Police
@@police
also see -affirmative-action.police
Summary:
Issue - if blacks are equal or nearly so to local population, should
they be entiled to racial preferences even if population quota is
met?
Asians consistently least represented race, with Hispanics close
behind. Blacks are nearly always within a factor of two, and often
very close to parity, especially in California.
d:\doc\94\17\citycop.wk1 Asians least represented of all races, but
best in Seattle
Police Representation by Race
Ranked by Asian Representation
------------------------------------------------------------------
Index vs. Whi White Black Hispanic Asian W-Avg
Seattle(1) WA 1.00 1.33 2.12 1.01 0.90
Seattle WA 1.00 -1.29 -1.53 -1.69 1.10
USA total 1.00 -1.16 -1.77 -3.0
Ventura CA 1.00 1.1 -2.2 -3.3
San Jose CA 1.00 -1.35 -1.53 -3.41 1.29
Los Angeles CA 1.00 -1.49 -2.88 -4.24 1.61
San Francisco CA 1.00 -1.71 -2.04 -4.82 1.53
San Diego CA 1.00 -1.68 -2.39 -5.27 1.34
Dade County FL 1.00 -2.32 -2.94 -5.57 1.86
Chicago IL 1.00 -2.80 -4.66 -13.21 1.78
New York NY 1.00 -3.83 -2.41 -23.20 1.63
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Index White=1.00 -2.00=1/2
W-Avg is white police divided by population
Seattle is closest to white for all races compared to other cities.
Blacks are within 30%, and Asians are within a factor of 2. Seattle
appears to be the only city where Asian police applicant are equal to
whites in representation. New York has the lowest rate of Asian
participation, despite relatively large Asian population.
(1) - 1995 Seattle Police applicants
%%statistics
\doc\96\04\lapdrace.wk1
Composition of Los Angeles Police and Sheriff Department
Percent Index
Sheriff Police 1990 popSheriff Police
Male 86.8% 83.0% 50.0% -1.07 1.18
Female 13.1% 17.0% 50.0% -7.06 -4.13
White 69.0% 52.4% 37.3% 1.85 1.40
Black 9.2% 14.5% 13.0% -2.61 -1.26
Hispanic 18.9% 27.7% 39.9% -3.91 -2.02
Asian 2.2% 4.0% 9.2% -7.74 -3.23
Sheriff - Feb 96 Police Dec 95
Source: "Success of Reforms at LAPD, Sheriff's Dept" Jim Newman
Los Angeles Times March 10, 1996 p. A1
Comment - At 1/8 and 1/3, Asians are approximately as unlikely to be
police as women in general.
Percent Index
Sheriff Sheriff
White 69.0% 1.85
Male 86.8% -1.07
Black 9.2% -2.61
Hispanic 18.9% -3.91
Female 13.1% -7.06
Asian 2.2% -7.74
\doc\96\03\polrace.wk1 US FBI survey of police departments nationally:
Asians are by far the least likely to be police officers, Blacks are nearly at parity,
Black women are far over parity with white women.
Blacks are 12-18% of large city police forces.
