Diversity in law enforcement: benefits for community policing effectiveness

¶ … Diversity in a Police Force

Police departments in the 21st century enjoy a level of technology that would make Dick Tracy envious, but they are also faced with several challenges that have made their jobs more difficult than ever. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the nation's law enforcement community has been tasked with a number of responsibilities that further exacerbate the difficulty of their jobs, and immigration, the flow of illegal drugs and violent crime continue to plague the nation today. In this environment, identifying more effective approaches to the provision of policing represents a timely and important enterprise and represents the focus of this study. A growing body of evidence suggests that in an increasingly multicultural society, a police force that mirrors the demographic composition of the community it serves is crucial for several reasons, including social equity, but there are some more pragmatic reasons as well, such as the willingness of citizens to share crime information with members of the police force who are of the same ethnic background. Notwithstanding the problems of using affirmative action initiatives to achieve parity in the demographic composition of the nation's law enforcement community, it would seem that the advantages of maintaining a diverse police force far outweigh any constraints associated with a diverse police force. Although some critics argue that lowering the bar to recruit members of minority groups into police department may endanger other police officers and the larger community they serve, the findings of this study strongly indicate that a diverse police force is an important component of the provision of effective law enforcement services today. A review of the relevant literature and an analysis of available statistical data concerning these issues is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Statement of the Problem

Purpose of Study

Importance of Study

Scope of Study

Rationale of Study

Overview of Study

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

Chapter 3: Methodology

Description of the Study Approach

Data-gathering Method and Database of Study

Chapter 4: Data Analysis

Chapter 5: Summary and Recommendations

The Importance of Diversity in a Police Force

Chapter 1: Introduction

Today, police departments across the country are faced with many of the same problems and challenges that have plagued American society for decades, including illicit and dangerous drug use (especially methamphetamine), domestic violence, gang activity, assaults and violence in the schools, but there have been some new threats that have emerged in recent years as well. Indeed, illegal immigration and the need for improved homeland security have made the jobs of police officers across the country more difficult than ever before. Therefore, identifying more effective approaches to the provision of law enforcement services represents a timely and important enterprise which is the focus of this study and is discussed further below.

Statement of the Problem

Although things are slowly changing, the research will show that the vast majority of police departments in the United States continue to remain composed primarily of white males. At the same time, the demographic composition of the United States has fundamentally changed in recent decades, with the Hispanic population growing more rapidly than others, but with a number of other ethnic groups increasing as well. In response, some police departments have accelerated the recruitment of minority members to help balance the composition of their forces to better reflect the larger communities they serve, but in other cases, the status quo remains firmly in place, a trend that represents the focus of this study.

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study was to deliver a timely and thoughtful review of the relevant literature concerning the importance of developing a diverse police force that reflects the demographic composition of the larger community it serves.

Importance of Study

Today, the concept of professionalism in law enforcement requires a community policing approach that recognizes social diversity. In this regard, Panitch, Barnes-Proby, Williams, Christian, Lewis, Gerwehr and Brannan (2003) report that, "Every modern metropolitan area is a palette of rich demographic differences. The concepts underlying community policing and diversity awareness must therefore pervade the entire organization, including its training functions" (p. 6). According to Broadnax (2000), a police force can improve relations by encouraging a diverse cadre that is representative of the demographic composition of the larger community it serves. As a result, balancing a workforce by making it representative of a relevant community can have an enormous impact on the effectiveness of the police force as well as promoting social equity (Broadnax 2000). Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what extent, and indeed, whether policy departments across the country have adapted to these changing demographic patterns in recent years (Culver 2004).

Scope of Study

Although the study examined the peer-reviewed and scholarly literature as it applied to diversity in law enforcement in other countries, there was a specific focus on developing diversity in police departments in the United States in general and how these issues affect Asian-Americans in law enforcement in particular.

Rationale of Study

An examination of how a diverse police force can better serve its constituents represents a very timely endeavor indeed. For instance, Sklansky (2006) recently noted that the research to date concerning the increasingly multicultural aspects of many Western democracies has resulted in a dichotomy of views. According to Sklansky, on the one hand, "The growing diversity of police forces changes almost nothing, or it changes almost everything. Usually the new demographics are treated as cosmetic or, at best, largely symbolic" (p. 1209). This perspective holds that the fundamental aspects of law enforcement represent a matter of occupational outlook and organizational culture, rather than of the personal characteristics of new recruits. In other words, "Blue is blue': the job shapes the officer, not the other way around" (Sklansky 2006, p. 1209). This view suggests that police officers of all backgrounds are assumed either to make peace with the "white, masculine, heterosexual ethos" that typifies policing, or they will have ongoing problems in the workplace. On the other hand, the growing diversity of police forces is frequently cited as a basis for a need for the complete rethinking of criminal procedure and, more generally, the entire approach to modern law enforcement (Sklansky 2006).

