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Police Departments Don't Reflect The Racial Diversity Of Their Cities
Pittsburgh’s police force is at loggerheads with the city it serves. Since 1902, the city has required police officers to live within the city limits, but an arbitration panel recently ruled in favor of allowing officers to live within 25 air miles of downtown. City officials want the requirement to remain in place, as do the people of Pittsburgh, who voted overwhelmingly in a referendum last year to keep it.
Residency requirements are hugely unpopular among police officers in Pittsburgh and in other cities with similar rules. Many cities and states have contested the constitutionality of these strictures on the grounds that they violate freedom of travel and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Even where they are in place, they are routinely flouted. Today, only 15 of America’s largest police departments have a strict residency requirement for police officers, and a majority of cops live outside the cities they serve.1
Residency requirements for police officers have long been tied to better relations between cops and the communities they’re meant to protect. They continue to be seen by activists and politicians as a social good, part of the struggle to improve police force diversity.
Residency requirements are hugely unpopular among police officers in Pittsburgh and in other cities with similar rules. Many cities and states have contested the constitutionality of these strictures on the grounds that they violate freedom of travel and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Even where they are in place, they are routinely flouted. Today, only 15 of America’s largest police departments have a strict residency requirement for police officers, and a majority of cops live outside the cities they serve.1
Residency requirements for police officers have long been tied to better relations between cops and the communities they’re meant to protect. They continue to be seen by activists and politicians as a social good, part of the struggle to improve police force diversity.
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It goes deeper than residence requirements I believe. How many are applying to the academy, graduating, applying? How long are they staying if hired before going on to other areas that perhaps pay more? Is anything being done to make a life in law enforcement attractive to ethnic groups?
ReplyDeleteQuestions and more questions.