Big Sam: the Jackie Robinson of the N.Y.P.D.

Samuel Jesse Battle was the Jackie Robinson of the New York Police Department.

 He was sworn in and given his badge and gun on March 6, 1911–the first African-American officer in the newly unifed city of New York (his brother-in-law, Moses P. Cobb, worked as a cop in Brooklyn in 1890 but that was in the years before unification). He was first assigned to work the then all-black neighborhood known as San Juan Hill.  Battle was known to all as ”Big Sam” and came by the name naturally–he stood six foot three inches tall and weighed in at a solid 280 pounds. He was born on January 16, 1883 in New Bern, North Carolina and died on this day in 1966 at the age of 83.

 Earlier this week, on August 4, the intersection of West 135th Street and Lenox Avenue was designated as Samuel J. Battle Plaza in his honor.

It is an honor well-deserved and a long-time coming.  It is never easy being the first to enter any field, let alone the sealed and silent world of a big-city police department in the early years of the 20th century. Not when your fellow officers snub you or dismiss you or brag to a local tabloid reporter that “policing New York City is a white man’s job.” Much like Jackie Robinson would decades later on a ball field, Big Sam Battle dealt with the hazings, the silent treatment and the hatred. Through it all, Sam Battle walked the walk and did his job–working each and every day to keep the citizens he was paid to protect safe from harm.

  He was soon re- assigned to Harlem and there he spent the bulk of his 30-year police career. In 1919, he saved the life of a white police officer during an altercation with an unruly crowd.  He was proud to wear the blue and was a welcome sight to the Harlem residents who were proud to see one of their own patrol the streets of their neighborhood. In 1926, despite fierce opposition, Sam Battle was promoted to sergeant and then, in 1935, he made the leap to lieutenant, always with the word first before his name.

 That was the same year riots erupted on the streets of Harlem and they were quelled, legend has it, by Sam Battle.

 The riots allegedly began over the murder of a young boy in the basement of Kness’ Department Store. Battle had flyers printed and distributed throughout the angry and fiery streets, flyers that bore a photo of Big Sam with his arm around the smiling boy who had been murdered. His intent was clear–the police are not the enemy–and his plan worked.

 In 1941, Big Sam Battle left the NYPD and landed a job as the first Parole Commissioner in New York. There he worked with troubled kids in Harlem, setting up summer camps, sports programs, rehab care–anything to keep them out of jail and on a steady path.  He was called back into police work in 1943 by then Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to restore peace to the streets of Harlem. A white officer had shot and killed a black suspect and the fuse in the neighborhood was once again lit. Big Sam Battle came in and did what he had always done in all his years as a cop–he finished the job. 

 He shut it down for good in 1951, stayed active in the community he had grown to love and consider his home, the one-time train porter now a respected, decorated and retired NYPD police officer.

  It wasn’t an easy road Sam Battle chose, just the right one.  He was the first and he knew that in order for there to be others to follow in his path, he needed to set a standard, work the job the way it was meant to be worked, ignore the ugliness around him and focus on being the best. You honor the memory of Big Sam Battle simply by calling him a good man and an even better cop. It is often as simple as that.

 I thought of Big Sam Battle this week, as I watched another cop appear on the Larry King show, a Boston police officer named Justin Barrett. He showed up with a lawyer by his side which is never a good sign.   Officer Barrett felt the need to express his opinion regarding the recent arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. He put his thoughts down in an e-mail which he sent to his fellow officers and members of his National Guard unit where he is a Captain. In his e-mail, he referred to the Professor as a “banana-eating jungle monkey.” He also felt the need to follow that with this gem: “I am not a racist.” He has been suspended from his military duties such as they are and has been put on paid administrative leave by the Boston PD.

Those words would not have been new ones to the ears of Big Same Battle. I’m certain he heard the same and much worse in his 30 years on the job. And he did what we all should do whenever we see them written or hear them spoken–ignore them and go about our business and bring honor to an honorable profession. In Sam Battle’s case, that of an officer in the NYPD, quite possibly the best department of its kind in the country. 

All departments have pieces of spoiled fruit in their bag. They are, after all, no different than any other profession. But they also have honorable men like Deputy Inspector Kevin Catalina, who worked as hard as anyone to make sure Big Sam Battle got his Plaza. That he got his reward for 30 years of a job well done. So, whenever you hear a tale of a bad cop or one who goes down the ugly road, remember the good ones–like Deputy Inspector Catalina.

Like Big Sam Battle.

Sometimes, the playing field does even out. 

Big Sam Battle has a Plaza named after him now.

 It rests on the street he used to walk and keep safe.

He was a cop. By all indications, a great one.

He has earned his place of honor.

And we are all the better for having him be a big part of our city.