A Black Man Hired As Officer For Haines City In 1952 Memorialized In Agency's Lobby

HAINES CITY, FL —In honor of the first Black police officer with the Haines City Police Department, the agency recently created an award named for him, a news release said.

Frazier Neumon is said by historians to be the first Black police officer hired by Haines City police in November 1952. The agency hired O.D. Wilson, another Black man, at about the same time. Neumon patrolled the Black community initially, a Haines City Police Department Facebook post said.

Neumon became a certified police officer in 1957. Eleven years later, Gov. Claude Kirk awarded The Policeman of the Year medal to Neumon after he survived being shot during an arrest of a man who had managed to take the gun of a fellow officer, the agency said. His career continued to advance in the early 1970s.

Neumon became a lieutenant and eventually the second-in-command at the police department. By July 1981, he retired after about three decades of service with the Haines City Police Department. Neumon's son, Julius Neumon, followed his dad's footsteps closely.

In the mid-1990s, Julius furthered his career when the Dundee Police Department named him the interim police chief, becoming the first Black police chief in the history of Polk County.

Neumon died at his Haines City home in 2006.

The Haines City Police Department has a picture of Neumon along with his achievements hanging in the agency's lobby.

Moving forward annually, a deserving member of the agency will be presented with the Frazier Neumon Officer of the Year award.