I was asked my opinion on why more African-Americans dont apply for Law Enforcement jobs? Without going all the way in here is a brief observation: I have been recruiting for the City of Lima for over twenty years and it is a hard situation to understand. First of all Civil Service jobs in the Safety Services Forces in Lima are not traditional to the Black Community. A lot still dont feel comfortable or excepted when it comes to these positions. Myself I have been both a Police Officer and now a Firefighter for about 30 years. For many of those years I was one of a few and for a short time the only one. So sometimes when you look around your workplace and you dont see others that look like you it can be intimidating. Fortunately for me Ive never been intimidated by much. However many in the Black Community dont feel the same way. Many have lived in Lima their entire lives and dont feel comfortable with the idea of maybe having to arrest a friend or family member. Many feel that they are not welcome on these jobs. I know a lot of your readers say stop crying and take the test but its just not that simple. How would you feel working in a environment that traditionally has not had others of your diversity in its workforce? We can all sit here and point fingers, and name call but that doesnt change the situation. Blacks in Lima dont trust the powers to be. Now how do we change that? First we must look to hire more qualified African-Americans not one at a time either. We must offer Sensitivity and Diversity training to our existing workforce. We must teach our children that all Police arent bad and that they are not going to arrest them in the store with mom and dad because they are being rambunctious. The Police must get out of their cruisers and interact with the community on a non-threatening bases. As I ride around I see a lot of football, soccer, baseball and basketball teams outside, why not toss a few balls with them in your down time. The bottom line is we must be tolerable of each other. We must sit down without yelling, cursing or antagonizing each other and begin to come up with some solutions were we can all look at each other take a deep breath and work it out.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 20:23:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015