The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) was founded in September 1976 during a three-day symposium to address crime in low-income urban areas. The symposium was co-sponsored by the Police Foundation and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA). The Joint Center for Political Studies (JCPS) coordinated this unprecedented event in which sixty top ranking black law enforcement executives representing twenty-four states and fifty major cities gathered in the Washington, D.C. area to participate. They exchanged views about the critically high rate of crime in the black urban communities and the socio-economic conditions that lead to crime and violence. They raised questions about relevant issues such as fairness in the administration of justice, police community relations, the hiring and promotion of black police officers, and the unique problems of the black police executive.
Recognizing black law enforcement executives could have a significantly more effective impact upon the criminal justice system through a unified voice, the symposium participants departed from the planned agenda to create NOBLE. They unanimously elected Hubert Williams, then Director of the Newark, New Jersey Police Department, and the first black police chief of a major city, temporary chairman of NOBLE. During that meeting, the initial purpose and the objectives of the organization were developed and a working committee to devise the organizational structure was formed.
NOBLE Founding Members
*Denotes Deceased.
Andrew L. Rodez*
Benton Harbor, MI, Police Department
Atkins Warren*
St. Louis, MO, Police Department
Ben Holman*
U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Services
Bishop Robinson*
Baltimore, MD, Police Department
Burtell Jefferson*
Washington, DC, Police Department
Charles Boone*
Gary, IN, Police Department
Charles Gittens*
U.S. Secret Service, Department of the Treasury
Doeg Nelson*
Phoenix, AZ, Police Department
Edward Rhodes
Alaska State Troopers
Edward Williams*
Newark, NJ, Police Department
Frank Blount*
Detroit, MI, Police Department
Frank Ingram III*
Savannah, GA, Police Department
Fred Rice*
Chicago, IL, Police Department
Fred Ruffin*
Philadelphia, PA, Police Department
George Napper*
Atlanta, GA, Bureau of Police Services
Gwynne Peirson*
Howard University, Washington, DC, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Homer F. Broome*
Los Angeles, CA, Police Department
Hubert Williams*
Newark, NJ, Police Department
J.L. Sparks
Atlanta, GA, Bureau of Police Services
James S. Griffin*
St. Paul, MN, Police Department
James V. Dabner*
Indianapolis, IN, Police Department
Johnnie Johnson
Birmingham, AL, Police Department
Joseph Fraser*
Atlantic City, NJ, Police Department
Joseph T. Rouzan
Los Angeles, CA, Police Department
Julius Guillory*
Opelousas, LA, Police Department
Kenneth Miles
Wilmington, DE, Police Department
Larry Bolden*
Las Vegas, NV, Police Department
Laurel Miller*
Richmond, VA, Police Department
Lee P. Brown
Multnomah County, OR, Sheriff's Office
Leon H. Smith*
Trenton, NJ, Police Department
Leroy Smith*
City of Miami, FL, Police Department
Leroy Swift
Kansas City, MO, Police Department
Lloyd Patterson*
Cleveland, OH, Police Department
Lloyd Sealy*
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY
Louis Turner*
New Orleans, LA, Police Department
Lucius Amerson*
Macon County, AL, Sheriff's Office
Mitchell Ware*
Chicago, IL, Police Department
Monroe Coleman*
Omaha, NE, Police Department
O’Dell Sylvester*
Oakland, CA, Police Department
Paul B. Adams
Roanoke VA, Police Department
Peggy Triplett*
U.S. Department of Justice (LEAA)
Reginald Eaves*
Atlanta, GA, Department of Public Safety
Robert Lamb*
U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service
Rodney Williams*
San Francisco, CA, Police Department
Roosevelt Dunning*
New York, NY, Police Department
Rufus Evans*
Kansas City, MO, Police Department
Sam Nolan*
Chicago, IL, Police Department
Samuel L. Williams*
Los Angeles, CA, Police Department
Sterling Johnson*
New York Prosecutor's Office, NY, Narcotics
T.C. Tisdon*
Shreveport, LA, Police Department
Thomas Mitchelson*
New York, NY, Police Department
Tilmon O’Bryant*
Washington, DC, Police Department
Vernon Gill*
Washington, DC, Police Department
William Bracey*
New York, NY, Police Department
William C. Helm*
Peoria, IL, Police Department
William E. Dye*
Champaign, IL, Police Department
William Logan
Evanston, IL, Police Department
William Lucas*
Wayne County, MI, Sheriff's Office
William Moore*
Pittsburgh, PA, Police Department
Willie B. Clayton Jr.*
Atlantic City, NJ, Police Department
Willie R. Howell*
Muskegon Heights, MI, Police Department
NOBLE National Presidents
*Denotes Deceased.
Anthony Scott
(2003-2004)
Atkins Warren*
(1981-1982)
Bishop Robinson*
(1980-1981)
Cedric Alexander, Ph.D.
(2014-2015)
Cerelyn J. Davis
(2019-2020)
Clarence E. Cox, III
(2017-2018)
Clarence Edwards
(2004-2005)
Douglas DeLeaver
(2007-2008)
Ernest E. Green, III*
(2009-2010)
Frederick L. Thomas
(2021-2022)
George Napper, Ph.D.*
(1986-1987)
Gilbert Branche
(1979-1980)
Gregory A. Thomas
(2015-2016)
Harold Johnson*
(1987-1988)
Henry DeGeneste
(1982-1983)
Hubert Bell
(1994-1995)
Hubert Williams*
(1976-1979)
Ida Gillis
(2000-2001)
Ira Harris*
(1984-1985)
Jacquelyn Barrett
(1997-1998)
James Golden
(1998-1999)
Jiles H. Ship
(2011-2012)
Jimmie L. Dotson
(2006-2007)
Jimmy L. Wilson*
(2002-2003)
John I. Dixon, III
(2013-2014)
John Pritchard*
(1993-1994)
Joseph A. McMillan
(2008-2009)
Leonard Cooke
(2001-2002)
Louis Graham*
(1996-1997)
Lynda R. Williams
(2020-2021)
Marcellus Boles
(1989-1990)
Marty Tapscott
(1985-1986)
Maurita Bryant
(2012-2013)
Moses Ector
(1990-1991)
Oliver Thompson*
(1995-1996)
Patrick R. Melvin
(2010-2011)
Perry Anderson
(1992-1993)
Perry Tarrant, MPA
(2016-2017)
Richard J. Pennington*
(2005-2006)
Ronald Nelson*
(1988-1989)
Sylvester Winston٭
(1983-1984)
Vera Bumpers
(2018-2019)
Wesley Mitchell*
(1999-2000)
Willie Williams*
(1991-1992)