Ald. Anthony Beale of the 9th Ward said the hiring process systematically excludes minorities. The biggest issue is the background check, which “really wipes out minorities,” he said.
Recruits can appeal to Chicago’s Human Resources Board if they feel they have been unfairly dropped from the recruitment process. The board, which is led by attorney Salvador Cicero, primarily handles discipline and termination within the police, but it also examines appeals from candidates who fail or are rejected.
Cicero said the growing number of people who have applied to be officers in recent years has resulted in more applicants being denied.
There has been a change in the dynamics and types of candidates who come before the board, he said. He and his colleagues are adjusting to a changing social culture in Chicago.
“I have seen things that the law does not contemplate,” Cicero said. “The use of drugs is more prevalent now than it was in years past. The way that drugs and drug use was treated is different. If you use cocaine in the last 10 years, you are out. You want to be a police officer, you shouldn’t use cocaine. But the use of marijuana is much more prevalent now. If we feel it is an occasional use, and they are an excellent candidate, there are situations where we say, ‘We don’t think the city has proved that it is more than an occasional use.’”
Beale said the background checks are designed to exclude candidates of color. “I have been trying to get it changed for several years now, but there’s always resistance to changing the whole entire hiring process.” In a heated exchange at a November budget meeting, Beale questioned Superintendent Johnson about the department’s hiring of African-American candidates.
People of color are more likely to struggle financially and with employment, said Beale, and the hiring process holds that against them. “If you don’t have a job,” he said, referring to the high unemployment rate for black men, followed by Latinos, “you’re going to have bad credit. If you have bad credit you can’t be a police officer.”
Echoing a criticism from recruits, community groups and officers alike, Beale said the hiring process takes too long. “In Chicago, you take a test and it takes you months to find out the results of your test. That leaves room for error and for manipulation,” he said. “There are too many systems out there now where you can scan your results and know what your test results are immediately before you leave. We need to change it.”
Article Appeared @http://www.chicagoreporter.com/more-african-americans-apply-to-become-cops-but-few-make-it-to-finish-line/