Diversity is an elusive goal for Chesapeake police force

What’s next? Dumbing down tests in high schools? Elementary schools? SOL’s? MENSA? Surely if there are problems with the adults taking these tests, it stands to reason they had the same problems in school. I guess we’ll start seeing lawsuits seeking to have easier tests for minority children. Talk about reverse discrimination.

Do like the Navy does for its senior enlisted ranks. They take a knowledge test (gender/race neutral). If they score the minimum required or higher, their service record goes before a review board of their peers. The records are reviewed by those that do not know them to eliminate any favorable or unfavorable. Once reviewed, the record is presented to the voting board, which votes based on merit and experience. Period.

I'm glad that the PD is striving for diversity - but would anyone mind if we put competency first? The federal EEO law explicitly states that you select and promote "without regard to" race or gender. That means that you don't give preferential treatment on that basis either. What is so hard to understand? Can we face the fact for once that maybe the women and minorities who took the exam weren't qualified?

How would it be fair to the people who passed the test, if the test was thrown out? The police force should promote the best. Unless the test had one question . . .are you white? yes or no. Then there is a problem, otherwise, work hard and one day you may pass the test. The chief was able to become the chief and I don't think he was given special treatment, he worked hard and earned his place.

The entire process should be completely race/religion/creed blind. Chesapeake should be pressing to get the BEST officer candidates and promote the best. Diversity should not at all be a consideration. Whenever such an issue becomes more important than quality, quality suffers and thus, the people suffer.

The price of a consultant to tell the police what they already know?
$219,000.00
The addition of a redundant deputy chief position?
$100,000.00
The cost of a diversity consultant?
$30,000.00 - $50,000.00

The cost to Chesapeake citizens in much needed capital?
The loss of enough revenue to hire about ten new police officers - priceless!

I wonder what the statistics are for the numbers of white black and hispanic citizens male vs female and so on what would the ratios or proportions be and how close are they to actual numbers..If the police dept was in a town of a thousand people and all were white then the force should be all white but if there were 100 black people or 10% and the force had 10 officers for a thousand people the the force should have 1 black officer right is that not what they mean by mirroring the community just a thought

Just like voting for a President

If you want a job on the police department, and get promotions, you need to do the work, study the required material, and meet the required qualifications. This thing of expecting special treatment and be given the job or promotion because you are from a certain protected group only lowers the standards and quality of the department. What matters is that you have what it takes in mind, body and spirit and are willing to do what you need to do and what is expected of everyone. It's your attitude, willingness and desire to be the best that counts. To expect that the program should adapt to you, rather than you adapt to the program is ludicrous.

Lowering standards so that less intelligent, less competent, less qualified people can pass is not the solution. Promotions should be based upon merit, experience & service record - NOT some standarized test or someone's skin color or sex. Instead of looking for a "handout" because of your race or sex, how about working hard & proving yourself as a person?

The inability of minorities to pass these tests should reflect poorly on our public school system for their abject failure to prepare people for the real world. This is a societal failure and we should recognize it as such. We should not by any means try to dumb down everything to accommodate it. On a side note, if I remember correctly the city of Chesapeake was gong to spend $50k to have their test reviewed. How many hours of tutelage would that have paid for? I'm sure many a college freshman would love to get $15/hr to tutor some cops in math. That would have been about 3,333 hours. That would not be a solution to the problem but it would have been a better start. Anyway, I'll ask again - LETS SEE THE TEST!!

If they lower the standards, won't the people that study still score highest?

Why is it that whenever these ridiculous claims are made about racially biased tests, we never, ever get to see an example of them. I've looked everywhere to no avail. Why is that? Is it because if these biased questions where to be seen by the public at large we would all ask "This is it? Why is it not harder?" We give these people guns, pepper spray dogs and the courts take their word over ours but, they are they not "Smarter than a Fifth Grader"? I have wracked my brains trying to think of a racially biased math question and I cannot do it! You can perhaps have racist sounding word problems in the math portion of the test but the correct answers will be the same for all. Then you could complain about racist wording but nothing else.

A certain level of intelligence and education is certainly required, but intelligence alone is not a reliable measure of good judgment.

What we want in the leadership in the police department are supervisors who will enforce the law, develop the talents of those who serve under them, and get them home safe after their shift. Of late, these qualities have been lacking, with unnecessarily aggressive and risky procedures endangering officers and citizens alike.

I don't know how a test can reveal the kind of maturity and caution that seems lacking. Perhaps some guidance might be obtained from a secret ballot of the patrolmen on who among their peers they trust to lead them?

Or maybe better, a secret ballot of their wives and mothers.

No one is saying there should'nt be diversity, what we are saying is the test should be the same. Why should a black man or women black or white take a test easier then a white man? You call that fair? Not at all!

"It's worth a try-the police force started the problem, now they need to fix it."

The police force started the problem???????? And the criminals didn't?

Unbelievable.

I never comment on articles but this one is killing me. I am a female officer on a local department. I fail to understand how a promotional exam can be discriminatory towards minorities and women. I have taken three and passed them all, scoring well above most of the men who took them. Is it because I was a better cop or smarter than them? No. Many were excellent officers. I just happened to study and be good at taking tests. I have managed to get promoted twice using the same process as the guys. Also, amazingly there was math on my entry examination and I managed to ace that as well. And I suck at math. Get with it folks, study, prepare, and earn your way. Stop blaming other people if you do not do well. This is setting women back in police work and it has to stop.

