Edward Redditt Sr. – For the Good of the Department

By Joe V Lowry

     There has been a saying used by the Police and Fire Department since the 1920s, and it is used whenever management has wanted to manipulate an employee who either wasn’t doing what management wanted or wasn’t playing office politics the right way and who some boss didn’t like and wanted to be vindictive. Both departments have ways of punishing good employees and they still do. 

“For the betterment of the department”; Police Commissioner Joe Boyle used this expression daily. Police Chief Lux used it here in handling Officer Edward Redditt.  In 1967, Officer Reddit was assigned to the Community Relations Bureau. He was personally responsible for various worthy neighborhood projects such as kindergarten and daycare centers so mothers could work and know their children were safe and cared for. He organized a senior citizens club where they could go and feel secure and a community center and other projects to help citizens with their needs. They were providing jobs, food, and assistance for people in need.

Police and Fire Director Frank Holloman opened the first Service Center in May 1968 at Bellevue and McLemore. Holloman tried his best but needed help to equal the ability of Officer Reddit in this community service endeavor. This community had been so abused and beaten down, and he had officers who were completely against it so full cooperation was never achieved under Holloman. (1)

The inevitable happened. Lieutenant R. J. Turner, head of the Community Relations Bureau, said Warrant Officer Redditt’s transfer and Officer H. were immediate. E. Seaborn would replace him. Lt. Turner said he was given the order and that replacing a man like that will be challenging, but they will try. The day of the billy-club being the primary tool of the police department, needed to cease and this was a difficult transition.  

In contrast to the lack of recognition here in Memphis, in March 1970 President Richard Nixon complimented Edward Redditt for his community service work in trying to make the world a better place. (2)

There had been a patrolman assigned to the area of Trigg and Florida who was known for being outright abusive and for using heavy-handed tactics so familiar with the MPD, which caused a great deal of apprehension and resentment in his patrol area. 

His name is being withheld because he later became Chief. The business leaders and more than 150 citizens had complained to Mayor Loeb about this officer.  Out of retaliation from the Police Department, they punished these citizens even more for their complaints.

Warrant Officer Reddit was transferred from his assignment at the Police Community Service Center and sent to Vice. 

This was how it was; you have someone doing a job well and was happy doing it, so now you take away help from everyone by moving him out and putting a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal in his place. Police officers in leadership positions, including Chief Lux, didn’t believe in community relations policing. Their idea of policing was intimidation, harassment, and assault. If you didn’t comply,  they would either bust you over the head with their nightstick or worse. This was the concept from the 20s through the 70s. Chief Lux was totally against the community service idea and said it worsened the strong-arm image of the department. Mrs. Almeda Battle of 3615 Cato Court, said, “Until Officer Redditt came down here, the children were playing in the streets. He changed this. And now they do this to him and us.” (3)

“ All I want to know is why,” said Joseph A Harris of 91 E Utah. He told Officer Reddit that he was a valuable man and was changing things and improving the neighborhood. Police Chief Lux would not talk to any citizens about this. Officer Redditt took a 30-day leave of absence. Soon after he returned he resigned from the department after eleven worthy years of service to the community on July 7, 1971.  There is a wonderful article about the six Police Service Centers and how well they work. (4)

Chief Lux was totally against the centers. He is quoted as saying, “ I have never been in favor of it [community relations]. It has no merit. It’s doing nothing for the image, and it’s obvious; in my opinion, our image has worsened since the establishment of the centers.” 

In March, fourteen officers were assigned to the Service Centers; after Officer Reddit resigned, eleven officers left, six black and five white.  They could see the writing on the wall. 

Here is an example of what the Service Officers were doing. James Mack Johnson, age 43, of 657 Hastings, said he was recently hired as a custodian at Memphis State University because of a character reference on his behalf by officers at the center at 588 Hastings. “ They helped me when no one else would. “ Their presence changed the neighborhood for the better. 

Warrant Officer B. J. Whitney, a 17-year veteran of the Homicide Bureau, who had been assigned to Community Relations, said, “I think the police should be looked upon as a social force, not a brute force. The average poor person has contact with the police officers only when he’s getting arrested or pushed around. People wonder why ghetto dwellers throw rocks and bottles at police cars; to them, he is an oppressor”. (5)

Reddit resigns from the Police Department and joins Dan Kuykendall’s staff. Reddit formerly was head of the Police Service Center at 1310 Florida Street. When his superior officers redirected his career, he was transferred to Vice. Officer Reddit would have received a promotion and a pay raise. 

