Nathaniel ‘‘Nat’’ Glover inducted into Florida Law Enforcement Officers’ Hall of Fame

Jacksonville, Fla. — Jacksonville titan and trailblazer Nat Glover has been inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Officer’s Hall of Fame.

The former JSO sheriff who later served as president of Edward Waters College accepted his award from Tallahassee Saturday.

Born in 1943, Glover was raised in poverty in a still segregated south. He says his love of radio criminal shows like Dragnet first sparked his dream of becoming a detective. Glover joined the Jacksonville Police Department in 1966. Three years later, on October 1, 1968, the city would consolidate the sheriff’s office and police department. It was then, Glover said, his childhood dream of becoming a police detective was realized.

Glover would go on to become the city’s first hostage negotiator in the 1970s and later became the first African-American to serve in a top position at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, first as deputy director of police services, and then as director, according to FDLE.

Glover was elected sheriff in 1995, making him the first Black sheriff in Florida since the Reconstruction era. His reelection in 1999 earned Glover national recognition for his actions on community policing, banning of chokeholds, and displaying of officer’s names on their vehicles. President Bill Clinton is said to have praised Glover’s work during a community walk-along in Jacksonville.

Under Glover’s leadership, JSO received the coveted National Sheriff’s Association Triple Crown Award, a distinction so rare that fewer than 100 sheriffs’ offices have qualified for since the establishment of the award in 1993.

As he accepted his award in Tallahassee on Saturday, Grover took a moment to reflect on the angst between communities of color and police officers.

“Law enforcement is under a lot of scrutiny now. But I’ll tell you this. We will get through this. We been here before,” Grover said. “This time might be a little painful, but we’re going to come out of it. And we’re going to be better.”

The inductees were nominated by the Florida Sheriffs Association, Florida Police Chiefs Association, Police Benevolent Association, Fraternal Order of Police and the State Law Enforcement Chiefs’ Association, and then selected by a committee.

The inductees were approved by Governor Ron DeSantis as well as Florida’s Cabinet.

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Nathaniel ‘‘Nat’’ Glover inducted into Florida Law Enforcement Officers’ Hall of Fame Jacksonville titan and trailblazer Nat Glover has been inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Officer’s Hall of Fame.

Cox Media Group