Diversity a challenge for some N.Y. police departments

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — He looks at minority hiring from both sides now.

When David Chong joined the New York City Police in 1980, "I was one of 20 Asians in the entire department," he recalled.

"I felt enormous pressure to prove myself both to my community and to the department. I had to deal with the misconceptions my community had about the police, and with a police department that didn't have a lot of Asian officers and didn't know much about our community."

Chong said he brings that perspective to his job as White Plains public safety commissioner. When it comes to recruiting, he said, "We do everything we can think of to attract minorities to apply for jobs in the police department."

Minorities are underrepresented in police agencies throughout the Lower Hudson Valley, a trend officials in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties say they have recognized and tried to fix for decades. Many, including White Plains, have found recent success by emphasizing outreach.

They send representatives to churches, civic association meetings, career fairs and other events to talk about the job, to try to correct misconceptions and to encourage men and women to apply. Still, challenges remain.

In 2013, according to the most recent data available, blacks made up only 8% of local police forces in Westchester County. Statistics compiled by The Journal News showed that Hispanics were slightly better represented, at 10%. The figures don't include the rosters of state police because the agency doesn't provide racial breakdowns of its troopers by county.

In Rockland County, 4% of the local police officers were black; 7% were Hispanic.

The numbers are starker in Putnam County, where there were no blacks and only four Hispanics among the 169 officers working in the county's five police agencies.

Combined, the percentages of blacks and Hispanics living in all three counties, based on the 2010 census, was about double that found in local police departments.

"There is not a police executive in the New York metropolitan area that does not want his or her department, at a minimum, to reflect the racial makeup of the community they serve," said Westchester County police Commissioner George Longworth. "But police executives must operate within the civil service system."

He said local departments face a number of challenges when it comes to hiring minorities, including: infrequent civil service exams for police officers; lower retirement rates due to fewer employment opportunities for officers looking to start a second career; budget constraints that don't allow many departments to fill vacancies; and changes in state law that make it more difficult for departments to hire officers from other law enforcement agencies during their first three years on the job.

Some officials say police department demographic information may be unreliable because people don't have to report their race or ethnicity to employers.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said it guesses officers' race and ethnicity and makes "approximations based on observations," rather than risk violating anti-discrimination laws by asking.

"As we know, however, looks can be deceiving and so can names," Putnam County Capt. William McNamara said in an e-mail.

He also questioned comparing the demographics of the general population — which includes people of all ages — with pools of police officer candidates, who are between 25 and 35 and who have passed civil service exams, agility tests, criminal background checks and other screenings.

It "may be akin to comparing apples and oranges," McNamara said.

Still, the general consensus is that a police force that reflects the racial and ethnic makeup of the community it serves can only help police.

Ahmad Warren never considered becoming a police officer until 12 years ago, when his brother, Larry, was shot to death while trying to break up a fight at a Hawthorne restaurant. Although the killing remains unsolved, Warren said he was so impressed with the officers investigating his brother's death that he decided to pursue a law enforcement career. He expects to graduate from the Westchester Police Academy later this year and become the Bedford Police Department's only black officer.

Last year, Melvin Padilla, one of three Hispanics on the Bedford police force, became the town's first Hispanic chief. Meeting Padilla, Warren said, convinced him to apply there.

"He tells it straight," Warren said of Padilla. "I actually felt he had faith in me and thought I could do this job."

Padilla comes from a family with a tradition of working in law enforcement. His father was a sergeant in the state Corrections Department and his uncle was a New York City detective.

"I grew up in civil service," Padilla said. "I knew I wanted to be a police officer since I was in Pampers. I have pictures of me standing in my father's boots."

Not all departments place a priority on diversity. Some, including Orangetown, say it's more important for police officers to be local residents. The Town Board for years refused to choose police candidates from the so-called language list — which requires candidates to pass the police civil service exam and be certified in a second language — preferring to pick town residents from the civil service list.

Because the policy limited the pool of candidates from which it could choose, Orangetown police for years had no Spanish-speaking officers.

"If the pool of candidates had more diversity from the test, you would see more diversity (in the department)," Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty said. "We're playing the cards we're dealt."

In Yonkers, outreach and a focus on recruitment — plus free training for city residents before the 2013 police civil service test — led to some successes in the city's Police Department. More than 60% of test takers that year were minorities, officials said, and the department now has 30 black officers — 25% more than just a couple of years ago.

"We hope to reap the benefits of hiring additional minority officers from this exam over the next few years," Police Commissioner Charles Gardner said in a statement.

Rockland County offered tutoring for the written exam and help with preparing for the physical agility test for residents who took the civil service test in 2013, Personnel Commissioner Joan Silvestri said.

"The chiefs and sheriffs are now very sensitive to diversity," she said. "They understand it's better for the community. We got more folks of color and women taking the exam. We want an integrated workforce that represents the community."

In some places, when there is a lack of local minority candidates, agencies will look to hire minority officers from other jurisdictions to improve diversity.

Such was the case in Spring Valley, which hired five black officers from other departments in 2013. The village joined other municipalities that have chosen to hire officers from the language list.

The effort has paid off.

"We matched the diversity in the community," Spring Valley Police Chief Paul Modica said.

Contributing: Hoa Nguyen of The Journal News