Summary

In Chapter 1: “A Call from the Klan,” set in October of 1978, Ron Stallworth was an Intelligence Unit detective with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), “the first black detective in the history of the department” (1). While reading local newspapers, Ron found a classified advertisement for the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) with an address to contact for information. There had been no known Klan activity in the area; Ron responded to the advertisement.

Ron wrote a note to the KKK pretending to be a white man interested in joining the Klan; he included an untraceable undercover phone number and address, as well as his own name. Ron maintained two separate undercover identities, but attributes signing his real name to a “lapse in judgment,” (2) not expecting an investigation to stem from his inquiry.

Two weeks later, November 1, 1978, Ron’s undercover line received a call from...