US overall W1.00 B-1.16 H-1.77 A-3.0
women US W1.00 B2.37 H-1.10 A-3.24
*A includes native American
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics "Local Police Departments 1993"
Brian A. Reaves Ph.D. U.S. Department of Justice April 1996,
NCJ-148822 http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Percentage within Gender
White Black
Total Men Women Total Men Women
Population served 73.8% 73.8% 73.8% 12.0% 12.0% 12.0%
All-sizes 100.0% 81.0% 82.5% 65.5% 11.3% 10.0% 25.3%
1,000,000-or-more 100.0% 68.3% 74.7% 51.4% 17.5% 13.6% 33.3%
500,000-999,999 100.0% 66.1% 68.5% 49.6% 21.0% 18.4% 39.8%
250,000-499,999 100.0% 73.8% 73.0% 62.8% 18.1% 16.2% 28.1%
100,000-249,999 100.0% 81.3% 81.6% 71.1% 12.6% 11.3% 23.3%
50,000-99,999 100.0% 86.3% 86.8% 78.6% 7.2% 6.8% 12.9%
25,000-49,999 100.0% 90.2% 89.8% 86.8% 5.4% 5.3% 9.4%
10,000-24,999 100.0% 91.6% 91.7% 91.8% 5.1% 5.1% 6.1%
2,500-9,999 100.0% 92.8% 93.0% 90.7% 4.1% 4.0% 7.0%
Under 2500 100.0% 91.7% 91.9% 82.1% 5.3% 5.1% 10.7%
Hispanic Other
Total Men Women Total Men Women
Population served 10.0% 10.0% 10.0% 4.2% 4.2% 4.2%
All-sizes 6.2% 6.0% 8.0% 1.5% 1.5% 1.1%
1,000,000-or-more 11.8% 10.6% 13.9% 1.2% 1.1% 1.4%
500,000-999,999 7.0% 7.0% 7.3% 5.8% 6.2% 3.3%
250,000-499,999 9.3% 9.3% 7.4% 1.4% 1.4% 1.7%
100,000-249,999 5.4% 5.4% 4.4% 1.6% 1.6% 1.1%
50,000-99,999 5.1% 5.1% 7.1% 1.4% 1.4% 1.4%
25,000-49,999 4.3% 4.3% 3.8% 0.6% 0.6% 0.0%
10,000-24,999 2.6% 2.6% 2.0% 0.6% 0.6% 0.0%
2,500-9,999 2.6% 2.5% 2.3% 0.5% 0.5% 0.0%
Under 2500 1.9% 1.9% 3.6% 1.2% 1.1% 3.6%
Index Vs. National Population White vs. population, Others vs. White=1.00
Percentage within Gender
White Black
Total Men Women Total Men Women
Population served 73.8% 73.8% 73.8% 12.0% 12.0% 12.0%
All-sizes 100.0% 1.10 1.12 0.89 -1.17 -1.35 2.37
1,000,000-or-more 100.0% 0.93 1.01 0.70 1.58 1.12 3.99
500,000-999,999 100.0% 0.90 0.93 0.67 1.95 1.65 4.94
250,000-499,999 100.0% 1.00 0.99 0.85 1.51 1.37 2.75
100,000-249,999 100.0% 1.10 1.11 0.96 -1.05 -1.17 2.02
50,000-99,999 100.0% 1.17 1.18 1.06 -1.95 -2.08 1.01
25,000-49,999 100.0% 1.22 1.22 1.18 -2.72 -2.78 -1.50
10,000-24,999 100.0% 1.24 1.24 1.24 -2.92 -2.95 -2.44
2,500-9,999 100.0% 1.26 1.26 1.23 -3.68 -3.80 -2.11
Under 2500 100.0% 1.24 1.24 1.11 -2.81 -2.90 -1.25
Hispanic Other
Total Men Women Total Men Women
Population served 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.04 0.04 0.04
All-sizes -1.77 -1.86 -1.10 -3.07 -3.06 -3.24
1,000,000-or-more 1.28 1.05 1.99 -3.24 -3.93 -2.11
500,000-999,999 -1.28 -1.33 1.09 1.54 1.58 1.15
250,000-499,999 -1.08 -1.07 -1.14 -3.00 -2.89 -2.16
100,000-249,999 -2.04 -2.03 -2.17 -2.89 -2.85 -3.64
50,000-99,999 -2.29 -2.33 -1.49 -3.51 -3.53 -3.13
25,000-49,999 -2.84 -2.83 -3.12 -8.56 -8.11#DIV/0!
10,000-24,999 -4.77 -4.72 -6.10 -8.69 -8.26#DIV/0!
2,500-9,999 -4.84 -5.02 -5.28 -10.56 -10.12#DIV/0!
