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It takes the New York Times to get the police commissioner to address the diversity issue
By adamg on Tue, 09/10/2013 - 8:00am
A month ago, an association of minority police officers and City Councilor (and mayoral candidate) Mike Ross complained about how the command staff of the Boston Police Department remained almost all white in a city that is now minority majority.
Yesterday, Police Commissioner Ed Davis responded - three days after the New York Times highlighted gun violence in the city's heavily black neighborhoods, in an article that notes Davis critic Jamarhl Crawford's post-Marathon shooting index and the no-confidence voted by the Minority Association of Law Enforcment Officers over the diversity issue.
Davis said his command staff is the most diverse in department history and that the problem is a creaky civil-service system that the city is spending $2.2 million to fix.
MAMLEO, the Mass Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers and its supporters need to be part of the solution not part of the problem. Melvin Miller the publisher of the Bay State Banner made that clear in a recent editorial ... Miller said .."MAMLEO should assume responsibility for training its members to perform better on ... qualifying tests... And the editorial went on to say "it is unconscionable disregard for the welfare of the black community to instigate hostility ...toward the police."
I couldn’t agree more; MAMLEO hasn't proposed legislation or undertaken any valuable initiatives to help its own members or the community. I urge you to contact MAMLEO and let the organization know you don't support its divisive efforts to undermine the progress that has been made and demand the leadership - lead and become part of the solution.
Davis added:
Please join me on Twitter on Thursday, September 12th to continue the discussion and the search for solutions.
He did not say if that would be via the official department Twitter account or his personal account.
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Comments
Promotional exams
This whole thing is ridiculous. There is nothing racist about the current system . The exams are all multiple choice with four options . A list of study materials is released to everyone before the test . All candidates regardless of race have the same opportunity to study the material beforehand . Please someone explain to me how it could it be any easier ? Is mamleo saying that minorities simply aren't as smart and can't comprehend the same material as white officers ? That is insulting to the minorities that have put the time in and passed the exams .
Now the department wants to hold oral interviews as part of the promotional process . That's great , just make sure the people grading those interviews are from outside agencies or there will be an even bigger problem with the department picking who they pass and fail to meet their numbers .
Sounds like they want to just
Sounds like they want to just lower the standards without really admitting to it . That will work out , just like the busing did to the school system.
The test is still pretty stupid.
And although everyone has the same chance on the test, you really have to be a loser for 6 months and basically memorize 4 large textbooks for 10 hours a day.
For those that don't know, the promotional test is basically an 80-140 multiple-choice question test, with 50% of the questions coming from text books and another 25% from criminal law, procedure, Motor vehicle law, etc), and another 25% on policy. It should be the other way around, and there should be more straightforward/easy to figure out the right answer questions.
And if anyone ever noticed, the civil service commission never releases the actual tests, or the correct answers, and I think this is because they know it is so poorly written that those who know about tests and learning (real college professors/educators) would ridicule those in civil service.
If you really want the job
Then dedicating weeks to studying in order to pass the test should be a given. I had a full time job while I was in college and made time to get all my school work done. I did nothing but school, work, and sleep for a while but it was worth it.
I know a few people who have taken the civil service exam, the test is a mix of the SAT and civics class. I want every person to take the exam to pass the exam and I do mean pass as in over 90% correct.
Seems the Times is intent on
Seems the Times is intent on making BPD the bad-guy when it comes to racial discrimination (not that there isn't any). You'd think they were trying to take some of the heat of NYPD's own problems with their suspect 'stop and frisk' policy. Why doesn't NY get its own house in order first? I guess its much easier to perpetuate the 'Boston is more institutionally racist then other cities' canard.
you have to notice
the author posts a blog post about once every three months in the NY Times. He also basically took a smattering of information from recent articles and weaved them together into one lazy, meandering article, that really offers little.
Good Ole Boston
is probably on par,if not far more entrenched due to its longer history of one ethnic group dominating the power(relevant)scenes in the city,than say a NY city. In NY the institutional racist system is more diverse. And being an African American I have been aware of and acknowledge the bias in most test but do not ever agree with "special preference"in terms of grading or scoring.
Grammar?
Couldn't the police Chief get someone to proofread his letter? The grammar and spelling errors are atrocious!
Since when can cops spell?
Ever seen a police report? The spelling, grammar and punctuation is always awful, and sometimes hilarious.
so many things wrong here
1. If the department takes minorities with lower scores on the entrance test, then is it no wonder that these same individuals score lower on promotional tests? Getting rid of the tests however, would create a system where people can choose and promote their friends (not saying that doesn't happen, but you still need a good score to make it happen).
2. This quote: "When three people die, because it happened in the downtown area, where the tourists come, that gets the attention, that gets the state of emergency,” said the Rev. Bruce H. Wall. Yes, a terrorist bombing will get more attention than a shooting. It will get federal funding, a task force and several acronym agencies too. That is not racism, that is just logical.
Lower scores on entrance tests
That happens because "minorities are stupid" not because, say, minorities are far less likely to have uncles, cousins, and fathers feeding them the answers ahead of time ...
No. That NEVER happens.
What they could do: subject the test creation process to peer review, and make the tests and answers public and open to scrutiny.
your accusations
If you have proof that people are cheating on police exams then please present it. Back up your serious accusations with evidence.
unions prepare members with new skills and training
One of the roles of unions is to prepare members with new skills and training so in one respect Davis is right, MAMLEO has a challenge here but wait!
MAMLEO is the Minority Law Enforcement Officers' Association, not the union for all patrolemen -- that's Boston Police Patrolmen's Association (BPPA). Oh sweet jesus, BPPA is one seriously effed up union with an ugly history of racial hostility, a long, long history.
Is the surprisingly limited record of the advancement of minority officers explained in part by resources for test prep or is there something more sinister happening here, or both?
You are right on your second point Swirly.....
But no, no one has the answers to these tests, and the entrance exam is a basic 8th grade reading comprehension test.
But even with peer review, I think the entrance exam would check out ok for the most part, although people would not want to know that anyone getting more than 5 question wrong is responsible for their safety.
Oh please
The civil service exam is a mix of SAT and civics exam. Just because someone took the test before you does not mean they can give you the answers. That would be like suggesting just because you took the SAT in high school that you can give someone taking the test this year all the answers.
They need a better acronym
MAMLEO? Freaky name. Get a new name or a better abbreviation.