mojoman3061 — 15 years ago(February 19, 2011 02:45 PM)

African American actor Morris D. Erby played Sergeant Davis of the same police force as Lieutenant Jacoby in at least 8 episodes throughout the course of the series. The earliest in IMDb is "Bullet for a Badge," aired 18 May 1959
http://www.imdb.com/board/10673604/
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Sergeant is a higher rank with more authority than most uniformed police officers. Was Davis the first African American cop on TV with that level of authority? I'd think African American police sergeants or lieutenants were fairly uncommon in real life in 1959.