June 18, 1962
A plea for a better paid Police Department, better housing and better schools in Albany
was sounded yesterday afternoon by a director of the Capital Area Council of Churches
at a City Hall prayer and protest meeting.
Rev. Robert C. Lamar, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, told and audience of 350 persons, mostly Negroes, who gathered on the steps of City Hall in sweltering 91 degree heat for the hour-long meeting:
"We are not only protesting against an incident, but for a better Police Department, for one where the policemen can do their job without moonlighting (holding another job)."
This means better pay for the policeman, he said.
Mr. Lamar said also: "There is a need to see the whole problem. This affects not only the Police Department but housing and schools in Albany."
Ten ministers participated in the meeting, organized a mass rally Friday night in the Temple Baptist church to support Sam Clark, 39, a Negro postal clerk from Stratford, Conn. Who alleges he was beaten and slapped about the eyes and head by “two or three young police officers” in the Division 2 stationhouse on Memorial Day.
The council’s board of directors met today in the YWCA to discuss charges by Negro ministers that the black race is being mistreated by "some police officers" in Albany.
A public inquiry into Clark’s specific charges continued today under the direction of Police Commissioner James Kirwin.