Lake City native inducted into Law Enforcement Hall of Fame
TALLAHASSEE, Fl. – Current and former law enforcement officers from throughout Florida were honored Saturday at the Florida Law Enforcement Officers’ Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen presided over the ceremony held inside Florida’s Capitol.
Alphonso Lofton joined the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) in 1970 after witnessing an FHP trooper investigating a hit-and-run accident, becoming the Patrol’s first African American trooper. After graduation from the FHP academy, he was assigned to Field Operations in Miami’s Troop E. In 1973, he was promoted to Traffic Homicide Investigator, and he was assigned as a recruiter in 1981. He was appointed to FHP’s Equal Employment Opportunity Committee to recruit more African Americans into the Florida Highway Patrol.
His recruitment efforts earned him recognition from the patrol and the community, receiving the Martin Luther King Brotherhood Award and a commendation from the Florida Commission of Human Relations for his recruitment efforts. Trooper Lofton succumbed to multiple sclerosis in 1984 at the age of 39. Because of Lofton’s outstanding service to the citizens of Florida, the 1989 Florida Legislature dedicated the Troop E Headquarters building in Miami to his memory.
