Belvin Perry, Jr.'s father grew up in Sanford, as the only child of a single mother.

He went to Crooms Academy, but had to quit school after the 10th grade. Not because he wasn't smart enough but because he had to go to work help his mother pay the bills. It was the way is was back then. Quitting school came to be one of his greatest regrets.

He left school and went to work in the celery fields, worked as a waiter and soon became one of Orlando's first African-American policemen, chosen for their respect among the black community.

Perry and five other black police officers patrolled the black community and had little authority elsewhere in the city. They were given neither guns nor patrol cars.

He would wait tables during the day, go home and sleep to wake up for his 6 p.m. shift with Orlando Police. He was known as a tough street cop.

He sent four children to college: One became a teacher, another a surgeon, one a business owner and another a lawyer and a judge.

Perry retired from OPD in 1976, working as a bellman at Howard Johnson's. 

He served as a deacon at Shiloh Baptist Church volunteered at the senior center and delivered meals on wheels, until his death in 1995.

His legacy lives on through his children, but notably his son, Belvin Perry, Jr., who was a circuit court judge at the time of his father's death.


Belvin Perry, Jr. continues his efforts with the justice system and is the Chief Judge for Orange County. 

He is currently presiding over the Casey Anthony case.