This collection documents Herbert T. Jenkins' career as the longest-serving police chief of Atlanta. Papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, committee minutes, speeches, publications, and annual reports of the Atlanta Police Department and Fulton County Police Department. In addition, there are speeches, attendance reports, and planning materials related to Jenkins' participation in conferences as an attendee and speaker. Of particular note are documents pertaining to his work with civil rights leaders and events in Atlanta; his service as police chief during civil rights protests in the 1960s; and correspondence regarding the Kerner Commission.

The papers also include Jenkins' personal research, manuscripts, and books he wrote about Atlanta's history; as well as books, publications, and studies that Jenkins collected pertaining to crime and policing such as, Violence as Protest: A Study of Riots and Ghettos and Black Political Ascendancy in Urban Centers and Black Control of the Local Police Function. Of particular note is documentation of Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral, including a copy of the funeral eulogy given by Dr. Benjamin Mays and letters commending the Atlanta Police Department for the security measures they took during the funeral. Also of note is correspondence and reports regarding police investigations, police brutality, and civil action cases.