Police Photographer
His way to manage being on-call 24/7 for his full-time job, part-time military service, church leadership and family was to “stay organized and efficient.”
FAMILY BACKGROUND
EM was adopted by a couple who moved to a large city when he was young. He grew up with three brothers and a sister.
CHILDHOOD INTERESTS
As a birthday gift when he was 10 years old, EM received a simple camera. Thereafter, he sought odd jobs at home and around his neighborhood to earn money to buy film, which he learned to develop in a home ‘darkroom’ which he and his father created in their basement.
In addition to photography, EM joined the First Pentecostal United Holy Church as a boy and later served as president of a district choir.
EDUCATION
A good student from elementary through high school grades, EM never thought about attending college, so he opted to take some high school courses in plumbing, basic electricity, and woodworking, to be ready to use those skills as necessary in any career path and for himself at home.
MILITARY SERVICE
When EM was a high school senior, all males his age were required to register for the military draft. Following his graduation, EM enlisted in the Army, in which he served on active duty in Germany for several years before transferring to the Army Reserves, where he served for three decades involving monthly weekend drills and two-week summer camps.
EM loved the organization and discipline required by military service. He was proud to have earned the rank of Command Sergeant Major, a rare accomplishment at the time, for a Black man.
INTERNSHIP LEADS TO A FULL TIME CAREER
While in high school, EM took advantage of the opportunity to work as an after-school intern within the local, large-city police department. His police supervisors were so impressed with EB’s work behind a police camera and at the fingerprints desk, that they offered him a full-time job after his active military service days.
DUTIES OF A POLICE PHOTOGRAPHER
Police photographers are needed for more than preserving pictures of crimes scenes – bodies, bullet casings, bullet holes, drug needles, abandoned weapons and related damage such as wrecked vehicles and downed traffic light poles.
In addition, police need to photograph press conferences, civil rights protest events and security details protecting dignitaries. At the police stationhouse, police photographers take ‘mug shots’ of people arrested.
Police photographers may be required to testify as fact witnesses in criminal trials. They may also be asked to participate in community events designed to promote goodwill between police and law-abiding citizens, including occasional school visits, sometimes with the police canine (dog) units.
CHALLENGE – BE AVAILABLE 24/7
Crime has no official hours of operation. Indeed, many – possibly most – serious crimes are committed in the dark. Crime scene evidence must be promptly photographed to be preserved in its original location before the police can clear the scene to permit life for nearby residents to return to normal. So, police photographers must be ready at a moment’s notice to jump out of their warm, comfortable bed, get dressed and hop into their car to immediately proceed to the crime or accident scene.
The police photographer’s attendance at important personal or family events (e.g., holidays, vacations) and in the middle of great movies) must yield – whenever physically possible (e.g., not when you’re in the hospital or far away on vacation) – to the call of police duty.
WORK – LIFE BALANCE
In addition to loving to be with his wife and family, EB was self-committed to his church, where he was an ordained deacon and chairman of the deacons and trustees board. He taught Bible study and Sunday school and sang tenor in the choir.
At home, EB was handy around the house, able to accomplish many DIY (“Do It Yourself”) projects from what he had learned in school and watched contractor friends as they performed various tasks in a professional way.
When EM was asked how he managed to be an on-call police photographer, Army reservist, church leader, and an attentive husband and father, he said, “It’s not easy but be organized and efficient.” His wife observed: “EB had a business mind. He got the job done.”
CAREER SATISFACTION
Ironically, while EB was almost never without his camera while taking pictures for both his job and at home, there are very few with EB in the picture. “He was happy taking pictures of others,” said EB’s wife. “He never saw the need to be in front of the camera.”
EB was often commended by his brother and sister police officers for appearing promptly at crime scenes and capturing photographic evidence of all the relevant facts.
With his combined earnings from police work and military service, EB was glad to be able to take his wife on yearly vacations to such places as Florida, California, Hawaii, Canada, and Jamaica, as a way of thanking her for the sacrifices she made so he could be on call when at home. But, by traveling far out of town on those annual vacation trips, he would be too distant to have to respond to any police emergency.
