The now infamous killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis has again put sharp focus on the wide disparities of race and ethnicity in the makeup of most local police forces from the communities they safeguard \u2013 including those in Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n
At nearly all of the Connecticut\u2019s larger municipalities there is a yawning gulf between the ethnic and racial makeup of the police departments and the populations of the communities they serve. The disparities have changed little since the CT Mirror first documented them in 2014 after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.<\/p>\n\n\n
In Hartford, only about 11.5 % percent of the police department is black, while the city has a 36% black population. About 35% of Danbury\u2019s population is Latino, but only 9% of its police officers claim that ethnicity. And roughly 11.4% of Meriden\u2019s population is black, but only about 3.4% of its police officers are African-American.<\/p>\n\n\n
The Bridgeport Police Department did not respond to requests for information about the current racial and ethnic makeup of its force but, in 2014, the population of Connecticut\u2019s largest city was 35% black, compared to 15% of its police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In New Britain, however, 9.6 % of its police force is African American, nearly matching the population rate of African-Americans in the city. New Britain Police Chief Christopher Chute, a 22-year veteran of the force, is proud of that, but says he\u2019d like to boost the numbers of Latinos in his ranks. \u201cWe really need more Hispanics to apply,\u201d Chute said.<\/p>\n\n\n
While the population of New Britain is more than 45% Latino, only 11.5% of its police force is Hispanic.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\u201cRecruiting is one of the most difficult things in 2020,\u201d Chute said, not only for minority officers but \u201cacross the board.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a steady decline in applications and we don\u2019t have all the answers why,\u201d Chute said. He said negative publicity may have dampened enthusiasm for a career in law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n
Since he\u2019d like his police force to reflect his community, Chute said he aggressively tries to recruit minority candidates, first from the town and then at other venues including sites across the state that hold the CHIP Physical Ability Assessment used in Connecticut to determine whether an applicant is physically fit for a policing job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe set up a booth right at the site,\u201d Chute said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Besides passing the CHIP test, applicants for Connecticut\u2019s municipal police forces must pass a written test, polygraph exam, background check, psychological evaluation and medical exam.<\/p>\n\n\n
But the rigorous application process is not usually a problem, Chute said.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe problem is we need to get them in the door first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Retention is also not a problem, Chute said, since the New Britain Police Department offers personnel the opportunity to retire with a state pension.<\/p>\n\n\n
Many small police forces say their officers are lured away to large, city departments that can offer better pay and benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n
Experts say<\/a> that increasing the ranks of minority officers alone won\u2019t solve all the underlying problems of police brutality. But they also say diversity could help strengthen ties between local police and the communities on their beat.<\/p>\n\n\n Daryl McGraw, co-chair of the Police Accountability Task Force, said the disconnect between urban communities and their police forces make residents feel like being in prison. Police \u201cact like guards instead of being part of the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n McGraw said police should ideally be recruited from the communities they serve, which would naturally lead not only to a more accurate reflection of its racial composition, but also to a deeper knowledge of the people and places they work to protect.<\/p>\n\n\n Like Chute, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said it\u2019s been hard to recruit new officers in the past few years, whether they be white, black or Hispanic.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a career that\u2019s desired right now,\u201d Spagnolo said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of negative stories and negative sentiment about the police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Yet Spagnolo said having a diverse force is important and he\u2019s made outreach to the local NAACP, faith based leaders and put up a tent \u2014 for 16 hours \u2014 at \u201cThe Gathering\u201d a multicultural event Waterbury holds every year. Those recruitment efforts may have had some success because Spagnolo said about 40% of the applicants in his last recruitment drive were minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cOur goal is to have a police force that reflects the community it serves,\u201d Spagnolo said.<\/p>\n\n\n He said a diverse force may not be the cure-all to bad policing \u2014 he believes training is central to good policing \u2014 but said diversity helps police understand cultural issues and foster closer ties with multi-racial and multi-cultural communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said his \u201cprogressive\u201d force already undergoes \u201cimplicit bias training\u201d and \u201cde-escalation training,\u201d and is considering adding anti-racism training to the curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n As far as reforms, Spagnolo said some may be needed and the federal government should tie policing grants to mandatory training and other requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cPolicing is going through a very drastic change,\u201d Spagnolo said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very volatile situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n A number of factors are slowing progress in addressing an imbalance that dates back generations, including the lack of appeal a policing job holds for many minority youth \u2014<\/strong> especially because there is evidence blacks and Hispanics are more likely to suffer violence at the hands of police officers.