Y’All
IN DIXIE NOW, BOY
The
Fairfax County Police and the Black population
In
1967, Chris Stokes, became Fairfax County's first black police officer. Stokes said that when he applied for the job,
he had to take a polygraph test that lasted two hours and 20 minutes.
Six
whites who applied with him also took the test, but theirs lasted only 50
minutes. Stokes was the county's first
community relations office. Stokes later
testified that another officer assigned to the community relations office told
Stokes that his job was to keep an eye on Stokes.
Stokes,
who left the police force in 1973, said his repeated attempts to become a
detective in Fairfax failed, apparently because he was black. Several years later, he joined a federal suit
against Fairfax County that charged that the county discriminated against
blacks and women in its hiring and promotion policies.
The
police responded by claiming that Stokes was thief and a “Liability” as a
policeman. But in 1982, the County
offered a settlement offer of $ 2.75 million to be distributed to 685
discrimination victims, including Stokes.