Police Departments’ Diversity Hiring Practices

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Article 1
Article 2
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Hiring and diversity of the police force have become a critical social issue in recent years and serve as a key step in improving police-community relations. As minorities, and later women, joined the force towards the latter half of the 20th century, they faced discrimination and secondary roles. Although there are officers of all representations currently, the force remains predominately white, which has caused tension within some communities, not only because of race differences but practices employed. Therefore, in the future, police leaders are faced with the unique challenge of diversifying the force and employees while maintaining high standards of service quality and sustainable community relations.

Article 1

The first article by Donohue (2019) is titled Shades of Blue: A review of the hiring, recruitment, and selection of female and minority police officers. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the evidence available on the recruitment practices of these minority groups into police and determine if there are any trends or gaps in knowledge. Furthermore, the article seeks to identify if certain limitations prevent forming a diverse workforce, requiring intervention at the policy level. The findings emerge with four thematic areas which impact minority recruitment. These are organizational predictors, motivations and attitudes, the effectiveness of hiring strategies, and obstacles in the screening process (Donohue, 2019). Despite a range of studies with different methodology and approaches, these key themes were consistently present, sometimes intermixed, but evidence generally supported these outcomes.

A theoretical foundation highlighted by Donohue is the theory of representative bureaucracy. It suggests that a public workforce that is inclusive of all people in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender representation will ensure that all groups’ interests are considered in critical decision-making processes (Vinopal, 2019). It essentially emphasizes that public organizations must mirror the communities they serve. In examining police agencies, elements of representative bureaucracy could impact department demographics. These include agency size and education requirements, representation of minorities in leadership and managerial positions, as well as representation in public roles (Donohue, 2019). Therefore, generating a perspective of diversity in police departments makes it more likely to attract minority and women candidates, allowing to make true diversity a reality.

The findings indicate that both internal and external influences directly impact law enforcement in their efforts to hire and select officers. Some of these aspects are clearly seen, such as the presence of CALEA certification is directly correlated to the hiring of female and minority candidates. It serves as an agency strategy to counter specific external influences such as local communities’ demographic makeups outside their control. Other elements are internal barriers that stem from leadership, structural procedures, cultural influences, and motivational differences. This article’s overarching theme indicates the comprehensive nature of factors both internally and externally that drive recruitment, and they should be addressed.

Article 2

The second article by Gibbs (2019) is titled, Diversifying the police applicant pool: motivations of women and minority candidates seeking police employment. Due to relatively limited literature on the topic of motivations for employment, the study aims to provide relevant view on what drives minorities and women to apply to police departments. In turn, understanding this can allow implementing functional changes in recruitment strategies of police departments to focus on these motivations and drive applicant interest. Although not explicitly discussed, Gibbs (2019) focuses on the motivations aspect as it is theoretically a critical element of the workplace both for potential and existing employees. There is intrinsic motivation, where behavior is driven by internal satisfaction; essentially, a person seeks to challenge themselves or attain self-fulfillment. Extrinsic motivation or behavior is associated with external rewards such as salary, benefits, or career growth.

Typically, employees have a combination of these motivations. Nevertheless, motivation is critical in identifying why people want to join an organization, and workplaces should aim to maintain that motivation as it can significantly impact the workforce. Motivation is associated with employee satisfaction, better performance, and lower turnover rates (Mahmoud et al., 2020). Gibbs (2019) notes that archaic literature emphasizes that motivations for joining the police force included job security, benefits, and a stable salary. However, in the contemporary realities, this has changed; while those extrinsic motivations may still play an influence, they are often not the primary motivator for women and minorities.