From a strictly pragmatic perspective, though, Lott (2000) suggests that the advantages of including more minority members in law enforcement cadres just makes good sense. According to Lott, "The potential law enforcement advantages from multiracial or female officers seem obvious. Minority police officers may be more effective in minority areas simply because residents could be more forthcoming about information that will lead to arrests and convictions or because of the officers' ability to serve as undercover agents" (p. 240). Likewise, trust represents an essential element in effective law enforcement as well, as reports of riots erupting after white police officers have shot a black man readily confirm. In this regard, Lott adds that, "Officers from a community may also be better at understanding the behavior of criminals in those areas or even something as basic as understanding the language of immigrants. In any event, police efforts to reduce crime are surely dependent on the help that they receive from the community" (p. 240). Therefore, it makes just makes good sense to identify ways in which a police department can improve its ability to deliver effective law enforcement services by promoting diversity within its ranks.

Overview of Study

This paper used a five-chapter format to achieve the above-stated research purpose. Chapter one of the study was used to introduce the topic under consideration, provide a statement of the problem, the purpose and importance of the study, as well as its scope and rationale. Chapter two of the study provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature, and chapter three describes more fully the study's methodology, including a description of the study approach, the data-gathering method and the database of study that was consulted. Chapter four of the study consists of an analysis of the statistical data developed during the research process and chapter five presents the study's conclusions, a summary of the research and salient recommendations for the law enforcement community and policymakers at all levels alike.

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

Introduction.

This chapter presents a background and overview of law enforcement in the United States, a discussion concerning the types of recruitment approaches used in different agencies, the impact of cultural diversity on police departments in general and on minority police officers in particular, a summary of what has been accomplished in improving the representation of minority members in the nation's law enforcement communities to date and the corresponding associated outcomes, a description of the working environment for police officers in general and for minority members in particular, followed by a discussion of what remains to be done to effect improved training and representation in law enforcement communities in the United States today.

Background and Overview.

In almost all American communities, the police department represents an important part of a stable and safe environment for its citizenry. Indeed, even the most outspoken critics of law enforcement will likely be the first to dial "9-1-1" when their homes are being burglarized or members of their families are being attacked, but the fact remains that many police department remain primarily white and male in composition. The impetus for effecting substantive changes in the composition of the nation's police forces will therefore need to be mandated in order for things to change in any meaningful way. The desirability of developing a more diverse police force that reflects the demographic composition of the larger communities they serve has been recognized as an important element in this regard. For instance, as Hood, Rothstein and Baldwin (2004) emphasize, "Any geographically extended political system can set standards from the center, but diversity in law enforcement is often seen as both necessary and desirable" (p. 175). Although it may be necessary and desirable, there are a number of obstacles that continue to characterize the ability of the nation's police departments in achieving this demographic equity, including the different types of recruiting practices in place and these issues are discussed further below.

Are There Differences in Recruiting Practices in Police Departments across the Country?

According to Kurke and Scrivner (1995), the growing body of research concerning diversity in the workplace supports the notion that a diverse workforce is superior to a strictly homogenous one. These authors also add that in order to realize the advantages of cultural diversity, police departments must consider recruiting minorities to be an asset rather than a liability (Kurke and Scrivner 1995). Further, Kurke and Scrivner add that, "Similarly, the police recruiter must share the ideology that cultural and gender diversity is good for the police department" (p. 210).

Notwithstanding any arguments concerning the diminution of standard to promote the inclusion of minority members into the ranks of police departments across the country, some success has been achieved in this regard. For example, Hirschel and Wakefield (1995) report that, "In the United States, police forces have been fairly successful in their efforts to recruit, retain, and promote minorities, but not without the strife and strain that accompanies such efforts. Affirmative action plans and fair employment practices have generally resulted in a much greater percentage of minority officers on police forces (especially urban forces) in the United States" (p. 89). Although in some cases mandated consent decrees by the courts have been used to effect accelerated hiring of minorities for police departments, in other cases, the approach has been strictly voluntary (see data analysis in chapter four). As Hirschel and Wakefield emphasize, "Because of these federal policies and the threat of financial liability in the absence of compliance, the law enforcement systems in the United States have obtained positive results" (p. 89).

