Robert Lindbergh

Robert E. Lindbergh was a one-time Birmingham City Commissioner, elected to succeed Bull Connor following an adultery scandal in 1953. He served one term on the Commission before Connor was re-elected in 1957.

Lindbergh, a graduate of the Birmingham School of Law, made some moves to clean up rampant corruption in the Birmingham Police Department. He replaced many top-ranking officers, removed a gag-order preventing lower-level officers from speaking to the media, and re-instituted FBI Academy training for local law enforcement. His efforts made only a marginal dent in the department's dependence on bribes from bootleggers and racketeers and did not change the policemen's reputation for brutal beatings to intimidate the public, as well as criminal suspects. Lindbergh was defeated narrowly by Connor in 1957.

References

• Nunnelly, William A. (1991) Bull Connor. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 0817304959