In an age when “the good cop” is more important than ever — I’d like to remember one of “Long Branch’s finest.”

As Long Branch was re-incorporated as a city in 1904 a more modern police force emerged when 24 patrolmen were hired (pay was $75 per month). The following year Charles Phillips, Jr. became the city’s first black police officer. Already an “admired and reliable” city resident, the Rev. Dr. Asbury Smallwood, pastor of the Second Baptist Church (a focal point of faith for city blacks since 1887), had petitioned the city to hire Phillips as a cop in 1903.

As it turns out, Long Branch was fortunate to have a such a fine law enforcement pioneer. Patrolman Phillips, during his too-short tenure, was recalled as “a man of action not words,” “always on the job,” “fearless and capable,” “alert and ever-ready,” and “devoted to his home and family.” Sadly, he lost his 7-year-old son Freddie to an unknown illness in August 1910, yet it appears not to have hardened him. For he was remembered as “everyone’s friend.”

Phillips was also a “shrewd” law man. While walking his regular Liberty Street beat on New Year’s Day 1908, he won recognition from the Long Branch Daily Record for his prominent role in apprehending a wanted killer on the loose. The early prototype “big cop” he was known for his “burly proportions.” The moment he arrived, scenes were calmed down. The Rockwell Avenue resident died in June 1912 from pneumonia at age 40. His obit made the front page — remembered as “highly respected and efficient” by his fellow police officers and the citizenry.

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Alphonso Matthews, city native and 38-year LBPD veteran, was made the city’s first black detective in 1952. A decorated WWI hero and father to four daughters, Matthews died in October 1983.

• LBPD History — HERE

Good Cop — Long Branch police force, 1912 (NJ State Archives Photo).

Old police headquarters at Long Branch City Hall  on Broadway, 1930s.