Under 2500 -6.54 -6.72 -3.12 -4.35 -4.62 -1.31
\doc\95\04\miampoli.wk1 - Miami police
White Black Hisp Asian/Oth
Total 1.86 -2.32 -2.94 -5.57
Leadership 2.46 -4.73 -5.80 #DIV/0!
Black women are no less represented than white women
Asians are the least represented.
Black and Hispanic men are not under-represented
d:\doc\94\18\chicpol2.wk1 - Chicago Police Exam
source: Chicago police department phone call
Asians only slightly under-represented among applicants, but 1/4,
just as low as Blacks in sargeant's exam after passing, despite
higher pass rate because of 1/3 at applicant level. Asian pass rate in
officer exam is close, but only 1/2 at sargeant level.
Top 500 Sargeants Pass Rate W1.0(16.4%) B-6.10 H-3.74 A/Other -2.29
Officer Pass Rate W1.0(45.2%) B-1.52 H-1.58 A-1.32
Vs Population White = 1.0
Sargeant's Examination
White Black Hispanic As/Other
Applied 1.49 -1.22 -1.83 -2.94
Passed 1.98 -2.49 -2.36 -2.95
Top 500 2.29 -4.83 -4.45 -4.38
Officer test
Applied 1.13 -1.08 -1.07 -1.13
Well Qual 1.41 -1.31 -1.36 -1.20
d:\doc\94\17\priv\chicpoli.txt - Chicago police test
1987 W71 B22.5 H5.2 O0.4
1994 W65 B25 H8.3 O1.7
Among top 500 in sargeants test, 8% black, 4.4% hispanic
rate H-2 B-3 Not off by THAT much...
doc921\sjpolice.xl* san jose police
W1.3 B-1.3 H-1.5 A-3.4 NA 2.2
doc922\ventcop.wk1 Ventura Sherrif has enough blacks
B1.1 H-2.2 A-3.3 O-4
doc932x doc937\lapolice.xls Los Angeles police breaksdown - enough blacks,
more black women than white women!
Men B-1.2 H-2.4 A-4.5
Women B 1.3 NA1.1 H-2.1 A-4.2
doc\94\15\priv\nypolice.txt NYTimes police survey - no mention of
Asians NYC 29%B pop vs. 11.6% police Chicago = 39/25 Los Angeles = 14
/ 14 PARITY Department of Justice 1992 Sourcebook has chart on p. 47
NYC 0.40
Los Angeles 1.00
San Jose 0.85
Oakland 0.60
%%chief
\PRIV\96\13\ASPOLCHF.HTM San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday, January 9,
1996 · Page A11 "New S.F. Police Chief Is Widely Respected First
Asian American to head force " Summary: Mayor Willie Brown selects
Fred Lau as 1st Asian American police Chief. Susan Sward, Chronicle
Staff Writer
%%Testing, about testing
TRADITIONAL POLICE TESTS ARE SIMILAR TO OTHER STANDARDIZED TESTS,
UNLIKE ERGOMETRICS TEST SAMPLES.
Arco Law Enforcement Exams Handbook (c) 1996 Arco Publishing (New
York) Eve P. Steinberg F053097
I checked this book out from the library. It has a sample question
include one very similar to the Ergometrics sample asking what should
be done in response to an arguing couple, but it says that actions
should be based on a short passage which describes what should be
done. The ergometrics test gives no clue as to which is the correct
answer, and thus is dependent largely on the values of the person
tested. This may explain why Asians did unusually poorly on the video
test given in Seattle. There is a big difference between interpreting
instruction in a test, and being tested for values and knowledge
which are not covered by the US educational system, which is the only
prerequisite for most police jobs.
Other questions are based on memory, vocabulary, logical reasoning,
math, reading charts, graphs, time, traffic diagrams, codes, reading
comprehension, and interpreting instructions, all strongly correlated
with general intelligence and academic ability. Such tests would put
Asians at a slight disadvantage due to language and familiarity with
reading charts and tables (Asians also did poorly on the national
literacy test which included these), but other minorities would do no
worse than in other standardized tests.
