Detective Mollie A. Gustine, NYPD portrait, Public Domain.
Mollie A. Gustine (1930?-2020) was a pioneer of the NYPD and one of the first Black female detectives on the New York City Police force. She joined the force in 1963 in what was then the Police Women’s Division. In 1974, she was promoted to detective and was one of the first three women to join the Queens Sex Crimes Unit, where she often worked undercover. She served as an officer for 20 years, and she was also among the first women on the force to serve as a union delegate for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the first Black female delegate to the Detectives' Endowment Association.
Gustine was working for the Federal Reserve in the early 1960s when her cousin suggested she join the police force. She made the transition, and over the course of her career, taught ethical awareness to police department personnel. She also lectured on rape, sexual abuse, and personal safety to a variety of women’s groups and often represented her department in media efforts to warn the public about scams and con games which she understood firsthand from her undercover work.
On February 26, 1982, Gustine was shot in the chest and arm during an attempted robbery as she was returning to her home in Queens after a late-night tour of duty. She fired back and was able to help stop her attackers. Three men were arrested for the crime. However, the shooting led to her retirement in 1983. In 2023, she was posthumously awarded the Police Combat Cross, the department’s second-highest honor, for engaging an armed adversary under imminent threat to life.
After leaving the force, Gustine worked with the homeless and Christian fellowship through various church affiliations. A pianist who played by ear, she loved music and also enjoyed watching classic films on television. On April 3, 2020, she died of COVID-19 at the age of 90. The corner of 192nd Street and 117th Road in St. Albans was co-named in her honor on August 20, 2022, as Detective Mollie A. Gustine Way.
"Minutes of the Proceedings for the Stated Meeting of Thursday, July 14, 2022," New York City Council
Shari Logan. "Retired NYPD detective honored at Black History Month celebration," New York Post, February 26, 2019
NYPD Guardians Association, "Detective Mollie-Ann Gustine," accessed September 21, 2023, https://twitter.com/GuardiansNYPD/status/1233107558312878081
Detectives Endowment Association. "Mollie-Ann Gustine," accessed September 21, 2023
Dean Meminger, “Final Farewell Held For Trailblazing Woman and NYPD Officer Mollie Gustine,” Spectrum News, April 24, 2020