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SouthBound

Nat Glover's path to becoming Florida's first Black sheriff since Reconstruction

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When Nat Glover was young, and even when he started as a police officer, white men had run the Jacksonville, Florida, sheriff’s office his entire life.

Nat Glover

Glover changed that.

In 1995, he was elected sheriff — the top law enforcement job in the city — and became the first Black sheriff in Florida since Reconstruction.

He went on to serve for eight years, and has now written a memoir about that time called “Striving For Justice.”

Glover talked to me about his philosophy of policing, the places he and other officers have fallen short, and the terrifying Saturday in Jacksonville that shaped his young life — and set him on the path to work for justice.

Music in this episode

  • Lobo Loco, "Deeply Inside Free"
  • HoliznaRAPS, "Phases"
Tommy Tomlinson has hosted the podcast SouthBound for WFAE since 2017. He also does a commentary, On My Mind, which airs every Monday.