Moses Cobb, African-American Police Officer, Honored

Moses Cobb, one of the New York City Police Department’s first African American police officers, and the first to remain on the job until retirement, was honored with a street naming in front of the 77th Precinct station this weekend.

The intersection of Utica Avenue and Bergen Street was dedicated as Moses P. Cobb Way during a ceremony on Saturday.

In 1892, Cobb joined the police department, and was assigned to Brooklyn’s 12th Precinct, then the newly-formed 153rd Precinct in Brooklyn, which is now covered by the 77th precinct.

According to Commissioner Ray Kelly’s speech at the ceremony, Cobb was born in 1856, in Kinston, North Carolina, and to make a better life for himself, walked more than 500 miles along the underground railroad trail to New York, settling in Weeksville, Brooklyn.

Upon joining the force, Cobb guarded prisoners and helped to transport them, and according to Commissioner Kelly, “at the time, it was believed that a black officer should not be seen patrolling the streets.” In 1912, though, he was promoted to patrolman, where he also worked as a undercover officer, infiltrating gambling houses.

His wife, Sophia, said that no matter who he was dealing with on the job, “he always tried to treat them with that respect.”

Cobb retired in 1917, after 25 years of service, but his family has carries on his legacy – he helped his brother-in-law Samuel Battle, the first black NYPD officer, prepare for the police entrance exam, and inspired three of his granddaughters: NYPD School Safety Agent Emma Spruill, Evette Simmons, a case management nurse of the NYPD’s Medical Division, and Police Officer Marvina Lawrence of the Special Victims Division.

Cobb died in 1926, in his hometown of Kinston.