I feel so much safer in that those overseeing the officers who protect us will be determined by politics and race, rather than skill, knowledge and ability. I would guess that was how the CEOs were chosen for the companies now financially troubled.

Typical of our society...just "water" everything down...it's not a wonder other countries (including China) are surpassing us. We have to set standards and stick to them...those standards are there for a reason...but no,...we want everybody to feel good...let's face it, some will fail and some will succeed...it's a fact of life. Get over it!

CH said, "When you have people like Sean Bell, who, unarmed, was shot to death the night before his wedding and all officers acquitted, then it becomes necessary to encourage diversity in the police force".

Some of the police officers that shot Sean Bell were black. Kinda blows a hole in your theory, doesn't it?

I'm not expecting a reply to this letter from you. When and if the Pilot posts it, it will be so far down the list that you'll never see it.

You wanna see a good answer? Ask Chief Wright how he got to where he is today? The tests weren't "dumbed down" for him to make it....so how can he justify making it easier for people who don't deserve it? I bet he has his opinion on this issue...but if he wants to keep that job you'll never near him speak it. Now the question needs to be asked "What kind of leader is he when he will not speak up and say the CPD wants to promote only those who have properly prepared for the tests"? On my.....what a double edged sword eh? Isn't this sort of a "redistribution" thing? I've heard that somewhere before.

The Quota system's time has come & passed (no pun intended). If you fail to cut the mustard, you don't get to be top dog (pun intended)!

This is clearly racism, since better qualified people are being rejected for a job purely on their appearance.

Please, do not throw out the recent exams for sergent and lieutenant, just to force the diversity issue. Do not forsake those who did well enough on the test, so that deficiencies in the numbers by race and gender can be built up outside of the merits of qualification. There is no justification or proof that any such artificial bolstering of numbers by race and gender will make the police force better. We, as a nation, are trying to move beyond discrimination. Just because women and minorities did not make the cut on a non-bias advancement exam does not make sense to toss out those exams. Giving into perceived biased results does not help move beyond discrimination, but rather, fosters discrimination against those actually better qualified. Those who did not make the cut, regardless of race or gender, simply have to study and prepare harder. CPD leadership can garner greater respect by simply moving on with the current results. I would not be surprised if the exams results are tossed out and promotions are manipulated to include diversity, that a law suit could be possible. Beware of what you are trying accomplish, CPD - you may not like what you are trying to gain!

When you have people like Sean Bell, who, unarmed, was shot to death the night before his wedding and all officers acquitted, then it becomes necessary to encourage diversity in the police force so that certain groups of people can employ the police to do their jobs without the fear of becoming the unfortunate victims of police brutality. There is a lack of trust in certain communities because of questionable police practices, so having more officers who more people can identify with may help to reduce this general distrust. It's worth a try-the police force started the problem, now they need to fix it.

Don't they all study from the same book? Also, how can you possibly make the math portion unfair? It is math for crying out loud. I guess if the person in charge is making a decision like paying someone big money to study a test when they really need to spend that money fighting crime, then being smart enough to take their job should not be too hard.

I have the perfect solution to all of these issues! Raise the starting pay for Chesapeake Police Officers to $80,000 immediately!

You will instantly have thousands of "highly qualified" applicants racing from across the country to apply! I am sure there will be plenty of people to pass the tests of all sexes and races.

The last thing we need to do is dumb down the test! We need the best and the brightest on Chesapeake's streets!

Robert C. Ike, Jr.
Chesapeake Police 1986-1996

and a white person took the same test(all things being equal ie start/finish time) and the black failed and the white passed, then I can only assume that the white was better prepared.Race nor gender would not have any bearing on the outcome.

So what the city is saying is "We need two exams, one for white applicants and one for females and minorities"

I love what they said about the math test that it unfairly disqualifying black and Hispanic officer applicants. Does the FBI or CIA or State Police need to lower the standard too? What ever happen to black men and women saying they are equal to white men and women? Now is it being said that the white male is smarter when it comes to taking a test, well the city of Chesapeake is telling you YES. I think they need to lower the test scores for commercial flight schools. Lets lower the bar exam scores to 65 to past. The Police department is not the only job that has females and minorities that are require to pass an exam to get the job.
The people of Chesapeake need to take a stand if they want the best officers on their streets. Best advice for anyone who has trouble taking a test, study or find another job to apply for.

Here's the problem: Everyone passed the test. It's just that the people with the highest scores were white males. What now?

Quotes like this one:

Police forces across the country have made diversity a priority

and this one:

But certainly a diverse work force is an objective of the city

beg the question:

Shouldn't fighting crime and protecting the public against the criminal element be the priority of the police department?

Lowering the standards so we can have a more "diverse" police force doesn't help me sleep any better at night knowing that the police who suppose to be protecting me are only perhaps a few IQ points higher than the criminals they are looking for. Law enforcement isn't a social experiment and "diversity" is a lame excuse for lowering the bar just to allow unqualified candidates over the bar.