Leaders Call for More Diversity in Law Enforcement Leadership in RI
Sunday, March 15, 2015
African-American leaders in the state are calling for more diversity the leadership ranks in law enforcement in Rhode Island, following a study that shows African American and Latinos represent less than 5% of supervisory positions within law enforcement.
"Providence police do not have a black officer above the rank of Sergeant and they have just one black female -- period," said Jim Vincent, President of the Providence NAACP branch. "The lack of diversity makes those jobs for those officers harder. We see what happens when there's not a diversity in leadership -- Ferguson is a prime example."
"It is correct that there is presently no African American in the Command Staff above the rank of Sergeant. The promotional procedures for Detective Patrolman, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain are strictly bound pursuant the Collective Bargaining Agreement language," said Providence Chief of Police Hugh Clements. "There are ongoing talks with the FOP to amend our promotional processes."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"It's a matter of recruitment," said Vincent. "We've been working with a number of departments over the years. We have a good relationship with them, we know it's challenging, but it has to be done."
The National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officials, who recently conducted a study of the recruitment methodologies in use by Rhode Island law enforcement agencies, found that African American and Latino officers combined make up 13% of the total reported law enforcement positions currently employed -- and less than 5% of the total supervisory positions within law enforcement, with only two persons of color ranked above Captain.
"These are a significant numbers," said Charles Wilson, NABLEO National Chairman. "We have found they are recruiting at us, not for us. We are not in any way attempting to attack the law enforcement community in Rhode Island. What we're saying the results of the study found areas we believe require some significant change in methods of recruitment. "
"We reached out to all 51 of the agencies listed under RI General Law as having arrest, arrest, search, and seizure powers, heard back from 39, and could use 36 of the responses -- three were incomplete," said Wilson of the methodology. "A proposal is going to be given to my board to replicate this study on a multi-state basis. We know were having the same issues in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. I just took a a phone call from a gentleman in Maryland today. They're having these issues all across the country -- and obviously, they have them in Missouri."
The study found a number of areas of need that NABLEO addressed in its findings.
"Publication and distribution of recruiting information appears to address only those areas that are endemic to the community the agency represents, rather than those demographic areas in which African American and Latino candidates are more readily found. Inadequate levels of contact and outreach efforts made to, and with, significantly important core constituencies in communities of color for the purposes of informational transmission," stated NABLEO.
"The results of this study may have a dynamic impact on both the manner in which future police recruiting is conducted and police-community relationships as we know them today. These results should not, however, be construed to reflect the failures of law enforcement, but rather highlight those areas in need of improvement, missed opportunities, and suggest more creative and innovative methodologies, in order to make the recruiting process more viable and transparent," continued NABLEO.
Fire Departments
Vincent said he also had concerns about the diversity of fire departments in the state.
"I know we don't talk much about fire, but there's a value there as well to have people from our communities employed in those jobs as well," said Vincent.
The Office of Cranston Mayor Allan Fung noted that the city is actively addressing the issue of diversity in the fire ranks -- which Vincent said is "100% white male."
“There has been concern about the lack of diversity in the Cranston Fire Department. In 2012, Fire Chief McKenna and members of the department engaged in a broad based recruiting effort that included in-person presentations at local schools and community centers to encourage minority applicants. Despite those efforts, none of the minority candidates successfully completed the process to become members of the Cranston Fire Department," said Carlos Lopez, Chief of Staff for Cranston Mayor Allan Fung. "Currently, several women work as civilian employees of the department and we have asked Jim Vincent and other leaders of the minority community to assist in our next recruitment effort. Later this Spring, we again will reach out to community-based organizations to get the word out that the Cranston Fire Department is looking for good candidates and that diversity is an important goal.”
In Providence, Fire Chief Clarence Cunha addressed gender and racial diversity in the ranks.
"We have a Rescue Captain who's female, a Fire Alarm Captain who's female, and three Rescue Lieutenants that are female," said Cunha. "We have a fire alarm captain captain of color who's retiring, we have 2 rescue lieutenants of color, and an acting lieutenant who's Asian."
"We're in favor of diversity. We want to be able to look like our community -- that's how all departments should look," said Cunha. "But to be fair, a community might look a certain way at a certain date, then the community can change, so there can be some lag time. Oftentimes, it will take another few years to realize how the department will mirror the community. It's not for lack of trying, it just takes time. And we still have a lot of work to do."
Community Partnerships
Providence Chief of Police Clements commented on the increased diversity in the most recent graduating classes.
"The 67th Providence Police Academy last fall was the most diversified graduating class in the history of the Providence Police Department. We recognize the importance of having a police force more reflective of the community that we serve. With that in focus, we greatly expanded our recruitment efforts to satisfy our department needs," said Clements. "We strongly relied on our community partners in conjunction with Cheryl Burrell, the State Diversity Administrator and her expert staff. We were very satisfied that the 67th Academy increased diversity in the ranks, but we know our efforts need to continue. In meetings since this Academy class, we continue to discuss other methods we can utilize to expand on our goals."
On April 17, NABLEO in partnership with the Providence Branch NAACP and the Roger Williams University School of Continuing Studies will present a program entitled “Identifying Barriers To Diversity in Law Enforcement: A Community Affair” to the Rhode Island law enforcement community and their community-based partners, in an effort to promote stronger methods for the recruitment of candidates of color for positions within the law enforcement profession.
According to NABLEO, the training will seek to assist agencies and community partners in identifying those issues which appear problematic and prepare action plans for correcting deficiencies in current recruitment programs.
For more information on the program, go here.
"I recognize there are agencies like Providence and the State Police that have done a huge job already," said Wilson. "However, the results of that study shows us what still needs to be done."
Related Slideshow: The Most and Least Diverse High Schools in Rhode Island
The data below reflects the 2012-13 academic year as provided by the Rhode Island Dept of Education. Values have been rounded to the nearest whole percent.
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