<\/p>\n\n\n The racial imbalance is not by any means apparent only in Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n A 2016 survey by the Justice Department\u2019s Bureau of Justice Statistics,<\/a> the latest available of most of the nation\u2019s police departments and sheriff\u2019s offices, found that, nationwide overall, one in four officers, and one in five first-line supervisors, were black or Hispanic. Since measures of the nation\u2019s population range from about 12.4%- 13.4% black<\/a> and 17-18.3% Latino \u2014 some 30-32% minority \u2014 the disparity between the minority composition of police nationally and of the nation\u2019s population seems not that wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number of minority officers is not uniformly distributed, however. The balance of races and ethnicity is most reflective of the nation\u2019s population in the largest cities of half a million inhabitants or more, according to the BJS study<\/a>. The proportion of black and Hispanic officers in smaller municipalities dropped significantly the smaller the population of the community. In towns that had between 50,000 and 25,000 residents, for instance, the average was 87% percent white officers, 6% black officers and 5.2% Latino officers. Over time nationally, the percentage of black officers has been relatively static at about 11%, the BJS study said. The percentage of Hispanic officers increased slightly from nearly 8% in 1997 to more than 12% in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n In Minneapolis, the city of about 430,000 people where George Floyd was killed on Memorial Day, 20% of the city\u2019s police force are minority officers while about 39% of the city\u2019s population is black and Hispanic.<\/p>\n\n\n Since demonstrations erupted to protest Floyd\u2019s death and the larger problem of police brutality, several of Connecticut\u2019s police chiefs have expressed sympathy with the protesters, including Norwalk Police Chief Thomas E. Kulhawik. He went out to greet between 400 to 500 demonstrators who marched from I-95 to his station last Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n Kulhawik said he knew many of the marchers who \u201cran the gamut\u2019\u201d in age, race and ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cOur message was that we heard their issues and we understood,\u201d Kulhawik said. The chief also said recruiting minority officers had been difficult when the economy was booming before the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cWhen the economy is good there are a lot of options to policing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n McGraw, of the Police Transparency and Accountability Task Force, said the effort to diversify police through recruitment should be grounded in a push to \u201cmake being a police officer attractive (to minorities) again\u201d by changing the culture. He believes that police training should be reformed from the ground up to emphasize problem solving and communication and de-emphasize the use of force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe weapon should be the last resort,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n In addition, McGraw said that much more stringent accountability measures should be established. \u201cTaking a human being\u2019s life should be very difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be you can kill somebody and show up for work tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n John DeCarlo, a professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven and the former police chief of Branford, said \u201cpolice that look exactly like their community will get a better results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n But a diverse police force may not always mean less abusive behavior. DeCarlo cited a university study that found black police officers were more likely than white officers to use a taser on black suspects. <\/p>\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have an explanation for that,\u201d DeCarlo said.<\/p>\n\n\n In 2015, the Journal of Criminal Justice Education published the most comprehensive study on law enforcement and higher education to date. One major finding was that police officers with college degrees are less likely to use force against citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n The study<\/a> said college graduates are used to solving problems and debating issues, and \u201cmight not like the old school, by-the-book mentality of many police administrators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Co-author William Terrill<\/a>, who conducted the study as a criminologist at Michigan State University<\/a>, said today\u2019s policing is much more about social work than it is law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s about resolving low-level disputes, dealing with loiterers and so on,\u201d he said, and that officers with experience in psychology, sociology and other college-taught disciplines might be more adept at addressing these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n As police chief in Branford, DeCarlo said he urged minority youth in the town to join his force, \u201cbut there just weren\u2019t that many black families in Branford.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n He said police chiefs are reaching out to black youth, saying \u201ccome on down and let\u2019s make you an officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cBut young black men don\u2019t want to be a police officer,\u201d DeCarlo said. \u201cWith all [the violence] that seems to be happening, it\u2019s not aspirational to be a police officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n To DeCarlo, education and training are ultimately what makes the difference when it comes to good policing. He said officers with a college education have proven to be less likely to use force.<\/p>\n\n\n Still, there should always be a push for diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cPolice departments should definitely mirror the makeup of their communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Cover picture: A woman raises her fist behind a line of police chiefs from around the state at a mock funeral at the state Capitol in Hartford for George Floyd.)<\/p>\n\n\nChanging the culture<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
Policing \u2018not aspirational\u2019 for black youth<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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