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Susan B. Layton Tabb, (Est. 1880 – 1941), also known as Susie, was the first African American woman to be hired full-time as a police officer in Lexington, Kentucky.

Biography
Tabb was born Susan B. Layton to Richard James Layton and Leanna Scroggins somewhere between 1880-1884 in Kentucky.undefined She worked as a teacher at least as early as 1906,undefined and, after marrying William Henry Tabb (anywhere from 1906-1910), and giving birth to her son Layton Allen Tabb (November 8th, 1907undefined) and her daughter Aleta Hermine Tab (Est. 1910), she worked as a restaurant waitress in 1910.undefined

She divorced her husband in 1913 and retained custody of her children.undefined Tabb was listed as a domestic worker in a 1914 census,undefined but 1919 census records indicate she returned to teaching.undefined

On June 19th, 1919, Tabb filed for bankruptcy,undefined though she continued working as a teacher until 1920. After that, outside of selling a variety of homemade products advertised in the Lexington Herald,undefined she had no further recorded employment from 1921undefined on until her employment as a policewoman on March 17, 1924.undefined

Tabb often worked with Margaret Egbert (Lexington’s first female officer, hired 1917) when the two attended juvenile court proceedings.undefined

From June 3-6, 1930, Tabb attended the National Urban League conference in Buffalo, New York. The conference's theme was "Vocational Opportunities for Negro Workers."undefined

In 1931, she was appointed to the Emancipation Association Woman’s Council.undefined

She worked as an officer for almost eighteen years until December 11th, 1941, when she passed away in her home. Her cause of death was listed as Hypertensive Vascular Disease. She was estimated to be 60 years old. She was buried in the Highland Cemetery.undefined

On February 16th, 2023, a month shy of ninety-nine years since her hiring, the Lexington Police Department celebrated her alongside Captain James Perkins as part of Black History Month.undefined