This writer was just beginning his third year, as a probation officer, assigned to an area designated J-15 on Newark's South Side. The "J" stood for juvenile, and the 15 designated a specific geographical section of the City. Newark had several geographical areas designated for juvenile probation. The crime problem was such, that these geographic sections were measured by City blocks as opposed to miles. The J-15 area had between 89 to 100 juvenile offenders at any given time.
Our Branch Office was "an old medical building." It was located at 32 Johnson Ave. Up the street was South Side H.S. It was renamed Malcolm X. Shabazz H.S. in the late 60's.
Down the street from the office was Peterman's. This was a daily coffee stop. Today it's no longer in business. Back up the street, next to our office, was a six or seven story apartment building. It had a great view of our parking lot.
One afternoon in the early part of 1967 I observed a large amount of glass on the ground near my car. Other officers had also observed this. This "broken bottle" situation occurred about two months prior to the riots. We believed a kid or two were tossing bottles from one of the apartments.
We watched from several of our offices. Finally we saw the window where the bottles where coming from. A call was made to N.P.D. and our Sheriff's office. They responded very quickly, and entered the apartment that was the source of these bottles.
Inside the apartment they found a woman and her two sons. They were "practicing " making, and throwing Molotov cocktails. They also possessed, what was described in 1967 terms, as "radical material."
Around this same time frame the author was assigned an investigation. It was regarding a request from the State of Alabama for "courtesy supervision" of one of their "lads." The kid was only 12. He had "made some mistakes" down South, and a change in scenery was supposed to help. Oh, yeah.
The boy's family had an apartment in the "Clinton Hill" section. This was going to be a routine acceptance for out of state supervision. Everything checked out, except the kids "s.o.b." brother for whom I immediately disliked. He had a knife that was unacceptable even in 1967. One knife confiscated. That should have been the end of story, but there is more.
In July this writer observed a news paper headline while in the Bahamas (honeymoon time). The paper read: "RIOT"S IN NEWARK." It was no surprise.
By time the honeymoon was over the death toll was "officially" just under 30. A Newark Police Officer, and a Newark Fireman were among the dead.
Returning to work in late July another investigation was assigned to me. It came with a request from the State of Alabama as to the "status" of the young boy they shipped off to Newark. Along with the assignment was a LIFE Magazine. It was dated July 28, 1967. The cover showed the body of "guess who?" It was the same 12 year old boy checked out a couple of months earlier. He was now laying on a street in Newark, a shooting victim of the riots. The life magazine is pictured above.
LIFE Magazine did not report that the boy only had minor injuries. He was treated for superficial wounds. He was released from the hospital a few days later. In professional jargon the state of Alabama was advised that their interest was: "Alive and well, and raising hell." A lot of people were raising hell!
There were so many arrests that the Newark Street Jail was bursting. This was a County facility located in the City. It is pictured above as it stands today. It closed decades ago. The outside Wall looks stable, but the inside is rubble.
The Roseville Armory, also inside the City, was pressed into service to handle the "overflow" arrests. The prisoner population exceeded the 1000 mark. The Courts ran overtime to free up space at the holding sights for fear of another riot inside.
Any kind of story got you out of jail back then. On the lighter side there was a defendant charged with pushing a refrigerator away from an appliance store at "2:00 am." He explained, to the judge, that: " I bought it this afternoon, but they don't deliver."
The City looked like hell. It was going to take forever to bring Newark back. As a result of Newark's insurrection during that hot July in 1967: Cars were burned; Houses were burned; City blocks were burned; Windows were smashed; Businesses were looted; People disappeared: and in the end People died.
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