In the summer of 1968, 17 out of 33 African American Omaha police officers formed the Brotherhood of the Midwest Guardians. The group charged the city of Omaha and the Omaha Police Department with gross racial discrimination and that the police union was culpable by not addressing the needs of officers of color. As a result of a formal complaint, the Midwest Guardians were successful in having the
police union suspended from the AFL-CIO for its' refusal to address the concerns of African American union members. Like many other cities throughout the country, racial tensions ran high in Omaha (NE) throughout the mid 1960's. 4 African Americans and 2 whites citizens had been shot and killed by Omaha Police officers between 1966 - 1968 an one of those killed was 14 yr old Vivian Strong. The teenager was attending a party in a vacant apartment in the Hilltop Housing Projects when police responded to a reported burglary call at the address. Upon police arrival, individuals including Strong ran from the address and the unarmed teenager was shot in the back and killed by an officer. The decision not to formally charge the officer ignited several nights of rioting that destroyed businesses in North Omaha and resulted in countless numbers of arrests and injures to both citizens and officers. With the threat that the violence would spend throughout the western part of the city, several members of the Midwest Guardians were called upon by the mayor and asked to work in conjunction with the Department of Justice, civic and city leaders to facilitate decisions to address the issues of police brutality, segregation, housing and employment discrimination. The efforts of the Midwest Guardians was recognized by representatives of the Justice Department and deemed to have been partially responsible for bringing an end to the rioting. In 1979, the Midwest Guardians filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the police department charging both with gross discriminatory practices. This lawsuit was ultimately supported by the United States Department of Justice and this led to a consent decree between the city and the Midwest Guardians. The consent decree mandated long term hiring and promotional goals for African American officers. Since the consent decree was dissolved in 1993 after the achieving the hiring and promotional goals, the number of African American police officers have steadily declined. The Midwest Guardians have worked tirelessly for over four decades to compel the city of Omaha and the police department to address the following issues:
Lack of diversity throughout the police department: African Americans make up less than 6% of the overall workforce of the police department. Systemic problems with the recruitment, selection, hiring and promotional processes: The consent decree was dissolved in 1993 and Affirmative Action ended in 1996. Since then the overall number of African Americans hired and subsequently promoted has steadily declined. Community - Police Relations: Since the turn of the century, unprofessional police conduct has been at the core of the strained relationship the exists between the minority community and the police. For this reason, the Midwest Guardians have made it a priority to not only identify those factors that have fostered an air of mistrust and fear but to also act as a liaison between the community and the police in hopes of addressing community concerns. In order to address disparaging treatment and gross discrimination, African American police officers around the country recognized the benefits of organizing themselves to address not only concerns of their respective departments but social issues in the minority community such as police misconduct and police brutality. Ultimately, national police organizations
such as the National Black Police Association (NBPA) which has established chapters in the United Kingdom and Canada and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) were formed to assist officers of color.