In the study, Gibbs (2019) conducted an open-ended interview with minority and women police candidates. The results presented a much broader picture. Common motivators were joining the police as a career dream and seeking to make a difference in society. Opportunities to help others, being a positive role model, and protecting those who could not defend themselves were also important motivators. While other factors played a role, such as a criminal justice education or military background, family legacy, and general recruitment strategies at career fairs, it is important to note that salary and job security were at the bottom of the reasons for joining. This data has an implication for leadership and police recruitment strategies. As departments seek to actively diversify and attract female and minority candidates, the highlighted motivators driving the racial and gender minorities should be used to shape and focus recruitment strategies. Meaning, that recruitment approaches specifically targeted at these populations, emphasizing the embodied values of helping others and making a difference, rather than material benefits, can potentially have greater success in attracting candidates and diversifying the force in the long-term.

Discussion

Both Donohue (2019) and Gibbs (2019) are aimed at discussing the importance of diversity in the police force. Across both articles, there are similar arguments regarding the necessity of such diversity, increasing effectiveness, positive culture, and community relations of police departments. However, where the authors differ is in their approaches. Donohue (2019) presents a more systemic overview, focusing on external factors, organizational challenges, and process requirements. However, notably, motivations and attitudes are also a major category discussed, which is the central concept of the article by Gibbs. Both authors highlight that women and minority applicants’ motivations are different from that of traditional white male officers. Motivations may also shift based on individual race or gender, background, as well as geographical location.

Further the article the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators of candidates. The author recommends policy changes in recruitment to focus on public messaging around the social factors of policing, such as helping others and community outreach, with community policing philosophy driving the recruitment of minorities and women. Meanwhile, Donohue (2019) calls for policy changes on a more systemic level, such as shifting the recruiting climate and organizational barriers to hiring minority candidates. Gibbs touches on this, suggesting that implicit biases should be removed from the hiring processes so that when there is motivation from the minority candidates, they are not disparaged by seemingly discriminatory attitudes. Donohue (2019) emphasizes examining and changing the environment and operational climate within departments, implementing programs such as affirmative action and CALEA accreditation, and reviewing internal hiring and evaluation practices. Inclusivity is vital to diversity, which in turn presents numerous benefits to the growth of the police force. As written in Colossians 3:11, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” – all humans are included under God, so the same efforts should be made to encompass all social groups in the public police workforce (King James Bible, 1987).

Sharing similarities and differences, these articles have solid implications for police leadership. Particularly, the role of police leaders in strongly reevaluating their hiring programs within the community while assessing attitudes within the respective departments to create environments that are friendly to women and minorities. There is an emphasis that recruitment should go beyond extrinsic factors of job security and stability that police may offer but consider many of the intrinsic factors and motivators which would drive candidates that are interested in police reform and working with the community within the contemporary context where law enforcement has a negative reputation. Leadership is fundamental to police change as a public workforce and can be a driving force and role model for making positive systematic improvements. Therefore, appropriate training and education to increase competencies are needed.

Conclusion

This paper examined the literature on the diversity of police departments and recruitment practices to attract minority and female candidates while also highlighting some of the key challenges. It is evident that greater diversity is needed for a successful law enforcement agency to engage with the community and be a solution to social issues, not its instigator. However, a tremendous burden lies on the leadership of the local and broader police authority, having to balance competent diversity policy with the standards and potentially other requirements of the departments. At the same time, both external and internal factors identified influencing the successful recruitment of minorities are difficult to pinpoint in practice and address systematically.

References

Donohue, R. H. (2019). Shades of Blue: A review of the hiring, recruitment, and selection of female and minority police officers.The Social Science Journal, 58(4), 484-498. Web.

Gibbs, J. C. (2019). Diversifying the police applicant pool: Motivations of women and minority candidates seeking police employment.Criminal Justice Studies, 32(3), 207–221. Web.

King James Bible. (1987). King James Version online. (Original work published 1611). Web.

Mahmoud, A. B., Fuxman, L., Mohr, I., Reisel, W. D., & Grigoriou, N. (2020). “We aren’t your reincarnation!” workplace motivation across X, Y and Z generations.International Journal of Manpower, 42(1), 193–209. Web.

Vinopal, K. (2019). Socioeconomic representation: Expanding the theory of representative bureaucracy.Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 30(2), 187-201. Web.

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