JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family, friends and the community attended The Bethel Church to celebrate the life of Charles Scriven Saturday morning.
Scriven was Jacksonville’s first Black police chief, who battled decades of discrimination during his law enforcement career.
Scriven died on Christmas Day.
Dozens of people honored Scriven, who called himself “God’s little helper,” a pastor, and a man considered a barrier breaker – and resilient.
Many of them wore royal blue, and all of them wore blue ribbons.
“I’m so proud that God chose me to be his granddaughter,” Scriven’s granddaughter, Danielle McClendon, said.
McClendon said her grandfather was always inclined to do what was right and just.
“I think the best way to honor his legacy, his memory, and all that he meant to us is to continue to strive to do what he would do. To go higher, to be better. That is the way his memory will live on,” McClendon said.
MORE | Retired Jacksonville officer honored by FOP after decades of discrimination
Scriven was hired by the Jacksonville Police Department back in 1955. That’s what the agency was called then.
Eventually, he was appointed as the first Black police chief in 1973.
A few years later, Scriven was appointed to the Florida Parole and Probation Commission, which marked the first time Florida had a Black parole commissioner.
Scriven’s youngest son, Leonard, had a challenge for all who knew Scriven.
“If my dad’s life meant something to you, use this as a launching point to do something different. To be more loving. To be a little more patient. To be a little more understanding,” Leonard said.
But 1957 began a battle that would stretch several decades.
Scriven applied to join the Fraternal Order of Police but was denied because he was Black.
After years of fighting for entry, records show that he was accepted to the FOP many years later in 1996 — but no one told him. So he requested again, more than 20 years later in 2018.
That’s when FOP’s president found out and worked to make things right.
In 2019, Scriven received a public apology with his wife and family at this ceremony.
The Jacksonville Brotherhood of Police Officers shared its condolences on Tuesday.
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of retired Chief Charles Scriven. He made such a huge impact on the community as a whole as well as the members of our organization. Mr. Scriven left a legacy full of groundbreaking successes. We salute him for a life well lived and time well spent. He would often remind us that we should leave this world a better place than we found it. RIH Chief💙,” the organization wrote on Facebook.
Charles Scriven, lauded as a trailblazer, paved the way for generation after generation that followed him.
Scriven was 91 years old. He leaves behind his wife who he was married to for 69 years.
Scriven will be buried at the Jacksonville National Cemetery on Monday morning.
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