Shouldn't police represent the community in the hiring numbers?

the sacrificial lamb....nt

And qualifications. Or, in many cases, disqualifications.

Take where I live. 30 college credits or 2 years military service--AA are slightly overrepresented for military, but underrepresented for college enrollment. No drug use. Good credit. And pass a battery of tests (some of which are almost certainly psych).



Note that the demographics have shifted in the last 10 years. The police force still largely looks like the area did 20 years ago. And this we're stuck with in the interests of fairness and equity. Firing somebody because their skin doesn't look quite right is no better than hiring or firing somebody because of skin color.

Most police academies require recruits to have at least an associates degree. 44% of the white population has at least an associates degree, but only 29% of African Americans and 21% of Latinos.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_RFA.asp

I think the imperative is balancing the % of community to the police identity. Not saying that this is a perfect correlation, but it might be better for community relations.

You can also make a point of getting law enforcement training into the community colleges and encourage local high school students to consider it as a profession. (They still have Career Day, don't they?) Talk up the requirements, be real about it.

Local public high schools should be representative of the community, and percentages of POC applicants and trainees should rise accordingly.

Oh for those bygone days when we at least tried.

Yet, here we are....

require consideration of all eligible candidates/applicants equally. What happens is that systematic elimination of anything but white applicants for a majority of positions available which also includes obvious cheating. If it's exams that they have to take for promotions or getting the job in the first place, it's rarely representative in the end.