Tuesday, March 01, 2016

We're the Only Ones Diverse Enough

A veteran state trooper alleges in a whistleblower lawsuit she was retaliated against by her superiors after raising objections that police academy background checks were compromised because of pressure to increase racial diversity among State Police ranks. [More]
But "background checks" are demanded for us by the "Only Ones" über alles crowd...

[Via Keith B]

3 comments:

Old 1811 said...

Apples and oranges.
If you want to see the importance of background checks for police, and what happens when they're compromised for political reasons, look into the early 80s Miami PD "river cops" scandal. Because of the push to put warm bodies in blue uniforms, Miami ended up with a police force so corrupt (allegedly 10% of the department) that citizens were officially told, "If someone comes to your door claiming to be a Miami police officer, call 911 to make sure he really is one, AND to make sure he is really on duty and is really answering a legitimate call."

Chas said...

Background checks on, background checks off. It's a toggle switch that's used both ways for political purposes.

Millwright said...

As a life-long NJ resident I can attest the NJSP's "internal issues" aren't new. Having both family , social and professional contact with the NJSP spanning decades I'll be the first to admit the organization has its problems. And, yes, "racial, ethnic and gender diversity" is one most outside observers with an agenda cite. But, IMO, these are but one symptom of an organizational malaise seeded in its formation by the father of Gen. "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf. Perhaps the best indicator of this illness is also its most visible, the "Class A Dress Uniform" of the NJSP.
http://njsp.org

One tradition lost to this "diversity" drive is physical size. For many years NJSP only accepted cadets that were physically imposing in keeping with their original mandate. Lately I've seen troopers remarkable for their lack of physical stature, including one I mistook for a young female teen. But in defense of the NJSP, recruiting minorities poses a difficult task. Minority applicant numbers are low, ( A problem not unique to the NJSP, BTW), and clearing their backgrounds often eliminates a significant percentage of recruits. I suspect the NJSP "problem" is symptomatic of what's looming for a lot state and local LE forces ' future.