Transitioning from policing the streets of Brooklyn to the boardwalk of Virginia Beach, John Bell realizes fairly quickly that he’s “not in Kansas anymore.” As he grapples with cultural shifts and racial tensions, the question arises: Can one truly live the dream of being a policeman when faced with the complexities of fairness, empathy, and justice?
For more info on early integrators of the Virginia Beach Police Department, check out "Black Law Enforcement Pioneers" by Deputy Chief P{atrick L. Gallagher and Edna Hawkins-Hendrix.
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VO: Representation is important everywhere–but it is essential in spaces where lives are on the line. This sentiment resonates strongly among many Black residents, and particularly with the Virginia Beach Police Department. Here is an exploration of the high price of choosing Blue when you are Black.
John Bell: Well, to begin with, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and, uh, being born and raised in Brooklyn, policemen were always my friend.
VO: This is John Bell, Jr.
John Bell: I, I lived in a community where, in East New York, Brownsville, and my father was the Vice President of my block association. We always had the policemen from the 75th precinct coming by to have meetings in our basement. So I was used to seeing policemen there. My lifelong dream was always to be a policeman.
VO: He’s not lying. Here’s a note John wrote when he was in 7th grade.
*young man reads note*
When I grow up I wish to be a detective. This will be me showing that I am a good citizen because of the risk I will be taking. It also will show that I care for the safety of the citizens in the community that I will be stationed.
Being a detective will be a job that calls for a High School diploma, but if I go to college I will be in a better position to get a promotion right away. This job pays well enough to support a nice sized family plus extra money for recreational activities and bills.
VO: John realized his dream and joined the New York Transit Police Department in 1973 where he worked among a multiracial police force.
Sound of cheerful, wedding music
John Bell: But I remember when I was married in ‘75 and I remember being in the Poconos on my honeymoon, and I remember getting a call from one of my sergeants, Sergeant Hill. And he's like, "Bell, what's going on?"
I said, "Sergeant, I’m on my honeymoon, We went to Poconos. You know, just having a good time."
He's, “well, listen, not to break bad news to you, but you've been laid off. (music stops) So don't take any police action."
I'm like, "Excuse me? Okay, enjoy your honeymoon.” Thank you Sarge. So I left to go on my honeymoon with a job I came back, you know, unemployed.
John Bell: They were hiring policemen in Virginia Beach.
So I applied for the job, and ended up in, uh, Virginia Beach in 1976. Well, the police department it was approximately 300 officers. And there were about eight black officers in the police department.
There was, uh, one Black sergeant. That was it as far as supervisors that looked like me. There was a Sergeant Sparrow who had left before I came on the police department. So I'd heard about him but didn't know him.
VO: If you want to know more about the integration of the VBPD, check out the book by Edna Hendrix-Hawkins linked in our show notes. Back to John Bell.
John Bell: Uh, but that was pretty much it. 300 officers, only eight of us. It was terrible.
John Bell: Everything that's happened has been a lesson, I guess, in realizing how difficult it was in Virginia Beach and how people didn't really think about, you know, the problems that they're creating, and how important it was to have the department reflect the community– more diversity.
I remember, as a sergeant, at the precinct, we would have snowstorms. And during the snowstorms, we basically tell officers, hunker down and find yourself a fire station just to stay there until it eases up. And I remember, a lot of people don't think about the things they say and they do and the impact it has and how hurtful it could be.
And I remember being in the precinct myself, while my officers were out there in the street at fire stations, and getting a call, and one of my officers had been involved in an accident–run into the back of a city bus and lost the front bumper, to her car. And I remember getting a call at the precinct from the gentleman who said he was driving in the street when he came across the accident and there was a bumper in the street. He says, "Well, you know, I've got the bumper here in my, in my car outside." I'm like, "okay", and he says, "Yeah, well, I came across, I saw the bumper, and he said, but I sent my– and uses the N word. I sent my N to get the bumpter out the street, and I put it in my pickup truck, and I've got it in my car."
And I'm like, You did what? And he repeated it. "Yeah, I sent my N out to get the bumper out the street and put it in my car, I got it here if you want it". And I had all my officers in place, so they wouldn't drive and I said, "Well, don't worry about it. I'm gonna come by and pick up our bumper. Thank you very much. I appreciate that".
I remember leaving the precinct in the snowstorm, and going by his house and knocking on his door. And he came to the door and I told him I’m Sergeant Bell. We just talked on the phone and you told me you had a bumper that you had someone pick up out of the street and just came by to get it.
And you just tell the shock on his face, you know to see an African American Sergeant, come by his house to pick up the bumper after you've made that statement. So again, if nothing else, I felt that was just an opportunity to educate him on how his words could be hateful. And hopefully it sent a message. But it was things like that that happened that, you know, just made me realize, again, it wasn't in Kansas anymore. And coming from Brooklyn, New York, where I basically came up with different groups, minority groups, ethnic groups coming in Virginia to have to deal with that.
Musical transition
John Bell: It was difficult. Even the neighborhoods–Burton Station is a community in Virginia Beach and it's an African American community. One of the first, uh, areas I worked in and, you know, going through the neighborhood, I would stop and talk to the kids playing basketball and I would start playing basketball with them.
But then I realized that this is, uh, Virginia Beach, a very affluent city, but yet the streets, they're not paved. You know, when it's raining, you can't go through because the streets are flooded. People had outdoor plumbing. You know, they didn't, they had wells outside. And I'm saying to myself, you know, the disparity as far as seeing how the affluent neighborhoods in Virginia Beach were, but yet you look at, uh, Burton Station, you look at Beachwood, some of the other neighborhoods, how--the, the way they just basically neglected them.