Lux said, “If he had stayed, he would have impaired his value as a Policeman.“  When Loeb discovered that Kuykendall had made him an offer, he proposed transferring Redditt to the Park Commission. Wonder what is going on in Loebs’ mind? (6)

After Officer Redditt resigned,  Redditt was so popular with straight-thinking people that job offers came from all over the United States.  This was just another missed opportunity by Memphis leadership to their detriment.

He was officially appointed to Representative Dan Kuykendall’s payroll and directly connected to Senator Howard Baker and Bill Brock. He received a salary of $11,000. Brock and Baker provided him with a full-time secretary. Their center was opened on August 1, 1971. He represented all three in Memphis. (7)

This move is hailed as the first of its kind in the nation. Two senators and a representative have never done this anywhere in the US. He will open his office at 1426-28 Michigan Street. 

Mr. Reddit was married and had four children, ages 6 to 21.

Mr. Reddit hoped to continue doing what he was when with the Police Department. People then will be able to tell their elected officials what they need. He said he will now be able to help citizens with Veterans Affairs and Social Security issues, including food stamps and welfare issues. (8)

As the Community Service Center Representative for Kuykendall, Brock, and Baker, Ed Redditt spoke out against busing. 

 In 1974, he was honored by the Memphis Beat the Odds Committee for his work with children. In the 60’s, he formed the first daycare center, the Riverview-Kansas Day Care Center. It helped welfare mothers escape their welfare status and work a job. He opened the center with the help of Mahalia Jackson and the choir from the Reverend Ben Hooks Detroit church. (9)

On March 28, 1978, he appeared at a closed-door meeting of the  House subcommittee on the Martin Luther King assassination.

Back Story: When Dr. Martin Luther King came to Memphis, Officer Redditt was assigned to the MPD Intelligence Unit, commonly known as the Red Squad.    

In Memphis and across the country, the Red Squad kept intel on the following: Communists, Radicals, Klan members, Militants, and others considered dangerous by the U S Government. Those who were a threat or thought to be a threat to domestic security, street thugs, and others with a criminal record. The MPD sometimes used young-looking officers who were fresh out of the police academy and assigned them to infiltrate groups of political and social groups.  (10)

The Police Commissioner told Officer Reddit that it was his job to protect Dr. King. He was assigned to the security squad and ordered to man the observation post at the rear bathroom at Fire Station 2 at 474 S. Main Street.

Two hours before the shooting as he was watching the area around the Lorraine Motel, his commanding officer told him that threats had been made on his life and that he was to return home immediately. Officer W. B. Richmond replaced him. Redditt and his family were guarded 24 hours a day by officers Emmitt Winters and Melvin Burgess. (11)

Edward Redditt was subpoenaed by the House subcommittee investigating the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in Washington D.C.. When questioned under oath by the House subcommittee if he knew who the shooter was, he replied, “Yes,” Not long after this encounter, he started working with the Tennessee Republicans. 

Redditt spent his last years teaching at the Fayette-Ware school in Somerville, Tennessee, as Athletic Director and Track Coach.

He also competed in the Senior Olympics, winning nine gold medals in the 100- and 200-yard dash. He ranked 2nd in the nation at one time. He died of pneumonia at St Francis Bartlett on November 25, 2012. Edward Redditt was a saint among men. He brought hope, kindness, and a positive spirit to all who knew him. 

1 CA July 22, 1971, pg 33

2 CA July 22, 1971  pg 33 

3 CA July 22, 1971  pg 33 

4 CA July 22, 1971  pg 33

5 CA July 19, 1971 pg. 17

6 Press-Scimitar July 2, 1971 pg.1

7 Press-Scimitar July 8, 1971, page 1

8 CA July 7, 1971, pg. 13

9 Press-Scimitar  August 4, 1971, page 31

10 Commercial Appeal November 26, 2006, page 176

11 CA September 10, 1976, page 1

12 CA March 20, 1978

13 CA November 28, 2012, page 11