Hosea Crossley III, a longtime Chicago police lieutenant and former chief of police for the Chicago Housing Authority, has died, according to family. He was 77.
Mr.. Crossley III was born in 1947 and raised in the Ida B Wells Homes on the South Side. His father was also a Chicago police officer, according to his family.
Mr. Crossley spent his entire life in his hometown: “He is Chicago,” his son said.
He suffered a stroke about a decade ago that left him bedridden, his son said. He died Friday at his home in West Pullman surrounded by his family.
At 18, Mr. Crossley joined the U.S. Navy and as soon as he returned from service, became a member of the Chicago Police Department, his son said.
In the late 1970s, Mr. Crossley was one of several officers promoted after the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League successfully sued the department for discriminating against women and minority officers, according to his son.
In 1988, Mr. Crossley took command of the CPD’s public housing unit. Three years later he became chief of police for the Chicago Housing Authority’s police department, his son said.
“He grew up in the projects, that’s why he worked the projects … [and] he ended up being the person in charge,” his son said.
He retired about three years later after the department came under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union for controversial search practices.
Mr. Crossley returned to the Chicago Police Department where he continued to serve as a lieutenant until 1998.
“That was his life, he climbed through the ranks … that’s what defined him,” his son said.
His son remembers being 5 years old and his father bringing home a remote-controlled police car with lights and sirens for him to play with.
“My dad was a cop, period … that is what he did ever since I was born,” his son said.
Mr. Crossley was preceded in death by wife, Renita, and his daughters Asuntha and Venus and two granddaughters. In addition to his son, he is survived by his son Steven; his daughters Jasmine, Kiki and Aliska; 14 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild..
Plans are being made for funeral services in Chicago, his family said.