Well, it helps you realize why people may have that distrust of government, you know, to realize that, you know, they're paying their taxes as well. But yet when it comes to getting services, they're just basically being neglected.
So (it made me) a little more sensitive and it should have made other police officers as sensitive as well ,to when you come to, into those communities, why there might be some resentment, you know, because you represent city government, you know, and you're, you represent the people who are basically leaving their community, you know, neglected.
VO: As soon as he could -John took his awareness and vigilance up the chain.
John Bell: So I worked in the Detective Bureau for a while, and, uh, after that I basically, uh, you know, moved on, went to Internal Affairs later on, and that gave me an opportunity because, again, internal affairs is where people who have complaints against the, the police department they’re able to lodge those complaints, so it gave me an opportunity to make sure that folks who came in there and felt they were wronged were treated fairly.
Some of the, how can I put that? Some of the officers you may have socialized with, they may be some of the same officers you're called to do an investigation on.
And it can be difficult because there are officers that in–during the course of investigations, you find that they've done wrong. And some may be reprimanded, they may be suspended, some may be fired, and others might be charged criminally for things that they've done. So it's difficult, but it's an important position and, again it's a way to instill that trust in the community of the police department.
Music
Much later on, uh, 89.
I don't know if you're familiar with the Greek Fest in Virginia Beach, and that's when we basically had a, you know, disturb, I say disturbance. It was basically a mini riot, you know, where during the summer, um, you'd have black college students come to Virginia Beach, uh, to the Oceanfront
VO: Greekfest was a celebration for sororities and fraternities of Historically Black College and Universities that happened over Labor Day weekend. It started in the early 1980’s as a picnic at Croatan Beach for local sorority and fraternity members. Then, the event grew. In 1986, a promoter got involved, named it Greekfest, and moved the party to the Oceanfront. That's according to the Virginian Pilot.
As the event gained popularity with students, it also gained resentment from the city of Virginia Beach, who eventually refused to rent facilities to the organizers of Greekfest citing widespread looting. In 1989, in response, the attendees went to the Oceanfront anyway, where they were met with harsh treatment from the police and National Guard.
John Bell: And Virginia Beach at that particular time, I'll say some of the, some of the merchants, they would probably have preferred if the, uh, African American college students were coming to Virginia Beach came and you know, left the money on the table and went home. They weren't necessarily interested in them staying and having a good time.
The city at this particular time, they, didn't do anything as far as planning for activities because I think they felt that that might be encouraging the students to come. So you came, you walked up and down Atlantic Avenue and that was pretty much it drove your cars back and forth and, uh, we had a mini riot at the ocean front and there's question about who may have started it, whether it was the college students or it was locals, you know, from being down there, I think it was a combination, probably people took advantage of an unfortunate situation to loot, and we had the riots, uh, at the Oceanfront.
VO: Many people, even today, avoid the topic of Greekfest. As both a Black man and a Police Officer, John’s insights were particularly helpful in how both communities could heal.
Following the riots, John was placed on a task force to try and better understand how the city, and the police force could better respond the following year. After observing how other cities navigated big events, his group trained officers in Virginia Beach to be more culturally aware, got input from Norfolk State students, and began to place police chaplains at the Oceanfront.
But the damage had been done. The lasting impression of the National Guard and over-policing of college students would take 30 years to begin to fade.
Sound of Crashing wave
John Bell: People are going to come and if you basically send out the message that you know you're not wanted, especially with young people, we're gonna say, I've got a right to be here and I'm going to come.
So it's a question do, do they come and you provide something for them to do, show that they're welcome, or do you basically just shut down and close your doors. And I think we've changed the dynamics now. We look at Pharrell Williams when he's done with Something in the Water. Uh, even with that, you know, Virginia Beach, they, they opened up, they did plan activities.
You look at how, uh, how successful it was, you know, for everyone. For the merchants, they were happy. They were making money as well. But you have to know history, and that's part of the history of Virginia Beach. And it may not be attractive, but that's the way it was. And we changed the way we interacted with, with our communities during that time.
We benefited from it. So it's very important to know the history.
Last loud wave crash, then fade.
John Bell: And I think that, uh, we had, it's about 10% African American on the department. In 2010, I was, uh, appointed deputy chief and the division I had included, Professional Development and Training.
So it gave us an opportunity to try to recruit more African Americans. So that was satisfying. So I think they've done a good job with that. I still don't think they're at the place they need to be. While you have an African American lieutenant in the police department, (I believe two now), you don't have anyone above that rank. So that's a challenge.
Music.
But it was disappointing that, you know, years later there was a gentleman who retired as a lieutenant, uh, Ronnie Haynes. He was on the police department. And Ronnie and I had said that before we left, we wanted to be able to have people, officers, Black officers in our, in our positions not to leave those gaps.
And Ronnie stayed as long as he could, but unfortunately we just couldn't get those numbers to where we liked them to be. And, uh, January, I guess 2016 is when I retired from the police department after 40 years.
VO: John could have realized he wasn’t in Kansas anymore and headed back up North, but that is not his story. He poured into this community–forging a path for safer policing. At the time of this recording in Fall of 2023, Something in the Water is back in Virginia Beach. It’s easy to assume that all is well. But Truth Be Told the integration of the VBPD is still a work in progress.
VO: Visit our website Truthbetoldcommunity.com to find out ways to get involved, and share this episode with friends.
This series was written by Jackie Glass and Hannah Sobol, edited and hosted by me, Nichole Hill, Sound Design by Trendel Lightburn, and our work has been supported by the Virginia African American Cultural Center through a grant from Virginia Tourism Corporation. Follow our work by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. We couldn’t do this without people brave enough to share their experiences, so thank you Deputy Chief John Bell!