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Policing Greene: A Policeman at the Sunset of the Jim Crow SouthAuthor: Tom Lewis & Hal McAlister
In 1964 at age 48, Carlton Lewis took an abrupt turn in life to become a policeman in a rural Georgia county - half white, half black that must cope with new federal civil rights laws. He was a roughneck Son of the South whose grandfather owned slaves. How would he perform in his new role? Would he treat all Greene County citizens fairly and equally regardless of their color? This is the true story of an exceptional police officer at a turning point in U.S. history. Recruited as a deputy to legendary Greene County Sheriff L. L. Wyatt, Carlton Lewis rose to become Wyatts Chief Deputy before taking on the job of Chief of Police of the small Greene County town of Union point. His 22-year career led Carlton Lewis through many incidents and encounters ranging from murder and extortion to banishing a peacock. Along the way, Carltons predilection for a good fight and equal justice for all of Greenes citizens exposed him to dangers mostly unknown to his family. When it was clear that federally-enforced integration of schools would occur in Georgia, the Greene County school superintendent stated that they would do the right thing without being ordered by having a few teachers volunteer to go the black and white schools to set examples for the community. Carltons wife Eleanor was the first white teacher to volunteer to go to the black school. This was a clear indication of the Lewis familys attitude towards the societal changes coming their way. While Carlton would arrest and get in tussles with many of Greene County African Americans throughout his policing years, he would make sure that they received the same treatment in the justice system as did the white citizens he arrested. When Sheriff Wyatt died in 1977, community black leaders encouraged Carlton to run for the vacant office. He was grateful for such support but decided to complete his career by staying on as the Union Point police chief. In early 1986, as Carlton was approaching retirement, his son Tom, then Chief o Language: en Genres: Arts, Books, True Crime Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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EPISODE 5 - So, what kind of cop was Carlton Lewis?
Episode 5
Friday, 30 December, 2022
EPISODE 5 - In this closing episode, Tom Lewis and Hal McAlister sit down together to talk about how the book and this podcast came to be. Tom’s request to his father that they record a long conversation about the Chief’s policing career just weeks before Carlton’s death is a lesson to us all about preserving family history before it’s too late. Hal asks Tom about how his mother reacted to her husband telling them at the dinner table that he wanted to quit his job and become a deputy sheriff with half the income they had been accustomed to. Her response was surprising. Early in the first podcast, Tom’s dad says that “to be a good policeman you have to love people.” And yet, Carlton was a fearless fighter who relished a good brawl. Those two things seem to be contradictory. Tom and Hal talk about what led him to find that balance? While Carlton’s mentor, Sheriff L. L. Wyatt, killed nine men all of whom fired at him first, Chief Lewis never killed anyone, even when it entirely justified. How does all this relate to an assessment of Carlton Lewis as a law man? [Accompanying image: Carlton Lewis late in his career.]
