How many qualified Black applicants were there — not just applicant, but QUALIFIED applicant.
The question is how many black applicants in the Ferguson PD. And ask WHY as well.
Why should a black officer take a job in Ferguson when - by the color of his skin - he can take a better paying job - over more qualified white applicants - in a better suburb?
I can tell you from personal experience that it is extremely difficult to find young black men and women who want to be police officers and you have to want it.
Qualified? Here is the problem in that area. Many of the black applicants who do get through the academy go to work in less than stellar agencies with poor policies and supervision. They don’t get trained properly and get themselves in trouble. Some were trouble before the ever entered the academy.
Well, when they have effed up enough they get passed to another municipality, usually one that is even worse. This goes on until they hit rock bottom, forced completely out or get indicted.
Not all the agencies in the area run so poorly and some are either accredited through CALEA or the state. But those agencies are mostly white police officers in majority black neighborhoods.
There is a growing movement afoot to force those agencies to either drop the standards to hire enough black officers (quality to take a back seat to equality) to reflect the racial makeup of the community or force those white officers to move into those communities. This will cause many of those officers to resign rather than live in neighborhoods with above average crime, no amenities and failing school systems.
All of this is further compounded by police academies who cannot or will not do the same level of background check on prospective recruits as a police department will. So there are recruits who are coming out of the police academy all the time who should have never been admitted in the first place. This has caused a glut in the market which helps feed the constant revolving door in the poorly run and led agencies.
It’s a nightmare and been going on for decades. And don’t even get me started on pay disparity....