Service matters more than diversity

The idea that police personnel must be a mirror image of the communities they serve is at best specious. What matters is service. I do not expect my doctors, teachers, paramedics or plumbers to match my gender, race, ethnicity, religion or political preference. I expect them to do the job they were hired and trained to perform.

In the 1960s, I wrote civil service examinations for the city of Chicago. A police series was part of those tests. The examinations included a psychological screening, physical abilities assessment, general health evaluation and written test. Extra points were awarded to former military personnel, reflecting both their service and similar training.

Unfortunately the persons scoring highest might not necessarily be the first hired - this was the Boss' Chicago. By far the largest proportion of candidates and hires were Caucasian; some appeared to be very well connected to the powers that were. But before you start crying foul, sometimes it worked the other way - political winds can shift. This disproportionality was rightly found to violate the civil rights of individuals.

Since passage of the Civil Rights Act, governments strove to find the right formula. Preferential hiring of a different sort was instituted with a racial/ethnic proportionality weight added to ensure diversity. Neither of these preferential set-asides was just to candidates and/or hires. Neither guaranteed quality policing. Neither served the public's interest.

Perhaps we have been looking in the wrong place. What matters are careful evaluation, high expectations, tough training, objective selection and documentable competence. Esoteric diversity equations don't secure good policing. Political connections won't produce good policing. Emotional reactions can't result in good policing. It is time we all grew up. Diversity preferences are distractions. We deserve results based solutions that are solely objective and rational.

Sheila M. Barrett

Elk Grove Village