IN PORTLAND, I guess, this is progress. The police bureau this year has brought on 33 new cops—two are black, four are Latino, and one is Asian. Of the 33, three are women.
That may not sound like much, but consider the past two years of hiring: Sixty-seven new cops had their names read aloud at hiring ceremonies, and only one was black. None were Latino.
And as statistically insignificant as this year’s gains might be, they were deemed big enough that Police Chief Mike Reese found himself standing next to Mayor Sam Adams last Wednesday, May 25, shaking hands and smiling for a picture.
In a slightly stupefying twist, the police bureau—the last city office to even assemble a diversity-improvement plan—had just won one of five “Diversity Champion Awards” handed out by Portland city government this year.
Heady news for a bureau that had, as of September 2009, only 33 black officers—out of nearly 1,000 total. Did I mention that one of the award’s judges works in the cop shop? Not that there’s any connection.
I called Awards Coordinator Donnie Adair last week for some thoughts on the bureau’s recent hires—a laudable, if tiny baby step. Was the fix in after a rough PR year for the bureau? Or was this a genuine attempt to encourage Reese’s nascent push? Adair didn’t phone back.
But council gushed over the decision, highlighting the “major effort” that Reese and the cop brass made in recruiting minorities and women from other cities. Next to Adair, Human Resources Director Yvonne Deckard noted the bureau’s “commitment to hiring and diversifying the workforce.”
Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch said something else. He called the award “a joke.”
“While the hiring that just occurred may have improved the pool of officers of color, the bureau still has less than four percent African American officers in a city that is six percent black,” he pointed out in a statement.
Handelman also noted that the chief’s brain trust and inner sanctum—the precinct commanders, assistant chiefs, and civilian operations director—are still a bunch of white guys.
Consider: Last year, Reese appointed one of his bandmates, Mike Kuykendall, as operations director, angering many in the black community. When North Precinct Commander Jim Ferraris announced his retirement this spring, a white guy replaced him.
Handelman’s point is a good one. If real change starts from the top, then there’s actually been precious little of it. And maybe that’s what the city should consider before handing out feel-good pieces of paper.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this column listed a newly appointed police bureau spokesman among the white guys Reese tapped for senior positions. Lieutenant Robert King has kindly informed the Mercury that he’s partly Latino.
I will tell you who DOES deserve her diversity award. Irene Konev. She has reached out time and time again to diverse communities in Portland, including the Asian American Chamber, the African American Chamber, Say Hey, and the list goes on. We can admit that the PDX police force needs more diversity, both in gender and in ethnicity, but we should not overlook all of the good that she is doing.
as always when it come to PPB, they’ve showed us once again what a bunch of turds they can be…how silly and maudlin can they get with such buffoonery that most intelligent people can clearly see through. What is it with these stupid guys (it’s the Testosterone Tommies that are
the source of their troubles…not the women or minorities) that they their collective “group-think” operates at a near 60 IQ level as the more they try to foist themselves off as “normal” the more laughable it gets?
Leave it to the white dude (Mr. Theriault) to get all upset that the Portland police bureau doesn’t have enough people of color. Maybe you’d like to resign your position as a writer for the Mercury in favor of a person of color?
@Haku.
Yes, and it would be just as eyebrow-raising if the Mercury *won a city government diversity award* as a reward for its hiring practices.
This editorial makes me wonder about the “diversity” of the Portland Mercury. How would you describe the ethnic make-up of a typical Mercury staff meeting, Denis? “All white” or “Virtually all white”?
I have to say that the awards given out were definitely well earned. Each individual/group/bureau were nominated by many people in regards to their efforts for promoting a culturally inclusive City. The Police bureau has recently been doing extensive amounts of training and outreach for diversity efforts.
As for the hiring practices, legally, there is only so much the City can do. They can do outreach and promote hiring a diverse workforce, but the applicants have to go through the system. They apply, and if they meet qualifications, they go through interviews and tests. Only the scores at the end of the tests determine whether they are eligible to be hired. The amount of white males that apply are simply a lot higher than the amount of anyone else who applies.