Free Republic

The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) has changed its hiring requirements to boost the number of people of color and women. During a press conference at a city firehouse on Monday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the new hiring guidelines. The first step is to reduce the number of college credits it requires of potential recruits from 30 to 15, or six months of work experience. The FDNY for many years has been criticized for its lack of racial, ethnic and gender diversity in training classes and on the force itself. Critics say this stems from its...

On Friday, 102 men and women are expected to walk across the stage at the State Police training academy in Sea Girt, collect their badges and join the ranks of New Jersey's top law enforcement agency. This latest batch of graduating troopers looks like many of the previous classes, but less and less like the state they will serve. Seventy-nine of the 102 are white men. Seven years and millions of dollars after the State Police conceded their minority recruiting efforts were "significantly flawed" and pledged improvement, the race and gender makeup of the rank and file remains effectively unchanged....