Kevin Kanehl

Improving Minority Recruitment in Public Safety Organizations

Siena Heights University
MGT 360Human Resource Management
Dr. Ball; Winter, 2015
Dias, L. (2011). Human resource management. Saylor.org/books. ISBN 13: 978-1-4533194-3-7.
Downloaded Jan. 9, 2014 from https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?
bookId=71
This source is a course text book which provides concepts in the area of human
resource management. There are many topics that are covered within this text which
includes recruitment and minority candidates.
I will use ideas and terminology from this text in order to support the content of
my research paper. There are also valuable case studies and examples that will help
illustrate my points throughout the paper.
Fields, C. (2012, May 16). FDNY Succeeding in Attracting Minorities, but They Need to Know
How to Prepare. ERE Media. Retrieved from http://www.ere.net/2012/05/16/fdnysucceeding-in-attracting-minorities-but-they-need-to-know-how-to-prepare/
This article is written by DR. Cassie Fields who is the CEO of a consulting group
who specializes in fire department recruitment and promotional programs. The article
provides insight into a further problem in the minority recruitment. The one area she

offers advice in, is how to help minority candidates prepare for testing which contributes
to the hiring process.
I believe that this is important because testing has proven to be a hurdle for many
minority candidates. Recruiting minority candidates is just half the battle because
candidates still must be able to score well with testing during the hiring process. I will
use the expert advice that is offered from Dr. Fields to help offer a solution on how to
increase minority test scores.
Fields, C & Kruger, K. (2010, October). A Comprehensive Approach to Eliminating Adverse
Impact in Public Safety Promotional Exams. The Police Chief, 77(10), 12-14. Retrieved
from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?
fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=2226&issue_id=102010
This is another article involving Dr. Cassi Fields, who is an expert in recruiting,
promoting, and testing within government organizations. Dr. Fields and Karen Kruger
break down different legal battles that stemmed from testing within different police
departments that were deemed unfair. Dr. Fields lays out a plan to improve testing within
public safety organizations with an emphases on offering test preparation programs.
This article helps me to illustrate two areas within my research. First, that the
testing process could be portrayed as biased towards one ethnic group versus other
candidates. Additionally, Dr. Fields is a well know expert in implementing fair testing and
hiring programs for municipalities around the country. The second area this article helps
me show is different strategies to improve the confidence and level of preparedness that

candidates will have to take the test. Although it benefits all candidates, there is a great
benefit for minority candidates who generally score low on certain competitive testing.
Gurman, S. (2012, December 4). Aurora Police Department struggling to improve minority
numbers. The Denver Post. Retrieved from
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22118636/aurora-police-department-struggling-improveminority-numbers
This article shows that the Aurora Police Department came into legal trouble
because they did not hire enough minority candidates. It also mentions how they have
struggled to improve their recruitment. There are also examples as to how a more diverse
workforce have improved operations within the community.
One area of this article that helps with my research is that Aurora has changed its
testing to go to video based in order to help improve minority test rates. I believe that the
testing process is part of the problem in getting minority candidates to score
competitively during the hiring process.
Joann, C. (2003). Diversity Management: An Exploratory Assessment of Minority Group
Representation in State Government. Public Personnel Management, 32 (4), 561-577.
Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sienaheights.edu:2048/docview/215945277/CDBA4B
426AC34372PQ/4?accountid=28644
This is a journal published article that addresses the need for a diverse work force
within government agencies as the population continues to grow. The author shows
statistics within the state of New Jersey. The article also points out how government

agencies need to develop better recruitment and retention plans to reach all ethnic groups.
The author also points out how many minorities are discouraged to apply for government
jobs because they lack role models in upper management positions. Additionally, the
article points out how past written tests created a hurdle for minority candidates.
There is valuable data provided in this article that I will show how agencies
within New Jersey have admitted a need to better recruit minority candidates. There is
also statistics that show how changing the interview panel and written test have increased
minority test scores. There are also human resource experts who are interviewed to
provide ideas on how to continue improving minority recruitment and retention which
will be helpful to my area of research. Furthermore, this article discredited the use of a
preferential point system, but it recommends a focus on improving diversity management
to better reach and prepare qualified minority candidates.
Kohlhepp, K. & Pearsall, A. (2010, April). Strategies to Improve Recruitment. The Police Chief,
77(4). Retrieved from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?
fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=2056&issue_id=42010
This article is very informative as to how police departments can improve their
recruitment of minority candidates. The authors have a very impressive background in
terms of expertise in delivering these strategies. Albert Pearsall III works for the US
Department of Justice in the area of community oriented policing policies, and Kim
Kohlhepp is a manager for the IACP Center for Testing and Career Development.
I will use the information from this article to support my idea that there needs to
be a recruitment focus involving our youth with help from the media, community leaders,

