Week 5_DQ_1

Prior to beginning work on this discussion read Chapter 14 in your textbook and the article on racial balance in the New Orleans Police Department. Research a minimum of two additional scholarly and/or professional sources on recruitment strategies for law enforcement personnel. (Access the MSCJ Professional Sources guide for assistance with finding appropriate resources.)

As outlined in the article, after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the Associated Press analyzed police forces across the country to determine the racial balance of law enforcement with the communities they protect and serve. The analysis indicated that the hiring of black officers has improved in general. However, this is not the case for primarily Hispanic populated communities. There are 49 communities across the country that are largely Hispanic, yet the police forces of these communities employ more than 50 percent white officers.

As indicated by Attorney General Holder, police departments should reflect the communities they serve in terms of the racial balance. Clearly, police departments in at least 49 communities in the United States need to recruit more Hispanic officers to balance their departments. Even diverse police departments can still be found to be discriminatory. This was the case for the New Orleans Police Department which, although it was found to have the greatest racial balance with its residents, was still found to be discriminating against African-Americans by the Justice Department in 2012.

Utilize your required and researched sources to create an initial post that assesses the impact of human resources issues by proposing recruitment strategies to hire Hispanic law enforcement officers in at least one community of your choice that has a large Hispanic population. Include at least three strategies for your chosen community.