OCALA, Fla – Alice Faison says she can still recall the day she walked into the Ocala Police Department 52 years ago and asked if they were hiring.
That day in 1969 was historic for both Faison and the city of Ocala. Faison got a job as a police records clerk, becoming the Ocala Police Department’s first Black female employee.
Later in the 1970s, Faison was sworn in as a police officer for the city. From there she worked car accidents, patrolled the streets and took part in crime prevention.
But there were invisible obstacles that she had to face in a profession that men historically dominated. There were death threats made against her. “I didn’t pay any attention them,” Faison said Racial slurs were also said to her. “I loved anyway.