POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS Economic and Workforce Health

Policy Recommendation 9:

States can explore public-sector programs and apprenticeships in the law enforcement career path with a particular focus on recruiting, educating, training, credentialing and employing individuals who are currently underrepresented within law enforcement.

The Economic and Workforce Health unanimously passed this recommendation in support of dedicating effort to reverse the declining diversity and close the employment gap in law enforcement.

The law enforcement who are serving neighborhoods should not only look like those they serve but should be able to connect with them culturally. A thriving democracy includes democratic policing, but it also needs modernization and improved representation. States could explore various programs that focus on recruiting and training programs so that they better serve their communities. We’ve seen positive outcomes in neighborhoods where law enforcement can connect to the community, and we can further those outcomes by improving the recruitment numbers of law enforcement from underrepresented populations.”

— Sen. Melissa Hurtado, California

Although local police departments lost just under 1% of employees in 2020 after a decade of expansion, there is evidence that diversity in police departments is decreasing more rapidly.1 This is especially evident among local Black law enforcement officers. New York City has seen a 14% drop in Black officers since 2008, Philadelphia a 19% drop since 2017, Washington, D.C., a 25% decrease since 1998, and Chicago a 12% drop since May 2019.2 Closing the diversity gap can lead to improved relations between the public and law enforcement.

State leaders who want to recruit a diverse group of potential law enforcement officers may consider pre-service training programs similar to apprenticeships. Some of the ways state leaders can do so include creating an outlined pre-service training program through a state law enforcement agency with a path to service as an officer, registering law enforcement apprenticeship programs identified by the state department of labor, and making other work-based learning opportu- nities, such as internships, available through a state law enforcement agency for college credit.

State Examples

The California Highway Patrol runs a structured Explorers Program for young people ages 15 to 20 that trains “Explorers” in office and ride-along tasks. The program is a highly structured pathway to becoming a patrol cadet.3

The Maryland Cadet Apprenticeship Program offers a paid work-based training experience for youth ages 14 to 18 with the goal of recruiting and retaining the next generation of law enforcement officers.4 The program is administered through the Maryland Department of Labor Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning.

Additional Resources

ƒ U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Advancing Diversity in Law Enforcement — https://www.eeoc.gov/advancing-diversity-law-enforcement-0

ƒ Department of Justice: Advancing Diversity in Law Enforcement

— https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/900761/download

Endnotes

1 Li, W., & Mahajan, I. (2021, September 1). Police Say Demoralized Officers Are Quitting In Droves. Labor Data Says No. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from The Marshall Project: https:// www.themarshallproject.org/2021/09/01/police-say-demoralized-officers-are-quittingin-droves-labor-data-says-no

2 Graham, D. (2021, October 4). America Is Losing Its Black Police Officers. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/america-is-losing-its-black-police-officers/620291/

3 California Highway Patrol. (n.d.). California Highway Patrol Explorer Program. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.chp.ca.gov/CHP-Careers/Explorer?_ ga=2.10117299.780354085.1656528601-258401999.1656528601

4 Maryland Department of Labor. (n.d.). Law Enforcement Cadet Apprenticeship Program - Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program (MATP). Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.labor.maryland.gov/employment/appr/apprgrancadets.shtml