KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Being part of history wasn't the focus for Alfred Eugene Bell Sr. — but helping keep the Olathe community safe was.
Despite becoming the first African-American police officer at the Olathe Police Department in the heart of the civil rights era, his family never heard him mention his race or how it affected his job with the department.
"He never has talked about it, at all," Marcus Bell, Alfred's son, said.
The importance and significance of his father's job didn't resonate with him until later in life, when he met his dad's former co-workers.
"People would come up to me and said 'Man, your dad is fantastic. I love him' [and] that was kind of when I first started realizing he's out there," Marcus Bell said.
Bell joined the department in 1960. He trained at the University of Kansas Police Academy during the day and worked night shifts at the department.
In 1963 he was promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Bell worked for the department until he resigned in 1970 to take a job with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department.
He worked for the sheriff's department until he retired in 1987.
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