Remembering The Detective Lieutenant Walter Coe Legacy
On July 10, 1922, Walter Coe became the first Black police officer in the City of Grand Rapids. He quickly moved up the ranks.
In two years, the recruit worked his way up to sergeant. He was promoted to lieutenant detective July 1, 1930 and to detective captain Jan. 19, 1950.
By retirement, he was detective and captain of the Special Investigation Division.
Walter Coe gained nationwide recognition for his police and racial work.
Detective Lieutenant Coe gained and held the community's respect.
In 1938, at a testimonial dinner held in his honor the African Methodist Community Church, 300 people were present when Chief O'Malley spoke of Detective Coe as "one of the finest officers in the country today". The chief said, "He is not only loyal to the police department, but he is loyal to the public."
Grand Rapids Times columnist and retired GRPS teacher and administrator recalled this week the circumstances when Coe was hired by the Grand Rapids Police Department. "He could only handle cases with Black people who were criminals and no cases with Whites."
She continued, "He and his wife had about the highest status of Blacks in Grand Rapids among those who were not working for themselves."
Mrs. Sims noted that Captain Coe's wife Ethel did many benevolent things around town and was a member of The Grand Rapids Study Club.
"The club was started by Blacks in the city who felt as though they had status. The Coe's were among the elite Blacks in the city, but they always remembered who they were."
Sims continued, "They were people you could go to who would try to help you maneuver your way through impediments that White people put in your way."
She went on to say, "Walter Coe was someone who if you knew him would put in a word for you and it almost assured that you would get what you wanted. So if anyone wanted to do anything, then they would ask Coe to put in a word for them or they would use him for a reference. Sims noted, "He also opened the way for Blacks to get housing. After he bought a house south of Hall, suddenly Blacks could buy houses in that area."
He was good at his job, the city could have been further along if they had not restricted him to only dealing with cases involving Blacks."
Before becoming a policeman, Walter Coe was already known in baseball circles, having played for both the Colored Athletics and the Black Sox.
Coe was regarded as on of the most versatile of Grand Rapids Baseball Players. Described in his younger days as a "tall strapping youth with wide shoulders and powerful arms," he took to the game early and naturally, the owner Jess Elster is reported as saying.
He was a standout player and a durable one. He starred with Jess Elsters' Colored Athletics in 1916 and took an active part in baseball until he was in his early 40s.
According to a local news article, coe learned early the value of friendliness and acquired an ability to get along with people. He had a genuine love and concern for his fellow men. His amazing skill at any position and his powerful bat, were the outstanding characteristics of his abilities on the diamond.
Coe once said, "Any old position was all right with me. With the Colored Athletics just before and after World War I, I was short stoop and occasionally an outfielder, although I did some catching and first-basing, too."
Captain Coe died of a heart attack at his desk, at the age of 59.
"Capt. Coe knew that death could come at any time and would be swift, and he went the way he wanted to go — on the job," said Paul I. Phillips, who was the Executive Secretary of the Grand Rapids Urban League.
The Walter Coe Public Service Giant Award is named in his honor.
Source: Grand Rapids History & Special Collections, Archives, Grand Rapids Public Library, Grand Rapids, MI
Tagged in: