Samuel J. Battle
Police officer, Deceased Person
1883 – 1966
Who was Samuel J. Battle?
Samuel Jesse Battle was the first black police officer in the city of Brooklyn, later New York City. After attending segregated schools in North Carolina, Battle moved north, first to Connecticut, then to New York City, where he took a job as a train porter and began studying for the New York City Police Department civil service exam. He was sworn in on March 6, 1911.
His brother-in-law was Patrolman Moses P. Cobb, who started working for the Brooklyn Police force in the early 1890s before the unification of NYC and acted as Battle's mentor. "Big Sam" as he was known — 6 feet, 3 inches tall, 280 pounds — earned the respect of his fellow officers after saving one officer's life in the early 1920s. They subsequently voted to allow him into the Sargent's academy. As the NYPD's first black Lieutenant, during the intense Harlem Riots of 1935 - after 3 days of violence he circulated fliers of himself with the young boy smiling who had allegedly been murdered in the basement of the Kress Department store.
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- Born
- Jan 16, 1883
New Bern - Also known as
- Samuel Battle
- Ethnicity
- African American
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Died
- Aug 7, 1966
New York City
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
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"Samuel J. Battle." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/samuel_j_battle>.
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