BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Montreal's first black police officer

Standing strong and proud, four black Montreal police officers talked quietly yesterday near the open casket of Edouard Anglade, the city's first black police officer, who died of a brain tumor June 13 at age 63.

Standing strong and proud, four black Montreal police officers talked quietly yesterday near the open casket of Edouard Anglade, the city's first black police officer, who died of a brain tumor June 13 at age 63.

The officers offered living proof of the legacy Anglade charted by joining the police force in 1974 and sticking with it - despite the prejudice he battled - over a 30-year career as he rose to the rank of detective-sergeant.

"He's our pioneer," said Montreal police Commander Jean-Ernest Celestin, 38, the highest-ranking of the police department's 130 black officers (out of a total force of 4,383), as he paid his respects at the Cote des Neiges Funeral Home.

"He's the reason we're here."

Edouard (Eddie) Anglade died two months after he was found to have a brain tumour. The illness crippled the normally robust 6-foot, 200-pound Anglade, who had visited the gym daily until the end of March.

"It really hit him hard," said Claude Georges, 65, Anglade's brother-in-law.

"Within a week he couldn't walk or brush his teeth."

With the help of his family and friends, Anglade made peace with his fate, Georges said.

"He was serene at the end."

For seven years, the Haitian-born Anglade was the only black officer on the Montreal force.

In his 1996 autobiography Nom de code: Mao, he recounted how, as an undercover narcotics officer assigned to gain the confidence of drug dealers working in the black community, he was at times harassed by uniformed white patrol officers who thought he was a shady civilian rather than a fellow officer.

In 1988, he won compensation of full salary for four weeks leave he took in 1986 for depression he suffered as a result of repeated harassment from a former commanding officer.

Through it all, Anglade remained dedicated and understood he was a role model.

"If I hadn't seen this through, it wouldn't just be Anglade who would be criticized - it would be the whole black community,"' he said in 1996.

Marcel Gauthier, a former colleague of Anglade, said the death hurt because it reminded him of the bond police work creates between officers, one that transcends skin colour.

"He was like a brother to me," said Gauthier, 67.

"He was well respected because he treated people well," he added.

Anglade's widow, Corinne Anglade, who met him when he hired her to help write his book, said he had "a big heart. He was a gentleman."

"He had great passion even when things were difficult," she said. "He wanted others, especially young people, to know about that."

Fo Niemi, head of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, said Anglade's steady professionalism helped him create bridges between the police and the city's black community.

"The police once asked me what they needed more of to make things go better with the black community," Niemi said.

"I said 'You just need more Edouard Anglades.' "

The funeral is to be held today at 10:30 a.m. at St. Viateur Church, 183 Bloomfield Ave. in Outremont.