Today we’d like to introduce you to Harlen “Lamb” Lambert.
Hi Harlen “Lamb”, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in 1936 in the Jim Crow South, during the Great Depression, a year when Hitler was a thug and a threat to peace and calm, and families across the southern states were recovering from a series of devastating tornadoes. My siblings (12) and I had Christian parents who gave our children a strong foundation and understanding of God.
I was subjected to the segregation and hatred of living in the South, but I was not subjected to hangings or beatings. During these troubled times, my mother always said, “We’re like flowers that God made in different colors. That’s why the world is so pretty! We’re just like the flowers. One day. son, all the flowers will be in one field, I promise.” After high school graduation, I moved to Chicago and took a job as a porter on the Santa Fe Railroad. Like all blacks, I was known as “George” and remained publicly segregated with my peers. As unenlightened as it may sound, to this point in my life it was simply a matter of life as I knew it. Growing up, I had focused on finding work to help the family and become a famous basketball star. 🙂 So, drinking out of separate fountains, riding the back of the bus, and etc.–simply was. Later, while attending Savannah State College on a basketball scholarship, I was drafted into the Army. The bus ride to Ft. Benning, Georgia was a bus-ride from hell. It was then I learned how serious it was to be Black. But again, by His Grace, I rose above the ugliness and found great friends along the way. I was sent to Germany, where dreams of basketball greatness was realized for a time–setting all time high scores–and offered no less than six college scholarships.
Once out of the Army, National Collegiate Association rules had changed, and my University of Southern California scholarship was not realized. However, it was through basketball that my path led me to become the first Black hired (1967) on the Santa Ana Police Department. At that time–the 1960s–Orange County was John Birch Society country, and 26 of the anti-everything (blacks, gays, women’s lib, etc.) were on the police department. And I was not welcome. I was subjected to hatred, bigotry, isolation, and death threats against me and my family–not only from some on the police force but from many in the “Little Texas” community where I lived and served, as well. I also was not welcome attending a Christian college in Costa Mesa. At that time, the contributors were white and did not want the races to mix. However, I persisted and received my Associate Degree in Religious Studies. I resigned from the police department seven years later (1973) a victor. I had opportunities while on the force to put my knowledge with dogs to work, which would later become a second “first” for me, a highly visible and successful career. I had paved the way for others behind me: the second black officer went on to law school and became a judge.
Other successes while on the police force: saving another police officer along the 22 freeway from a group of thugs; I saved three kids from a burning home, who would not otherwise have families of their own today; teenagers I mentored and played basketball with are successful and great members of their communities today. I still receive calls from long-ago students who are now strong leaders both in Orange County and Los Angeles County and from police officers who thank me for being a positive influence in their lives. Finally, it would be years before I learned I had been literally erased from the police department archives. With the diligent help of the Santa Ana History Museum and Library, I now have a solid presence in the history of Santa Ana, Orange County, CA. I have published my memoir, Badge of Color-Breaking the Silence, that would not be possible had I not saved letters, news clippings, department memos and so forth–all of which are available on my website at lamblambertauthor.com. I had previously published two illustrated books of poetry and continue to write, working on my second memoir.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I had challenges early on, as a depression-era youth finding any kind of job I could to help my parents. A strong work ethic was born of necessity, and at times it was tough maintaining a balance between being subjected to racism and professionalism. Later, despite racial hazing on the police department, I anchored myself in the belief that if I modeled professionalism, things could change. Like anything, it only takes a few to make things bad for many. In my case, among the obstacles: a KKK knife stuck to the front door of my home, vandals flooded the home with water hose and dumped garbage on the front lawn, midnight calls that threatened my wife and young son, and more. Reassigned to Community Relations introduced me to a different kind of threat – the Black Panthers; a police officer’s death that escalated tensions between the Panthers and the police; inside the department the society members employed a number of ways to humiliate and to attempt to dissuade me from staying on the force. I have to confess that I’m prideful and just could not allow “those few” to rule my life: however, my struggles with racism is revealed in my memoir and why I was forced out.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about All States K-9 Detection & Dog Training?
Today, I’m a retired, internationally known K9 trainer. I worked drug and bomb dogs and trained the first cell phone detection dogs and handlers in the United States for the Virginia Department of Corrections. My wife and I owned and operated a 6,000 square foot training facility in Fullerton, once called “A Disneyland for the Nose,” by Cesar Millan. I’ve made three NATGEO t.v. movies with Cesar and one for Stan Lee’s Super Humans for the History Channel, a PBS short, hosted a radio show for several months, and have appeared in several news articles and magazines. (retired 2015)
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
In 2015, I was reunited with the oldest girl that I saved from the fire. She found me on Facebook, and we enjoyed a wonderful reunion in Hillcrest Park with 100 friends and family attending. I’m the proud recipient of a one-of-a-kind Quilt of Valor awarded me in 2018 from the QOV Foundation, and in April 2019, California State University-Fullerton presented me with the first CSUF Honors Program Distinguished Leader Award. At 84 years old, as I write this, I’m truly a blessed man–and still waiting for all the pretty flowers to be hand-in-hand in one field.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: lamblambertauthor.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/k9lamb/videos
