morgan was also a key player in a number of issues related to the relationship between the city's black population and the police. in 1954, two birmingham police officers beat a black man, charles patrick, after he was arrested following a parking conflict with a white woman. the officers were initially fired by police commissioner robert lindbergh, but morgan reinstated the officers, giving them 30-day suspensions instead. morgan was mayor when fred shuttlesworth led a 1955 campaign to get the city to hire more black officers. morgan and commissioner lindbergh were supportive of the idea, but were hesitant to actually make hires because of the lack of public support, leading to confrontations between shuttlesworth and morgan. the idea was tabled when the lynching of emmett till.