One director of personnel reported that the hiring of minorities in Sacramento, California was accelerated in recent years because without operationalizing affirmative action through "selective action recruiting," this municipality would never have achieved parity in its law enforcement ranks (Broadnax 2000). According to this authority, "Effective public administration in a democratic society relies heavily on the existence of genuinely representative bureaucracies. This is primarily because representative public organizations are more likely to assure higher levels of responsiveness and responsibility than could possibly be derived from the simple use of external controls on administrative action" (Broadnax 2000, p. 109). There has also been a growing recognition of the value of bilingual police officers in many highly multicultural communities, but a number of police departments report that potential candidates who possess these valuable skills are difficult to recruit because they can secure other types of work that typically pay much higher salaries and benefits (Culver 2004).

According to Kurke and Scrivner (1995), "Affirmative action and other means of increasing the representation of ethnic minorities and women are valid issues to be addressed by police recruitment officials. Because most police departments are public institutions, they have already entered into the formal and legal debate on affirmative action. Consequently, many police departments today have either voluntarily complied or have been compelled by the courts to hire minority men and women officers" (p. 210). While affirmative action recruitment approaches to improving the diversity of the law enforcement ranks are not without their detractors, some observers suggest that this legal remedy represents one of the most effective ways to improve diversity in police departments across the country today. In this regard, Broadnax concludes that, "Affirmative action programs provide a means of achieving increasingly representative bureaucracies. In other words, affirmative action programs operationalize equal employment opportunity and make the concept useful" (p. 109).

Despite the apparent advantages of accelerated the recruitment of minority members into the law enforcement ranks, there are some apparent disadvantages involved when the techniques used to effect the changes are hasty or ill-conceived. For example, based on his analysis of minority law enforcement recruiting practices, Lott (2000) determined that the recruitment of additional African-American and other minority police officers increased crime rates across the board; however, this author also qualifies these findings by pointing out that this increase in crime rates has been accompanied by correspondingly lower hiring standards involved in recruiting more minority officers which tends to diminish the quality of both new minority and new nonminority officers. According to Lott, "The most adverse effects of these hiring policies have occurred in the areas most heavily populated by blacks. There is no consistent evidence that crime rates rise when more women are hired, and this raises questions about whether norming tests or altering their content to create equal pass rates is preferable" (2000, p. 239). There is also the question of the fundamentally different worldviews held by different members of law enforcement agencies that are based on the cultural backgrounds of mainstream (e.g., white male) and minority recruits and these issues are discussed further below.

Cultural Diversity Issues: Can Culture be a Barrier to the Provision of Effective Policing?

In many cases, people with different worldviews are predisposed to conflict and the unrest in the Middle East readily confirms. In the case of Asian-Americans and mainstream Americans, these profound cultural differences are no less apparent. For example, one well-known sociologist, Geert Hofstede, has examined the cultural differences that exist between countries around the world and found that the U.S. And most Asian nations have distinctly different worldviews across the entire continuum of cultural dimensions which can be readily seen in the representative Figures 1 through 4 below (a description of the various cultural dimensions is provided at Appendix a).

Figures 1 and 2. Cultural Dimension Comparisons of the U.S., China and Japan.

Figures 3 and 4. Cultural Dimension Comparisons of the U.S., Malaysia and Thailand.

Source: Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions (2009).

Key:

PDI = Power Distance Index

IDV = Individualism

MAS = Masculinity

UAI = Uncertainty Avoidance Index

LTO = Long-Term Orientation

As can be readily discerned from Figures 1 through 4 above, there are some profound differences in the worldviews held by many Asian nations compared to the United States today. Unfortunately, such cultural barriers continue to adversely affect the ability of minority members to accede to the ranks of law enforcement in some parts of the country where white males are the norm and anything different is viewed with skepticism and suspicion. In this regard, Sklansky (2006) adds that, "American law enforcement has come a long way from the overwhelmingly white, virtually all-male, pervasively homophobic police forces of thirty or forty years ago -- although there is still a good way left to go, and the extent of the changes vary greatly from department to department" (p. 1210).

