Walter E. Headley (May 11, 1905November 16, 1968) was the Chief of Police of

Miami, Florida 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 ...

in the 1960s. Headley became famous for his use of the phrase " when the looting starts, the shooting starts". During his tenure as police chief, he was regarded as a popular public figure by many, in spite of his heavy-handed policies. Headley was characterized in the 1969 ''Miami Report'' about the 1968 Miami riot for the

National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence The U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (National Violence Commission) was formed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in on June 10, 1968, after the April 4 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the June 5 assassin ...

as a "strong-minded, hardworking police chief" who "carried virtually unchanged into the late 1960s policies of dealing with minority groups which had been applied in Miami in the 1930s and even earlier". This was an apparent reference to policies promulgated by Headley's predecessor, Chief

H. Leslie Quigg Howard Leslie Quigg (188726 September 1980) was an American policeman who was twice the chief of police in Miami, Florida, in the periods 1921-1928 and 1937–1944. Quigg was a member of the Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly short ...

Early life

Headley was born in Philadelphia in 1905. According to Headley, when he was 15, he stole his father's draft card and joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. Following work as a riding instructor and sausage salesman, he joined the police in 1937. Headley was made chief of police in August 1948.

"When the looting starts, the shooting starts"

On December 26, 1967, during the civil unrest in the United States that occurred in the

long, hot summer of 1967 The long, hot summer of 1967 refers to a period of widespread Ghetto riots (1964–1969), racial unrest across major American cities during the summer of 1967, where over 150 riots erupted, primarily fueled by deep-seated frustrations regardin ...

, Headley announced that six three-man teams of officers equipped with "shotguns and dogs" would respond to the "young hoodlums" from "Negro districts" in Miami with lethal force and stated "his men have been told that any force, up to and including death, is proper when apprehending a felon". In a pithy soundbite during the post-statement interview with reporters, Headley claimed that Miami had avoided "civil uprising and looting" because he had "let the word filter down that when the looting starts, the shooting starts". Headley stated: "Felons are going to learn that they can't be bonded out from the morgue." Florida Governor

Claude Kirk Claude Roy Kirk Jr. (January 7, 1926 – September 28, 2011) was an American businessman, politician, and Marine Corps veteran who served as the List of governors of Florida, 36th governor of Florida from 1967 to 1971. A member of the Republican ...

expressed his support for Headley's tactics: "Let them all know they will be dealt with arshly We have the weapons to defeat crime. Not to use them is a crime in itself." Headley added "we don't mind being accused of police brutality."

Death

Headley died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

in 1968 at the age of 63. He was replaced as chief of police by Bernard L. Garmire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Headley, Walter Chiefs of the Miami Police Department 1905 births 1968 deaths Child soldiers United States Army soldiers