William "Boone" Darden, Riviera Beach's first black police chief and one of Florida's most powerful Democrats before being convicted of bribery, died of cancer Saturday at age 69. Mr. Darden joined the West Palm Beach police force in 1948. He retired in 1965 but re-entered police work in 1971. He worked his way up the Democratic Party and was named to its national executive committee in 1980. He worked closely with the White House under President Carter. His fall from grace came as a result of his involvement in local politics. He was indicted in 1983 and convicted of accepting bribes from FBI informant Joey Ianuzzi, a member of the Gambino family, to protect illegal gambling in Riviera Beach. He spent 26 months in federal prison. "My whole downfall was politics," he said in a 1988 interview. "But what could I do but get involved in politics? You can't get anywhere without it. The only way to move ahead is get involved."