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Epilogue: St. Petersburg police Lt. Emory Wright Jr., who kept it by the book

 
Emory Wright Jr. spent 20 years on the police force and was promoted to lieutenant in 1983. He died of cancer on Aug. 15.
Emory Wright Jr. spent 20 years on the police force and was promoted to lieutenant in 1983. He died of cancer on Aug. 15.
Published Aug. 27, 2016

ST. PETERSBURG — Emory Wright Jr. was a by-the-book kind of guy.

He was the first black St. Petersburg police officer to rise to the rank of lieutenant. He liked order and worked to keep things that way.

Mr. Wright died on Aug. 15 after battling cancer for almost two years. He was 75.

He was first hired by the St. Petersburg Police Department in 1968 after a stint in the Army. He spent 20 years on the police force and was promoted to lieutenant in 1983.

It didn't take his officers long to understand that he liked things a certain way.

When Sgt. Rick Shaw was starting out as an officer, he found himself in a foot chase that lasted nearly 10 blocks. He bailed out of his police cruiser and hustled through yards and over fences to catch up with his quarry, who he eventually pinned down and handcuffed.

When Mr. Wright, his commanding officer, pulled up to the scene, he took one look at the victorious Shaw and the runner, both sweating and gasping for breath, and said one thing:

"Officer Shaw, where is your hat?"

Officers were required to wear their caps whenever they left their squad cars, but Shaw had launched himself out of his car so quickly he hadn't thought to grab his. And despite the fact he had chased down the felon and put him in bracelets, Mr. Wright was concerned that his uniform was incomplete.

After he retired, Mr. Wright made a run for St. Petersburg City Council in 1989, pledging to restore voters' confidence in government.

He didn't win the race, but his plans were a testament to his years on the force and centered on lowering the crime rate and beefing up the Police Department.

At home, he ran another tight ship. His son, Emory Wright III, remembered the strict rules about homework and his father's distinct philosophies, especially when it came to responsibility.

Every so often, father and son would head down to the barbershop, where the conversation would usually turn to sports. While some men would take up for certain athletes using drugs, blaming peer pressure and the like, Mr. Wright never agreed.

"Nobody can ever make me do anything I don't want to do," he would say. "You're going to have to live with the consequences of the decisions you make, nobody else."

His son, now 42, has always remembered those words. To this day, he's never had a drink or smoked a cigarette.

Mr. Wright's good advice wasn't limited to his advice to his family. Debbie Prine, who retired as assistant chief in 2005, said she never got advice from him she didn't like. Mr. Wright was her commanding officer when she was just starting out and one of few women in the department.

"When you're brand new, you're scared of anybody with stripes," Prine said. "But he would always work with you, and if he didn't have an answer, he would go get it."

Contact Hannah Jeffrey at hjeffrey@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8450. Follow @hannahjeffrey34.