Affirmative Action in Policing

Dennis Kenney

Throughout the past 150 years, the police and many of the communities they serve have struggled with a history of tension and conflict, often fueled by allegations that officers target and harass racial minorities while failing to root out racist attitudes and practices within their own ranks. Recent highprofile cases such as the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles and the assault on Abner Louima in New York have served only to heighten concerns. Internally, it remains true that most American law enforcement agencies do not accurately reflect the communities that they serve. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that as of 1997, only 6% of all fulltime sworn police department employees were women, 12% were African American, 8% were Hispanic, and 2% were from other ethnic backgrounds. Comparatively, women comprise 46.5% of the U.S. population. African Americans or Black Americans comprise more than 12% of the population, and ...

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