%%testing by city
Asians do slightly worse in Chicago police test, much
worse in 1994 written Seattle police test, and
spectacularly worse, even worse than blacks on the
1995 video test.
Summary by city
-----------------------------------------------------
Chicago 1994 W1.00 B-1.11 H-1.05 A-1.03
Seattle 1994 Writ Police W1.00 B-4.65 H-2.37 A-2.76
Seattle 1995 Vid Police W1.00 B-5.42 H-1.85 A-5.86
-------------------------------------------------
[[Chicago
\doc\94\17\priv\coptest3.txt - Chicago controversy over police test
Chicago Tribune 7/27/94
% right on 150 multiple choice problems
W 67 B 60 H63 A65 AI 65
Chicago 1994 W1.00 B-1.11 H-1.05 A -1.03
----------------------------------------------------------------
[[Denver
\doc\97\01\blaknews.txt Newsweek May 6, 1991 p. 31 Mark Whitaker et
al F020397-1 In Denver, police and fire departments didn't lower
standards for test scores, they started to tutor blacks, and their
scores improved dramatically.
---------------------------------------
http://www.arthurhu.com/index/police.htm#seattle
[[Seattle
"Clarification of July Article on police testing" Seattle Post
Intelligencer Monday March 4, 1996 p. A2 F080897 "The new video test
was designed by Ergometrics and Applied Personell Research Inc, a
nationally known Seattle-based company with help from six Washington
police departments"
SEATTLE POLICE VIDEO TEST FLUNKS ASIAN WORSE THAN OTHER MINORITIES
\doc\95\10\testdist.wk1
Print out of table
\doc\95\11\badtest.doc
\doc\95\10\testdist.wk1
Analysis by Arthur Hu July 18, 1995
Test Score Distribution Comparison -
New Seattle Video Police Test vs. CLAS and SAT
1995 1994Calf Math G10US Math G12
Seattle PolicCLAS (1994) SAT (1993) Fail Pass
Video Written 35 93 35 93IncreaseReduce
White 34.5 93.2 35 93 35 93 9.63 2.70
Black 8.8 74.8 9 86 8 75 3.62 8.50
Hisp 22.2 85.3 12 87 14 88 5.29 3.84
Asian 8.2 83.3 46 94 48 95 5.50 10.16
Fail increase is increase in percent failures from 1994 to 1995 police test
Pass reduce shows white passing down by 1/3, blacks by 1/9
Pass / Fail Ratio
White 0.526713.70590.538513.28570.5384613.2857
Index White = 1.00 -2.00 = 1/2
White 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Black -5.46 -4.62 -5.44 -2.16 -6.19 -4.43
Hisp -1.85 -2.36 -3.95 -1.99 -3.31 -1.81
Asian -5.90 -2.75 1.58 1.18 1.71 1.43
Pass rates for Seattle Police Exams, May 1994 written and March 1995 video
test based on 70% correct. Equivalent distributions for CLAS and SAT tests are
for math tests based on 35% and 93% pass rates for whites, compared to
equivalent percentage of minorities who achieved the same score. Pass / Fail
ratio index shows that regardless of whether a test passes 35 percent or 93
percent of whites, the pass / fail ratio remains between 4 and 6 times better for
whites than blacks.
The only other known standardized test where Asians score as poorly as
African Americans is the National Literacy test, which is very culture dependent.
