Calvin Ross (born January 9, 1949) is an American former

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

officer who served as Chief of Police of the City of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

from 1991 to 1994, then served as Secretary of Juvenile Justice of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, overseeing juvenile justice programs, and finally served as police chief of

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

from 2001 to 2012. As the maternal uncle of Justice

Ketanji Brown Jackson Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson (née Brown; ; born September 14, 1970) is an American lawyer and jurist who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination, was nominated ...

, elements of his career received attention in connection with their influence on then-Judge Jackson in the process leading up to her nomination to the United States Supreme Court.

Early life and education

Born in Overtown, Ross grew up in Liberty City, two of the poorest areas in Miami. He graduated from Biscayne College in Miami with a degree in criminal justice.

Career

Ross worked for the Miami police department for 23 years, beginning as a patrolman and ultimately being named police chief in 1991. In 1992, Governor

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician and military officer. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States senator fr ...

appointed Ross to a state panel on contraband forfeiture practices. Ross was the only ethnic minority appointed to serve on the panel, which led to a protest from the NAACP. The governor responded by appointing two Hispanic members, but this did not alleviate dissatisfaction with the panel, given the disproportionate number of African-Americans in the juvenile justice system. In 1994, Governor Chiles named Ross "to lead a new state agency in charge of juvenile justice programs, everything from prevention and boot camps to long-term lockup". The administration noted that in appointing Ross, Governor Chiles "wanted to signal a tougher approach to juvenile crime by selecting a career police officer". Ross later served for 11 years as police chief at

Personal life

Ross married a native Panamanian, with whom he had four children. He is a born-again Christian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Calvin 1940s births Chiefs of the Miami Police Department African-American police officers Living people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people