Black Police Values and the Black Community

• NCJ Number: 87410
• Journal: Police Studies Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1983) Pages: 20-28
• Author(s): D B Walker
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Earlier version presented at the annual meeting of the North Central Sociological Society, Dayton, Ohio, 1980

Annotation

A review of literature reveals two contending arguments for increasing minority recruitment within law enforcement agencies.

Abstract

One position argues that, although blacks possess no special qualities for police work, they should be recruited to rectify past discriminatory hiring practices. The second position argues that blacks should be recruited because they do possess special qualities which will improve police service within black communities. Empirical studies which might resolve the differing viewpoints provide mixed conclusions. In this study, the Rokeach Value Survey was administered to eighty white and twenty black police officers employed by a major metropolitan police force. The findings tend to support the argument that blacks ought to be recruited into law enforcement because they possess values in common with the black population and this has the potential to improve the quality of law enforcement within our core cities. (Author abstract)