reading skills. Volunteers met outside of his office in Upper Marlboro, I was a volunteer. The success of the program is yet to be determined. Every little bits helps. In 2025 hopefully, we will be teaching to our children on how to stay alive without guns.