Patriot News
HARRISBURG, Penn. — A decade ago, Susquehanna Twp. police had one minority police officer, a black man, on its roster.
Today, the department employs five black and two Hispanic officers. Of the department’s last seven hires, six have been minorities.
In the past few years, Susquehanna Twp. officers have visited traditionally black churches, beauty salons, barber shops and community centers to recruit minorities.
Now neighboring Lower Paxton Twp., which has only one black officer, is trying to reach out to minorities.
The township is starting a preparation course designed to help minority applicants in preparing for the police hiring process. The course includes information on how to apply and on physical agility requirements, the written exam, the oral interview and the background investigation.
“We’re not getting a significant number of minority applicants,” Lower Paxton police Lt. David Johnson said. “Maybe they aren’t applying because they don’t know what to expect or they feel they wouldn’t be competitive.
“Our hope in doing this is to give people an idea of what to expect and give them some insights into what the job entails,” Johnson said.
Getting enough minority police recruits isn’t just a local problem, law enforcement experts said.
Departments across the country are finding fewer and fewer young people, particularly minorities, interested in police work, which is often high-stress and doesn’t always offer the same salary and daylight working hours as jobs in the private sector.
In addition, minority police officers are being recruited by other departments. Lower Paxton has had its officers contacted by representatives from departments in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Johnson said.
Harrisburg has felt the pressure, too.
“Some officers have received solicitations as far away as Los Angeles,” Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed said.
Harrisburg police send mailings to traditionally black churches, universities and colleges, Reed said. The mayor said the city has had some success recruiting minority police officers, though city officials were not able to provide figures of minority staffing levels when requested by The Patriot-News last week.
A lot of smaller departments don’t have the resources to recruit minority applicants. Those departments can pick only from the highest-scoring applicants in Act 120 training through the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission, East Pennsboro Twp. police Chief Dennis McMaster said.
East Pennsboro Twp. does not have any black or Hispanic officers, McMaster said. But it does have a woman on its 19-officer roster, he said.
Many police departments have targeted efforts in recruiting Hispanic candidates. Such officers can be helpful to communicate with Spanish-speaking victims and suspects. Lower Paxton uses the police chief’s assistant, a civilian, to translate.
Other departments seek bilingual officers from neighboring departments.
“The face of any police department should mirror the community it serves,” Susquehanna Twp. police Chief Robert A. Martin said. “The United States is a very diverse nation. We have to be a replica of who we police.”
Copyright 2009 Patriot News