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As the first black police officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the early 1970s, Stallworth infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan doing undercover work by pretending to be white and interested in membership. Local KKK leaders bought his interest and his phone conversations. Stallworth sent his police partner and "white avatar" Chuck into the field as the white Ron whenever in-person meetings necessitated. Stallworth and his team worked undercover in this way for seven and a half months. They believe their intel prevented several cross burnings. The investigation would have continued longer, but Stallworth's police chief shut it down when the local chapter asked Ron to become its new chapter president.
Sometimes called the Jackie Robinson of his time, Stallworth originally became an officer to earn enough money to go to college. Who could have imagined then how his story would become a book and a critically acclaimed movie? John David Washington played Stallworth in the film adaptation. Stallworth was exuberant in his appraisal: "John did an excellent job of portraying the 25-year-old me and is a fellow Stallworth brother," he said.