[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JESSE A. BREWER

                                 ______


                          HON. JULIAN C. DIXON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 20, 1995

  Mr. DIXON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my friend 
Jesse A. Brewer, a trailblazer who valiantly served his country as a 
decorated military officer, police officer with the Chicago and Los 
Angeles Police Departments, and as a member of Los Angeles Police 
Commission. Commissioner Brewer died on November 19, 1995.
  A native of Dallas, TX, Jess Brewer was born on October 21, 1921. He 
began his undergraduate work at Tuskegee Institute, where he met his 
wife, the former Odessa Amond, also a student at the university. Brewer 
was required to temporarily discontinue his education when he was 
called to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. In 1943 Jess 
attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA, and was 
commissioned as a 2d lieutenant upon graduation. He would later 
complete his undergraduate work at Shaw University. His distinguished 
military career spanned 33 years of active and reserve duty. During 
World War II he attained the rank of Army captain. After the war he 
became a reserve officer, retiring in January 1976 at the rank of 
colonel. Brewer's decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze 
Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry badge and two Campaign 
Ribbons. In 1977 Jess Brewer earned a master's degree in public 
administration from the University of Southern California.
  Brewer began his career as a police officer with the Chicago Police 
Department in 1947. Brewer left the department in 1952, discouraged by 
discriminatory hiring and promotion practices. He joined the Los 
Angeles Police Department in 1952 after applying to the LAPD twice. His 
first application was rejected on a technicality, an event Brewer 
attributes to racism. Brewer acquired a great deal of experience 
through his assignments at the LAPD, which included patrol, vice, 
traffic, homicide, and burglary investigation. He was promoted to 
sergeant in 1958, but could only act as a undercover investigator at 
that time because department rules did not permit African-Americans to 
supervise white. Later, as barriers to supervisory provisions were 
removed, Brewer held several command assignments at the rank of 
Commander.
  In 1981 he was promoted to deputy chief and served as commanding 
officer for the area encompassing south-central Los Angeles from 1981 
to 1987. As deputy chief, Brewer garnered praise for pioneering law 
enforcement innovations such as new officer deployments, which placed 
more officers in minority neighborhoods as the gang crisis intensified. 
November 19, 1987, he was promoted to the rank of assistant chief by 
then-Chief Daryl Gates, where he directed the activities of the Office 
of Administrative Services and was responsible for all support 
functions of the LAPD. Chief Brewer's accomplishments were recognized 
throughout the country, as demonstrated by his selection as technical 
adviser to the Emmy Award-winning television series ``Hill Street 
Blues''--a series widely praised for its realism and technical 
accuracy. He also was widely regarded as an ideal candidate to succeed 
Chief Daryl Gates as the LAPD's top officer. Assistant Chief Brewer 
retired in 1991 as the highest ranking African-American in the history 
of the department.

  Four decades as a LAPD officer gave Brewer a firsthand look at the 
problems of the department, whose name over the years had become 
synonymous with the harsh treatment of Los Angeles residents. It was 
this intimate knowledge of the LAPD that led to his July 1991 
appointment to the Los Angeles Police Commission, where he was praised 
for bringing stability and credibility to the commission. In August 
1991 he was elected vice-president of the commission and a year later 
was elected President of the Commission. While a commissioner, Brewer 
served on the Budget, Deployment, and Riot Investigation Subcommittees 
and chaired the intelligence subcommittee.
  Commissioner Brewer's wealth of experience and compassion also 
prompted the Christopher Commission to request his testimony during 
that commission's investigation of brutality and racism at the LAPD. 
Although it was Gates who promoted Brewer to the rank of assistant 
chief, that fact did not prevent Commissioner Brewer from giving a 
frank assessment of the problems within the LAPD. In testimony before 
the Christopher Commission, Brewer revealed the excessive force, 
rudeness, and disrespect had been ``out of control'' for years. He 
ultimately recommended that Chief Gates resign, and strongly pushed for 
the appointment of Willie L. Williams, Los Angeles' first African-
American police chief. Commissioner Brewer left the Los Angeles Police 
Commission in 1993.
  Throughout his career, Brewer served as a board member of several 
prestigious public and private organizations, including the President 
Commission on Organized Crime and the National Advisory Committee Task 
Force on Disorder and Terrorism. He also served as a Governor-appointed 
member of the board of directors of the California Museum of Science 
and Industry, and the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission. Commissioner 
Brewer's many honors include the 1988 NAACP Judge Thomas L. Griffith 
Legal Award and the Ricky Bell Humanitarian Award. In 1990 he was an 
honoree at the National Association of the Black Military Officers' 
dinner and was a lifetime member of the NAACP.
  Mr. Speaker, Los Angeles mourns the loss of a great public servant. 
His commitment, dedication, and gentlemanly demeanor will be sorely 
missed by us all. I ask you to join me, Mr. Speaker, in paying tribute 
to a fine officer, a true gentleman, and a good friend, and in 
expressing our heartfelt condolences to his wife Odessa, his sons, 
Jesse, Jonathan, and Kenneth, and their families.

                          ____________________