Early African American Police Officers

Book excerpt about Lafayette Tillman, William Davis, Cornelius Carter, and J.J. Mattjoy, early African American police officers of the Kansas City Police Department. Tillman was the second black police officer in Kansas City according to most sources, while Davis was the first, serving from 1874 to about 1899. Tillman was born in Indiana in 1858 and came to Kansas City around 1889 as a barber before serving in the Spanish-American War, and upon his return to the city was hired as a police patrolman. Cornelius "Tug" Carter was born around 1875 and raised in Lawrence, Kansas before working a beat in downtown Kansas City and credited for several arrests of notable crimes starting in 1919. Carter "became the first black sergeant in the Kansas City police department" in 1930 and bought a new house with his wife at 2204 Garfield Avenue. Mattjoy was a juvenile officer who also served as Democratic spokesman for the African American communities in 1919-1920, when he was killed on duty.