New York City's first African-American police officer honored

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The life and legacy of the first African-American to join the ranks of the NYPD was honored Wednesday night.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton were among those attending the special commemoration ceremony for Samuel Battle.

Officer Battle joined the NYPD in 1911.

A newly released book, "One Righteous Man: Samuel Battle and the Shattering of the Color Line in New York", chronicles his struggles in the segregated South and his rise up the ranks of the NYPD.

Battle died in 1966.

The book, based on a never published, as-told-to account of Battle's life written by Langston Hughes, was released Tuesday.