Former D.C. police chief Isaac Fulwood Jr. has died, the police department has confirmed.
Fulwood took command of the Metropolitan Police Department in 1989 and was chief when former D.C. mayor Marion Barry was arrested for crack cocaine possession.
"He was Chief of Police as the crack cocaine epidemic spread, when the city’s Mayor was arrested for possession of crack cocaine and the most serious riot Washington had seen since 1968 erupted in The Mount Pleasant section of the city," a bio on the department's website says.
Fulwood was credited with maintaining order in D.C. after the controversial ruling in the Rodney King trial was announced in Los Angeles in 1992.
"The Chief was said to have a cool steady hand, as no violence erupted in Washington, but racial unrest raged in other major cities," MPD's website says.
He served as police chief until September of 1992.
Fulwood was chairman of the United States Parole Commission for five years before retiring in 2015.
