His brother-in-law was Patrolman Moses P. Cobb, who started working for the Brooklyn Police force in the early 1890s before the unification of NYC and acted as Battle's mentor.
As the NYPD's first black lieutenant, during the intense Harlem Riots of 1935 - after 3 days of violence he circulated flyers of himself with the young boy smiling who had allegedly been murdered in the basement of the Kress Department store.
He initiated rehabilitation programs, such as summer camps and sports activities for the youth of Harlem.
During a 1943 race riot, triggered by the shooting of an African-American suspect by a white police officer, Battle, at the request of fellow Republican New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, was called in to quell the Harlem area where the riot erupted.
[5] Battle figures prominently in the biography by Eric K. Washington, Boss of the Grips: The Life of James H. Williams and the Red Caps of Grand Central Terminal (New York, Liveright, 2019), as the subject's chief assistant, fraternal society brother and intimate family friend.