There has been some progress made in overcoming cultural barriers within the police ranks across the country in recent years, though, with some police departments including diversity educational programs and foreign language instruction as part of their training regimens. These initiatives are particularly important for communities that have experienced a large addition of a particular minority group, which in most cases has been Hispanic. According to Culver (2004), "Language and cultural barriers have a significant impact for police agencies that have recently experienced a large influx of Latinos. In response, Culver (2004) reports that, "Within the last decade, some police departments have started to teach their officers "Survival Spanish," a course on how to communicate in basic Spanish for routine responsibilities such as making an arrest, conducting a basic interrogation and assisting victims" (p. 4). Likewise, Barlow and Barlow (1999) report that, "Cultural diversity, cultural sensitivity, or race relations training are a central component of many recent proposals for reform in the area of police-community relations. Police departments and training bureaus across the nation are developing cultural diversity awareness training programs with conspicuous urgency, often in response to grievous incidents in interactions between police and racial, ethnic, and cultural minorities" (p. 69).

It is reasonable to suggest that these types of initiatives will go a long way in helping overcome extant cultural barriers within the police ranks as well, but ethnocentrism is a powerful force and it may require many more years - or even decades - before a truly harmonious environment emerges in these formerly all-white male police department ranks. To date, though, some significant improvements have been realized in many police departments in the United States in improving the representation of minority members in their ranks, and these issues are discussed further below.

Goals and Targets: What the Police Service has Achieved to Date

As noted above, there has been some significant progress made in improving the diversity of the nation's police departments in recent years. According to Sklansky (2006), police departments in the United States are far more racially diverse than in years past. For instance, in 1970, African-Americans comprised approximately six percent of sworn officers in the three hundred or so largest American police departments; that figure has increased to about 18% today. This author adds that, "In cities with populations over 250,000, twenty percent of sworn officers are black, and fourteen percent are Latino -- up from figures of eighteen percent and nine percent, respectively, in 1990. In 2005, for the first time in the history of the New York City Police Department, a majority of the new officers graduating from its academy were members of racial minorities" (Sklansky 2006, p. 1209).

Moreover, Barlow and Barlow (1999) point out that, "Although the ultra-conservative, religious Right opposes acceptance of alternative lifestyles and diversity, traditionally conservative police executives and organizations do support the development of cultural diversity awareness training for police officers because they are acutely aware of the problems in police-minority relations" (p. 70). While cultural diversity awareness training for police officers can be regarded as a desirable and valuable approach to improving the relations between law enforcement and the larger community they serve, some authorities suggest that these initiatives are not necessarily new, but rather reflect a renewed interest in improving such relations that has emerged following the racial tensions that characterized the last half of the 20th century in the United States. In this regard, Barlow and Barlow add that, "The current trend toward developing cultural diversity awareness training for police officers is not truly an innovation; rather, it represents a renewal of interest in this particular approach to making police more sensitive to diverse cultures and lifestyles" (p. 70). This is not to say, of course, that these trends reflect an end-all to the problem of improving diversity in the nation's law enforcement communities, but it is to say that progress is being made and the corresponding outcomes have been largely positive, and these issues are discussed further below.

Outcomes

The past few decades have been characterized by an increased focus on professionalizing the practice of law enforcement in most developed nations in the world (Morn 1995). As a result, police training programs are widely considered to be the strongest predictor of police knowledge of the law and represent a fundamental component of all well-operated police forces around the world (Dripps 2001). In this regard, Glenn and his associates (2003) emphasize that, "Police officer training that attempts merely to 'add on' classes on topics such as community policing and diversity will not provide the necessary integration of training, problem-solving techniques, and patrol procedures" (p. 210).

The law enforcement agencies that seem to have the most success at operationalizing community policing in their department philosophy rely on a problem-based learning curriculum through which they use problem solving during instruction involving community policing and other components of training. They consider community policing as a fundamental underpinning of all police work. Use of force is viewed as a technique that police use when other techniques are inappropriate or insufficient to protect community members, including the law enforcement officer. Other patrol procedures, such as arrest and search and seizure policies, are likewise delivered from a police-community relations perspective (Glenn et al. 2003). According to Barlow and Barlow (1999), "Cultural diversity awareness training has also received significant support from liberal groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Rainbow Coalition, gay and lesbian organizations, and grass-roots community groups. Like their more conservative counterparts, liberal groups see cultural diversity awareness training as a component of community policing" (p. 69). Community activists, though, support cultural diversity training for members of law enforcement for substantially different reasons from those who are concerned about strict legal liability and police effectiveness issues. In this regard, Barlow and Barlow note that these advocates.".. desire police departments that are more responsive to diverse groups and individuals in their communities. The belief is that cultural diversity awareness training will enlighten police officers regarding the concerns of racial and cultural minorities as well as the poor and lead to better treatment of these groups by police officers" (1999, p. 70).

