Police, Tenants Union, and Diversity Recruitment

Police, Tenants Union, and Diversity Recruitment

Each NAACP meeting I go to seems to have a ton of information and some surprises. The meeting on February 5, 2015 was no different.

There was a report by the NAACP housing committee coordinator of a tenant union called the Fruit Sever Tenant Union which is in a legal battle with a landlord operating under HUD rules.  Some of the Tenant Union’s members have been threatened with arrest by the Worcester Police, should they enter the building and meet with the tenants who are also members. Reportedly this is against HUD rules for HUD associated buildings. The issue is now being worked on by Congressman Jim McGovern who is reported to be clarifying the rules with the Worcester Police. At least one member of the NAACP expressed criticism of the threats of arrest made by the Worcester Police.

Officers Spencer Tatum and Miguel Lope, both in the gang unit, gave a presentation of the City’s efforts to diversify the Worcester Police Department. Office Lopez is also the Affirmative Action Officer for the Worcester Police. Although that position has no job description, he does outreach to the different communities about the Civil Service Examination that applicants for the Police Department must pass. The Civil Service Exam is given every two and it is used by all of the cities and town’s police 

departments to choose candidates. An exam taker must be between 21 and 32 years of age in order for the Worcester Police to consider the exam taker for a police officer position. The City’s thinking is that it wants about 32 years of service from each police officer. There is a form of forced retirement at age sixty-five. It is not clear to me that this practice does not violate anti age discrimination statutes.  People under forty years old are not protected by the anti age discrimination statutes.

The City of Worcester Police Department is under a consent decree agreed to in 1980’s that require a police force of 19.9 percent Black and Latino. The Asian population is not included in the consent decree nor are women. Presently there are no Asian women in the Worcester Police Department. During the last Civil Service exam seven Asian women passed the exam, but they were quickly hired by police department in other Massachusetts political divisions. There are today two Black women police officers; both of whom are near retirement.

Veterans passing the Civil Service Exam are by law chosen before other candidates. The military police who served in Guantanamo and who have taken the Civil Service exam will likely be hired first. It is not known how many military veteran exam takers will be White, Black, or Latino. Almost all Worcester Police officer applicants have BA degrees, although this is not a requirement.

The fee for taking the exam is one hundred dollars. One member of the NAACP said that he was interested in taking the exam, but he was unemployed. He asked if someone could give him the money for the exam. Officer Lopez said that there was a community group that paid for “minorities” who showed need to get money for the fee.

The City Fire Department was also under a similar consent decree. When, surprisingly, it reached its goal of 19.9 percent Black and Latino firefighters, it petitioned the court to be relieved of the consent decree. Subsequent the percentage of so called minorities in the City Fire Department has steadily fallen. It was suggested that the “minority “communities again sue the City to have a new consent decree for the Worcester Fire Department.