NYPD chief Bratton says hiring black officers is difficult: 'So many have spent time in jail'

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Hiring more non-white officers is difficult because so many would-be recruits have criminal records, the New York police commissioner, Bill Bratton, has said.
Life as a black cop: caught between love for the NYPD and the people they serve
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“We have a significant population gap among African American males because so many of them have spent time in jail and, as such, we can’t hire them,” Bratton said in an interview with the Guardian.

Police departments, responding to widespread protests against several high-profile police killings of black men, are boosting efforts to recruit more non-white officers. But budget restrictions, strained relations between police and minority communities and, according to Bratton, a history of indiscriminate policing tactics that disproportionately target black and Latino men complicate the department’s goal of racial parity.

Bratton blamed the “unfortunate consequences” of an explosion in “stop, question and frisk” incidents that caught many young men of color in the net. As a result, Bratton said, the “population pool (of eligible non-white officers) is much smaller than it might ordinarily have been”.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/bratton-hiring-black-nypd-officers-criminal-records

[Solly Mack]

1. "a history of indiscriminate policing tactics that disproportionately target black and Latino men...

men complicate the department’s goal of racial parity."

Gee, almost like it was by design.

[Kelvin Mace]

13. Personally, I think their "goal"

is purity, not parity.

[msongs]

2. yes but that's balanced out by so many cops who should be spending time in jail..behind bars nt

[unblock]

3. spending time in jail should be part of their basic training.

i'd bet 24 hours in jail during training would do most police departments a world of good.

[bravenak]

4. Duh. That was the point of putting so many in jail.

[snooper2]

5. Not going to make a difference, doesn't matter white, black, grey, male, female

They all do the same fucked up shit-

They have to change the culture across the board and have body cameras on every single fucking one-


Fire Marshall Shuts Down Officer Who Attempts To Violate His Rights

[madville]

7. I spent a bunch of time in police departments and sheriffs offices

with my previous tech job. You are 100% right, hiring more black or latino officers is not an answer, it's the culture of policing. Black and Hispanic cops dislike the same "thugs" and criminals that white officers dislike, sometimes much more, their race or ethnicity doesn't change that mentality.

[LeftyMom]

11. Actually the easiest way to reduce force complaints would be to hire more women.

Police violence is a disproportionately male problem, women officers have much lower rates of complaints and payouts.

[Sunlei]

16. Fire Marshall video is very good!

[frylock]

6. mission accomplished

[brooklynite]

8. Perhaps it's better to hire the ones with prison time before.....

.....than to hire the ones with prison time after.

[Fumesucker]

9. No one could have predicted that...

That a history of indiscriminate policing tactics that disproportionately target black and Latino men would complicate the department’s goal of racial parity.

[Rex]

10. Wait...wasn't that the entire point of 'racial profiling' that they did and still do, for decades?

NO SHIT. I wonder why.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. "Life as a black cop"

The below song was famous 22 years ago -

At this point, the race of the officer has increasingly become irrelevant as whole departments are trained and brainwashed to shoot blacks on sight. When you have mug shots of only blacks used for their training target practice, then there is a problem.

And the cycle of life continues to turn...

[Puzzledtraveller]

14. I had a DUI conviction and was still hired on my PD

That was in 2006 and the conviction was in 1994. I am no longer a police officer but only due to getting burnt out and wanting to do something different.

[graegoyle]

15. "a history of indiscriminate policing tactics that disproportionately target black and Latino men...

Does no one else see the oxymoron/irony/stupidity of that statement? Indiscriminate discrimination?