* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Informational Hearing - Diversity Recruitment Efforts - Women, Minorities, and Military Veterans in the Baltimore Police Department
FOR the purpose of requesting the Baltimore Police Commissioner to report on the number and percentage of women, minorities, and military veterans in the Baltimore Police Department; the number and percentage of those serving in supervisory or high-ranking positions; opportunities for promotions and career advancement; specific training to address gender, race, and returning veteran issues, and; recruitment efforts to attract more women, minority, and military veteran Baltimore City residents to the Department.
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Recitals
The introduction to the Law Enforcement Recruitment Toolkit, a June 2009 publication of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the International Association of Chiefs of Police states that "recruiting and staffing shortfalls continue to plague law enforcement agencies across the United States. New challenges in the 21st century, including military call-ups, a greater number of retirements, homeland security obligations, and increased competition, have combined to make the problem more acute."
The report states that "the goal of police recruitment is, and always has been, to hire not merely enough people but the right people. But police executives' notion of what constitutes the right people is changing. They now are more likely to seek to increase the diversity of their departments across the spectrum of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and sexual orientation. For an earlier generation of law enforcement executives, hiring officers and civilian employees who reflect the community they serve simply meant recruiting more women, Blacks, or Hispanics. For today's executives, it may also mean recruiting employees who can speak Spanish, Hmong, Cape Verdean Creole, or a variety of other languages or dialects."
A Resolution adopted by the Council in 2008 calling for an informational hearing on the status of women in the Baltimore Police Department showed that some four years ago the female workforce demographics of the force comprised 488 sworn female officers, or 16.4% of the total force, and 942 female civilians. Of sworn officers there was 1 Deputy Commissioner; 1 Major; 2 Directors; 1 Deputy Major; 13 Lieutenants; 39 Sergeants, and; 431 Police Officers." At that time, the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives reported that 300 women were serving as chief executive officers in municipal, county, state, and federal entities.
In 2010, a Police Department hearing before the Budget and Appropriations Committee provided a platform for insight into the racial make-up of the force, eliciting information that:
· since 2007, minority staffing has increased from 40% to nearly 50%;
· 50% of the sworn command staff are minorities;
· no minority sworn command has been terminated since 2008;
· due to budgetary constraints, the Department has eliminated or left unfilled 7 command staff positions - 4 of those 7 positions were held by minorities;
· the racial and gender breakdown for all sworn members of the Department is 56.2% minority and 16.7% female, and;
· costly lawsuits settled by the city over allegations of discrimination in the department include a payout of $2.5 million to 14 black officers in a federal lawsuit and a $200,000 settlement to a black officer falsely accused of rape.
Maryland is home to about 484,000 veterans, according to the Baltimore Regional Office of the Veterans Administration. Realizing that the hundreds of troops returning from the Middle East and other world hot spots have been well trained in discipline as well as weaponry, skills needed to be effective officers, the Police Department's Operation Homefront "is pleased to offer transitioning military members with an opportunity to explore a career in law enforcement...BPD is currently recruiting applicants who are in the military and looking for a career opportunity. No prior law enforcement experience is necessary. If you have six months or less remaining on your enlistment, you may begin processing."
The Department's special recruitment drive to attract more women, A Career Opportunity, advises that nearly 500 women currently serve as Baltimore Police Officers. Female police officers serve as detectives, sergeants, lieutenants, and members of command staff. The unique skill of women police to utilize a style of policing that relies less on physical force and more on communication skills that defuse potentially violent situations is universally recognized by local, state, and federal agencies.
While there is not currently a special recruitment drive for minorities, the Mayor and the Commissioner launched the Hometime Heroes Project in April, 2011, an effort to recruit community members to find people who want to become officers. The goal of the campaign isn to train participants in the recruiting process and procedures so that they, in turn, can inform more city residents of the benefits of becoming a Baltimore Police Officer.
The introduction to the Baltimore Police Department Annual Report 2008 states: "The mission of the Baltimore Police Department, in partnership with the Baltimore community, is to protect and preserve life and protect property, to understand and serve the needs of the city's neighborhoods, and to improve the quality of life by building capacities to maintain order, recognize and resolve problems, and apprehend criminals in a manner consistent with the law and reflective of shared community values."
To best achieve this shared mission it is imperative that Baltimore City communities are served by a force that most closely reflects their diverse values, mores, and heritages.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Baltimore Police Commissioner is requested to report on the number and percentage of women, minorities, and military veterans in the Baltimore Police Department; the number and percentage of those serving in supervisory or high-ranking positions; opportunities for promotions and career advancement; specific training to address gender, race, and returning veteran issues, and; recruitment efforts to attract more women, minority, and military veteran Baltimore City residents to the Department.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the report include, but not be limited to:
· a discussion of diversity recruitment efforts for women, minorities, and returning veterans;
· a plan for an expanded community recruitment partnership campaign, and;
· a presentation of the challenges particular to the Baltimore Police Department and innovative techniques that have been employed in other police departments of similar makeup to successfully overcome similar challenges.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Baltimore Police Commissioner, the Community Associations of the Planning Department Directory, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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