Sources: California Department of Education, College Board Seattle Public
Safety Civil Service Commision "Police Video Exam Stirs Ire" Seattle Post
Intelligencer July 17, 1995 p. 1
March 1995 Video Exam
Pass Pass Pct of Pct of Pct Pop Index
Group TestedPassed Rate Index Tested Pass Pop Tested Pass
White 695 240 34.5% 1.00 66.4% 83.6% 73.7% 1.00 1.00
Black 124 11 8.9% -3.89 11.9% 3.8% 9.9% 1.33 -2.93
Asian 109 9 8.3% -4.18 10.4% 3.1% 11.5% 1.01 -4.16
Hispanic 72 16 22.2% -1.55 6.9% 5.6% 3.6% 2.12 1.36
AmInd 23 7 30.4% -1.13 2.2% 2.4% 1.3% 1.88 1.65
UnSpec 23 4 17.4% -1.99 2.2% 1.4% White vs. pop
Total 1046 287 27.4% -1.26 100.0% 100.0% 0.90 1.13
Index 1.00 = white rate 2.00 = twice -2.00 = half ^ Note that every minority is
equal or better represented
Men 848 249 29.4% 1.00 than whites among applicants
Women 188 38 20.2% -1.45
Index 1.00 = male rate 2.00 = twice -2.00 = half
May 1994 Written Exam
Pass Pass Pct of Pct of Pct Pop Index
Group TestedPassed Rate Index Tested Pass Pop Tested Pass
White 784 731 93.2% 1.00 75.0% 254.7% 73.7% 1.13 3.05
Black 119 89 74.8% -1.25 11.4% 31.0% 9.9% 1.27 2.76
Asian 96 80 83.3% -1.12 9.2% 27.9% 11.5% -1.13 2.14
Hispanic 75 64 85.3% -1.09 7.2% 22.3% 3.6% 2.21 5.46
AmInd 24 18 75.0% -1.24 2.3% 6.3% 1.3% 1.96 4.25
UnSpec 35 19 54.3% -1.72 3.3% 6.6% White vs. pop
Total 1133 1011 89.2% -1.04 108.3% 352.3% 1.02 3.46
Index 1.00 = white rate 2.00 = twice -2.00 = half
Men 960 854 89.0% 1.00
Women 173 157 90.8% -0.98
Index 1.00 = male rate 2.00 = twice -2.00 = half
Ranked by 1995 Pass / Fail Index Ranked by 1995
1995 Video Te1994 Written Test Probability of Application
Pass P/F Pass P/F
Group Rate Index Rate Index 1995 1994
White 34.5% 1.00 93.2% 1.00 Hispani 2.12 2.21
AmInd 30.4% -1.21 75.0% -4.60 AmInd 1.88 1.96
Total 27.4% -1.39 89.2% -1.66 Black 1.33 1.27
Hispanic 22.2% -1.85 85.3% -2.37 Asian 1.01 -1.13
UnSpec 17.4% -2.51 54.3%-11.61 White 1.00 1.13
Black 8.9% -5.42 74.8% -4.65 Total 0.90 1.02
Asian 8.3% -5.86 83.3% -2.76
Asians pass the Video test at the lowest rate, they passed the old written
test at the same rate as Hispanics.
In contrast with many other cities, by 1995, no minorities were under-represented in
the testing / applicant pool, although Asians were the least represented minority
in a field Asians historically have avoided. Hispanics are also the most under-
represented group in California, but not in Seattle.
1995 1994
P / f Index P/F Index
Group
White 0.53 1.00 13.79 1.00
Black 0.10 -5.42 2.97 -4.65
Asian 0.09 -5.86 5.00 -2.76
Hispanic 0.29 -1.85 5.82 -2.37
AmInd 0.44 -1.21 3.00 -4.60
UnSpec 0.21 -2.51 1.19 -11.61
Total 0.38 -1.39 8.29 -1.66
Seattle 1994 Writ Police W1.00 B-4.65 H-2.37 A-2.76
Seattle 1995 Vid Police W1.00 B-5.42 H-1.85 A-5.86
7/14/95 An Anti Asian Police Test?
Seattle's police department changes from a written to a video
test, but minorities flunk at even higher rates, and this is the
only test in history were Asians score poorer than Hispanics or
African Americans.