Therefore, improving the ability of police departments to achieve their organizational goals of reducing crime rates and otherwise maintaining law and order are inextricably related to the type and quality of training that is provided for these purposes. Indeed, according to Glenn et al. (2003), "Law enforcement cannot be static. Training must therefore be designed to fit a changing environment. Demographics, social conditions, and issues of public interest are continually changing, and training must be designed to help police deal with these changes" (p. 206). The need for training, though, must also take into account the incredibly stressful nature of the law enforcement profession itself, and these issues are discussed further below.

What is Life Like in the Law Enforcement Working Environment?

By any measure, law enforcement is a stressful occupation and many aspiring officers find themselves in over their heads when their feet first hit the bricks. As Bedi and Agrawal emphasize, "The work of a police officer is itself more stressful than that of others. His real challenge is to effectively counter stresses and tensions generated by factors like insurmountable problems of terrorism, extremism, crime, impediments in enforcement of social legislations, undue interventions by constitutional and extra legal power centers on behalf of law breakers, poor inter-personnel relationship in the department etc., all falling under the category of external job situation" (2001, p. 103).

Moreover, Stearns and Moore (1999) studied the level of stress experienced by various police departments and found that its consequences include obvious reactions such as job burnout, but also include cynical and negative attitudes toward the public, the development of conservative and authoritarian belief systems that are referred to as the "John Wayne Syndrome," increasing frustrations with the criminal justice system itself as well as negative attitudes toward the human service professions. According to these authors, "There is also evidence in the literature to support the notion that police officers suffer moderate to high levels of job burnout" (Stearns and Moore 1999, p. 127).

Likewise, MacNair (2002) found inordinately high levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among police officers, particularly those who had been involved in the shooting of criminal offenders. As MacNair emphasizes, "While it is common that active participation in the trauma is not attended to as a possible etiological stressor for PTSD, the case of police who shoot in the line of duty is the exception that proves the rule. It is readily admitted that police get PTSD from such incidents, and it is a particular kind of PTSD that is worse than what comes from being shot at. This has been clearly asserted in several studies" (p. 57). Despite these stressors and attendant negative reactions on the part of some, most police officers appear to continue to "make the grade" and persevere in spite of these challenges, but these challenges are much more pronounced for the minority members of many police departments across the country by virtue of a longstanding atmosphere that precludes the addition of anyone but white males to their ranks, and these issues are discussed further below.

Description of the Study Approach

This study used a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly, organizational and governmental data to achieve the above-stated research purpose. This approach is highly congruent with a number of social researchers who emphasize the need to review what is known about a given topic as well as to identify any existing gaps in the body of knowledge (Neuman 2003). In this regard, Fraenkel and Wallen report that, "Researchers usually dig into the literature to find out what has already been written about the topic they are interested in investigating. Both the opinions of experts in the field and other research studies are of interest. Such reading is referred to as a review of the literature" (2001, p. 48). Likewise, Gratton and Jones (2003) emphasize that a review of the relevant literature is an essential element in almost all types of research projects today. According to these authors, "No matter how original you think the research question may be, it is almost certain that your work will be building on the work of others. It is here that the review of such existing work is important" (p. 51). Such a review can help identify where additional research is needed as well. For instance, Gratton and Jones add that, "A literature review is the background to the research, where it is important to demonstrate a clear understanding of the relevant theories and concepts, the results of past research into the area, the types of methodologies and research designs employed in such research, and areas where the literature is deficient" (2003, p. 51).

Likewise, Silverman (2005, p. 300) suggests that a literature review should seek to answer the following questions:

What do we know about the topic?

What do we have to say critically about what is already known?

Has anyone else ever done anything exactly the same?

Has anyone else done anything that is related?

Where does your work fit in with what has gone before?

Why is your research worth doing in the light of what has already been done?

