Stacks and stacks of certificates are pulled from a box of Roosevelt “Bobby” Miller’s belongings: Completion of Crime Scene Technician Course, Crime Scene Photography, Missing Children Information Clearing. His family proudly holds onto them, unclipping each one and passing them around the room. Mr. Miller was the first black detective with the Plant City Police Department. And with all of his credentials, there wasn’t a better person that could have been.
Mr. Miller, 81, died Dec. 31, after a battle with throat cancer. His memorial service was held Jan. 10, and he was buried at Garden of Peace in Plant City.
“I was so proud to have him,” daughter Capathia Sampson said.
She holds up a black and white picture of him in his uniform.
“He was my everything. I am proud to call him my dad. He ruled with a stern hand and loving heart.”
Mr. Miller’s children have many memories of him as police officer. He helped launch the Plant City Police Department into the future by learning to process crime scenes, fingerprinting, and to take and develop his own pictures of evidence. He started at the department in 1964, and was promoted to detective in 1975. He retired in 1998.
But his legacy still lives on. Because of his work, a 30-year-old cold case was recently solved. In 1979, Charolette Kelley was found strangled in her home. He was among the detectives that took DNA samples from the bedding and sealed them into evidence at the station. The evidence had remained there in a time freeze, until technology could help solve the case. That came in 2012, when they reopened it.
“Time spent with him was knowledgeable,” son Todd Springfield said. “Even for the people he arrested he would have a word of knowledge for them and would come back to mentor them.”
Mr. Miller would keep in contact with youths he picked up on the street, making sure they didn’t retreat back into a life of crime. If a warrant was out for their arrest, it wasn’t uncommon for the person sought to call Mr. Miller to come pick them up.
“He made everyone feel special, whether they were a criminal or not,” Springfield said. “He never had to chase no one. He was an icon. If you had a problem, you could call him.”
But it wasn’t all good feelings for the police officer. During lunch with his family, he often had to race out on a call. His children loved riding along. One time, a grave was robbed. Springfield came with him and was tasked to light up the grave with the flashlight.
“He told me, ‘Hold the light,’” Springfield said. “I said, ‘Hold the light?’ I got to go. I didn’t have the stomach for it. But for him, it was normal work. For him, it was his job to get to the bottom of it.”
Sampson also remembers riding along with her father to an accident where a train collided with a car. It was something she didn’t want to see. But she has a fonder memory of riding along with her father Known as his baby girl, together they led the Strawberry Festival Parade in his police car.
“I felt like the luckiest girl in the world,” Sampson said.
Mr. Miller was often processing crime scenes and developing pictures long after his shift was over. Now assistant city manager of public safety and formerly the Plant City Police Department’s police chief, Bill McDaniel was just a rookie at the department when he first met Mr. Miller.
“I wondered if he ever went home,” McDaniel said. “He was a good officer, very hardworking. He’s one of the people you meet in life that just had a quality about them.”
Just one week into the job, Mr. Miller had approached McDaniel and offered to show him the works.
“He was just one of those guys that reached out to you,” McDaniel said. “He was very helping, very sharing with all of his knowledge.”
Mr. Miller was so much more than a police officer, however. He was known as a mentor, dad and uncle, the singing policeman, Marine, Toys for Tots organizer, guardian of a secret crab recipe, Mt. Olive AME Church trustee and a kung-fu master.
He was a black belt in karate and judo. On the bottom of a picture of him striking a karate pose is written “Think twice and say nothing.”
Even McDaniel remembered a medallion Mr. Miller wore on his uniform that designated his karate skills.
And perhaps one of his greatest roles was being a father to his children.
“We never had to fight for his love,” Springfield said. “He loved us in his own way. The advice he gave me was different than my sisters or brother.”
Mr. Miller was predeceased by his son, Roosevelt Miller Jr. He is survived by his sons, Todd Springfield and Todd Miller; and daughters, Celustine Chase and Capathia Sampson.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.