Minority officers want more diversity
Urge councilors to press Menino
A group of minority police officers wants Boston city councilors to put pressure on Mayor Thomas Menino to promote more members of minority groups as supervisors and in specialized units after promises were made last year to diversify the department’s ranks.
The City Council has scheduled a hearing today on police diversity, and minority officers are promising to crowd the chambers.
“We aren’t further along than when we started,’’ said Larry Ellison, president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers. “We need more action now and less talk.’’
The hearing comes after a vow last year by Police Commissioner Edward Davis to diversify command staff and after a recent string of homicides in minority neighborhoods where investigators say witnesses are not cooperating. Ellison said a lack of minority officers in specialized units, especially as supervisors, is one of many factors hurting police in their efforts to prevent homicides.
The Rev. Bruce Wall of Global Ministries Christian Church in Dorchester said many of the minority police officers come from the neighborhoods where the crimes occur and should have a better presence in supervisory positions to help fight crime.
Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the command staff is the most diversified in the department’s history.
According to department numbers, minorities make up around 40 percent of its command staff. However, numbers also show that only about 16 percent of the department’s 164 sergeants are black or Latino. In addition, the department has only a handful of minorities as supervisors in specialized units like gang and homicide.
Driscoll added the department has to follow changes in law and court decisions that could affect hiring practices.
“A balance between diversity and merit can be difficult to achieve when constrained by state law and ever-changing constitutional decisions,’’ Driscoll said. “However, Commissioner Davis is committed to diversity by being reflective of the community that we serve at every level of the organization.’’
Census estimates show minorities account for around 50 percent of the city’s residents.
Today’s hearing is just the latest fight between Menino and the minority law enforcement officers’ association. For months, the group has asked the department to change requirements concerning tests for promotions. The group has said supervisory positions continue to go to a few “insiders’’ without minority officers having the chance to fairly compete for the jobs.
In October, the 300-member group cast a no-confidence vote after they accused Menino’s reelection campaign of warning them to tone down criticism or face negative consequences, a charge the campaign denied.
The group has become more vocal after a number of gangrelated homicides and shootings in Roxbury. Menino has reached out to black ministers in an effort to help rally community members to cooperate with police. Ellison said Menino could instead reach out to minority police officers. “The ministers don’t call us to do baptisms,’’ said Ellison. “We know policing. We know these neighborhoods and we can help.’’
Jose Lozano, the group’s vice president, said Davis has shown a willingness to make improvements. But he said the department is moving too slowly.
Carmelo Ayuso, president of the Massachusetts Minority State Police Officers’ Association Inc., said members of his group will attend the hearing in support of Boston minority officers. But he said Boston is not the only department lacking black and Latino officers in high-ranking positions. “It’s a problem all over,’’ Ayuso said.