Finally, Wood and Ellis (2003) identified the following as important outcomes of a well conducted literature review:

It helps describe a topic of interest and refine either research questions or directions in which to look;

It presents a clear description and evaluation of the theories and concepts that have informed research into the topic of interest;

It clarifies the relationship to previous research and highlights where new research may contribute by identifying research possibilities which have been overlooked so far in the literature;

It provides insights into the topic of interest that are both methodological and substantive;

It demonstrates powers of critical analysis by, for instance, exposing taken for granted assumptions underpinning previous research and identifying the possibilities of replacing them with alternative assumptions;

It justifies any new research through a coherent critique of what has gone before and demonstrates why new research is both timely and important.

Data-gathering Method and Database of Study

The data-gathering method used for this study proceeded in a step-wise fashion, beginning with an exploration of general issues related to the need for diversity in law enforcement and what steps have been taken to effect these changes in recent years, proceeding to a more narrow focus on how these issues have played out for Asian-Americans and the Suffolk County municipalities in particular. The database of study consulted included both reliable online organizational and government resources, public and university libraries and online research sources such as EBSCO and Questia.

Chapter 4: Data Analysis

Introduction.

This chapter provides a statistical analysis of minority representation in municipal police departments in the United States today, followed by an analysis of the demographic composition of the United States in general and Suffolk County, Massachusetts in particular. The statistical data is presented in both tabular and graphic form to illustrate the dramatic differences in representation.

Minority Representation in Police Departments in the United States.

During 1987, 1990, and 1993, the U.S. Department of Justice conducted a comprehensive national survey of state and local law enforcement agencies that employed 100 or more police officers, known as the "Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics" (LEMAS) (Lott 2000). Two of the characteristics that emerged from this survey are particularly salient for the purposes of this study: (a) metropolitan police departments vary greatly in their racial and gender composition, and (b) there have been large increases in the proportion of black and women officers.

Tables 1 and 2 below illustrate these two issues, with Table 1 illustrating the distribution of the racial and gender composition of police departments and Table 2 examining the distribution of the change in the composition. The first table indicates that although the majorit of police departments in the United States continue to employ no blacks, Hispanics, or Asians, the range is large with the tenth and ninetieth percentile departments, respectively, employing 0% and 18% blacks. The diversity for women officers is not quite as large, ranging from 0% at the tenth percentile to 14% at the ninetieth (Lott 2000, p. 243).

Table 1.

The Race and Gender Composition of Police Departments

Sample for which Yearly

Demographic Estimates are available

Departments Median

90th Percentile

Category

Entire

Sample

Sample for Which Yearly

Demographic

Estimates are available

Entire

Sample

Sample for which Yearly

Demographic

Estimates are available of the police force that is Asian Pacific of the police force that is black of the police force that is Hispanic of the police force that is white of the police force that is male

Notes: The entire sample has 4,158 city / year observations for 1987, 1990 and 1993. The sample for which yearly demographic estimates are available from the Current Population Survey Contains 664 city/year observations: 204 Police Departments in 1987, 240 in 1990, 220 in 1993.

Source: Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics in Lott (2000) at p. 243

Table 2.

The Changing Racial Composition of Police Departments

Panel a: Changes in the Racial Composition of Police Departments With and Without Consent Decrees that Occurred from 1987 to 1993

Change at the 10th Percentile

Change at the Median

Change at the 90th Percentile

Category

No Consent

Decree

Consent

Decree

Percentage Point

Change in the % of the Police Force that is Asian Pacific

Percentage Point

Change in the % of the Police Force that is black

Percentage Point

Change in the % of the Police Force that is white

Panel B: Changes in the Sex Composition of Police Departments With and Without Consent Decrees From 1987 to 1993

Percentage Point

Change in the % of the Police Force that is male

Notes: Panel a in Table 2 breaks down the sample on the basis of the complete LEMAS Survey and those cities for which information on changing city demographics are available. The table shows the change in the racial and gender compositions of police departments. The entire sample contains 333 cities without consent decrees for which information is available for the same city for all three years. Twenty one cities with consent decrees meet this criterion. By contrast, the restricted sample that is used for the regressions contains 163 and 19 cities in these two categories, though it provides very similar results.

Panel B. In Table 2 again breaks down the sample on the basis of the complete LEMAS Survey and those cities for which information on changing city demographics are available. The entire sample contains 343 cities without consent decrees for which information is available for the same city for all three years. Fourteen cities with consent decrees meet this criterion. By contrast, the restricted sample that is used for the regressions contains 163 and 19 cities in these two categories, though it produces very similar results.