and mentorships. The authors also provide valuable information about how candidates
should have mentorship during the application and hiring process as opposed to only after
date of hire. I believe this will coincide with my belief that minority candidates would
score much higher in the testing process if given proper guidance and preparation.
Leber, R. (2014, August 13). Fergusons Police Force Is 94 Percent WhiteAnd Thats Basically
Normal in the U.S. The New Republic. Retrieved from
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119070/michael-browns-death-leads-scrutinyferguson-white-police
This news article talks about the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri. One
area that is interesting is the community make up versus the demographics of the police
department. The article also provides other statistical evidence about how a study showed
that drivers stopped by an officer of the same race was more likely to accept the
reasoning behind it.
While there are many views of what happened, the lack of diversity within the
Ferguson police department has led to a significant disconnect between the service and
the community. This well-known incident helps me to illustrate a dynamic problem
throughout the United States. In particular, former predominately white communities
have experienced an increase in diversity to which they are behind in recruiting a more
diverse workforce.
Scinto, R. (2014, July 17). New Haven Fire Department academy class diverse and sorely
needed. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sienaheights.edu:2048/docview/1545347710/1C0A02
C6C78B4BFBPQ/1?accountid=28644
This article talks about the efforts which the New Haven Fire Department showed
in order to recruit more minority candidates from within the community. The area that
interested me was how officials went door to door within the community to help increase
recruits who better mirror the demographic make-up. The article will be used to support
the point that more hands on recruiting efforts are required if public safety organizations
are going to be able to reach a greater number of minority candidates.
Soonhee, K. & OConnor J. (2009). Assessing Electronic Recruitment Implementation in State
Governments: Issues and Challenges. Public Personnel Management, 38(1), 47-66.
Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sienaheights.edu:2048/docview/215933155/CDBA4B
426AC34372PQ/10?accountid=28644
This is a journal published study which focuses on the benefits and challenges for
government agencies who use e-recruiting systems. The article also includes best ways
for organizations to improve or implement e-recruiting systems. I will utilize this article
to show and increasing use of e-recruiting systems for many government organizations.
In particular, there are concerns shown that should be considered in terms of reaching
certain minority groups because of limited access to internet. I believe that utilizing
internet technology to recruit personnel is beneficial; however, there should be alternative
means to reach minority candidates who may not have access to this resource.

United States Census Bureau [demographics chart]. (2013). Retrieved from

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/26099.html
This web site offers information to look up statistics of local demographics based
of the local census. This will help show the local demographics versus some example
community public safety organizations which serve those areas.
Watts, J., Cowden, J., Cupertino, P., Dowd, D., & Kennedy, C. (2011). 911 (Nueve Once):
Spanish-Speaking Parents Perspectives on Prehospital Emergency Care for Children. J
Immigrant Minority Health, 13, 526532. doi: 10.1007/s10903-010-9422-9
This is a study published within a journal which showed how Hispanics are
receiving a lower quality in health care because of language barriers between 911
dispatchers, first responders, and healthcare professionals within the hospital setting. This
article will help me to illustrate how increasing minority candidates to better mirror the
community make-up can offer a huge benefit to the citizens. These types of
improvements are what I am trying to tie in with how positive having a diverse workforce
is to the public safety sector.
Wilson, J. (2012). Articulating the dynamic police staffing challenge. Policing, 35(2), 327-355.
Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sienaheights.edu:2048/docview/1018542756/68BC66
7FFB9E420FPQ/1?accountid=28644
This is a journal published article which addresses the challenges with overall
recruitment of police officers. One area that has become challenging when recruiting
personnel is the fact that many police departments require clean backgrounds and some

organizations even perform credit checks. While this affects the number of candidates of
all races it may also detour some minority candidates who have minor criminal records
from when they were younger. The article offers the idea that maybe organizations should
be relaxed in terms of understanding that many members of youth might have
experimented with drugs, have minor arrest records, or have bad credit history. I will use
this paradigm to show that public safety organizations must be prepared to show some
tolerance in understanding common mistakes that youth may have made. Obviously,
more serious offenses and current drug use would still be used to screen candidates, but
tolerance could be used with some minor background areas of the candidates past.