In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month. He called upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

In the decades that followed, every U.S. President has continued this practice. In celebration of Black History Month, the SBA provides the following retrospective:

• 1867: African American police officers are appointed to the police department in the Selma, Alabama.
• 1870: New Orleans, Louisiana, has 177 African American officers, and 3 of 5 police board members are African American.
• April 1870: Officer William Johnson of Jacksonville, Florida, becomes the first recognized African American police officer to be killed in the line of duty. He was responding to a disturbance call when he was assaulted by the suspect.
• 1875: Bass Reeves is appointed as the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshal.
• 1911: Samuel Battle becomes the first African American officer to serve the NYPD.
• 1916: Georgia Ann Robinson joins the LAPD, becoming the nation’s first female African American police officer.
• 1941: William B. Lindsay is hired by the Illinois State Police, becoming the first known African American state trooper.
• 1963: Lloyd Sealy becomes the first African American NYPD member to command a precinct.
• 1966: Sheriff Lucius Amerson becomes the first elected African American sheriffs in Macon County, Alabama.
• 1972: The National Black Police Association is chartered.
• 1976: The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executive (NOBLE) is founded.
• 1983: Benjamin Ward becomes the first African American police commissioner of the NYPD.
• 2021: There are approximately 58,000 African American law enforcement officers in the United States.
• 2021: The NYPD’s executive ranks include First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin B. Tucker, Chief of Detectives Rodney K. Harrison, and Chief of Patrol Juanita N. Holmes.