Source: Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics in Lott 2000 at p. 243

In the LEMAS sample, 189 cities had detailed employment data within each race category by sex for both 1987 and 1990. These cities employed 155,071 (or 40%) of the 387,534 sworn fulltime officers employed by local governments in 1990. As examples of the small number of officers in some of these subgroups, the number of male American Indian officers between 1987 and 1990 grew from 280 to 378 officers; for female American Indians, the change was from 47 to 91; and for female Asian-Americans, 83 to 203. Even Hispanic females, the next-largest category, saw an increase of only 378 officers. The number of male white officers, the only category to decline, fell by 6,912.

General Demographic Characteristics of the United States.

Table 3 below provides the July 2007 estimates of the general demographic composition of the United States which are portrayed graphically in Figure 5 below.

Table 3.

General Demographic Composition of the United States (July 2007 estimates).

Demographic Category

Percentage Composition

White

Black

Asian

Amerindian and Alaska native

Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander

Two or more races

Source: CIA World Factbook: The United States (2009).

Figure 5. General Demographic Composition of the United States (July 2007 estimates).

Source: Based on tabular data in CIA World Factbook: The United States (2009).

Demographic Characteristics of Cambridge/Suffolk/Metropolitan Area.

The 2000 U.S. census showed that there were 689,807 people, 278,722 households, and 139,082 families residing in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The population density of Suffolk County was 11,788 people per square mile (4,551/km2). The 2000 census also showed that there were about 292,520 housing units with an average density of 4,999 per square mile (1,930/km2). The racial composition of Suffolk County is shown in Table 4 and portrayed graphically in Figure 6 below.

Table 4.

Demographic Composition of Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

Demographic Category

Percentage Composition

White

Black

Asian

Amerindian and Alaska native

Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander

Two or more races

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2009).

Figure 6. Demographic composition of Suffolk County, Massachusetts as of 2000 Census.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

According to the results of the 2000 census, 66.3% of the citizens in Suffolk County spoke English, 14.5% Spanish, 3.1% French Creole, 2.4% Chinese or Mandarin, 2.2% Portuguese, 1.7% Vietnamese, 1.6% Italian and 1.3% French as their first language (United States Census Bureau 2009). As can be seen from the tables and figures above, Suffolk County, Massachusetts has a larger Asian-American population that the rest of the country. Based on the foregoing statistics, it is clear that while Asians comprise 4.43% of the American population and 7% of the population of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, the general representation of Asians in the nation's police forces remains woefully low at just 1.9%.

Chapter 5: Summary and Recommendations

Summary

The research showed that although some progress has been made in improving the representation of minority members in municipal police departments in recent years, their representation still falls far short of mirroring the demographic composition of the larger communities they serve. The research was also consistent in emphasizing the benefits that can accrue to a diverse workforce in general and to a diverse police department in particular, with the advantages including improved social equity considerations as well as more pragmatic benefits such as more effective policing techniques that can be achieved by minority police officers when confronted with criminal activity by other minority members. The research also showed that the demographic composition of the United States continues to change, and many demographers emphasize that the formerly white mainstream population will no longer be the majority segment of the population in the future and the multicultural nature of the country is not going to go away but is rather going to continue to accelerate into the 21st century. In this environment, identifying opportunities to improve the representation of minority members in the nation's police forces represents a timely and valuable enterprise, but there are a number of constraints that remain firmly in place that may adversely affect the ability of police departments to effect such changes in the near future. Nevertheless, things are changing in substantive ways. The country's first African-American chief executive sits in the White House today, and the United States now has its first female secretary of state. Indeed, things are changing but more remains to be done to transform the country's law enforcement community into a true reflection of the communities they serve.

Recommendations

Taken together, the foregoing results suggest that there are some substantive steps that police departments across the country can take in order to improve the recruitment and representation of minority members in their ranks. In this regard, the following recommendations are provided:

Implement cultural diversity training to help raise awareness of the contributions that minority members can make in the day-to-day accomplishment of the goals of all police departments.

Provide "survival" language instruction in the languages of the minority communities typically encountered by police departments to help improve the ability of all police officers to conduct routine investigations, interrogations and to assist victims of crime.

Identify opportunities for improving the recruitment of minority members into the police ranks by conducting periodic surveys of the demographic composition of the larger communities served by police departments, including what aspects of law enforcement are deemed most desirable by such minority members as well as what aspects are considered to be least desirable.