Uncrowned Community Builders

Donald Rice, a Buffalo native, was a 30-year member of the Buffalo Police Department He was one of eight children and as a young man, attended School 47 and Hutchinson Central-Technical High School. He loved electronics and later graduated from Coyne Electrical School. During the Korean War, he served as a corporal in the US Army.
Rice was one of seven officers who filed a civil rights suit alleging
discriminatory hiring against the Buffalo Police Department in the 1970s. The
affirmative action suit was instrumental in changing the department's hiring
practices. He was later named to a review panel hearing discrimination complaints
within the department.
As a new recruit, Officer Rice was assigned to the Liquor Squad. He was the first African-American officer to serve in the K-9 Corps and remained there for many years. He also served in Buffalo City Court and later joined the Department's AIM Team. He was a member and officer of the Afro-Amerkan Police Association, a member of the Police Benevolent Association, and the 100 Club of Buffalo.
Officer Rice received many community awards and received the Commissioner's Award of Merit in 1984 for his arrest of Charles Dean. Dean was accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl. During the arrest, Rice and Officer Frank Zagara were credited with saving Dean's life while he was under attack from an angry mob of citizens. Dean was later convicted of the crime.
Rice was still in service when he died unexpectedly on January 9,1990 after a brief illness. His family, Donna S. Rice, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, University at Buffalo, a son, Michael D. ,and two daughters, Donna E. Rice and Nadine L. Hawkins remain in Buffalo,