So just so we’re straight on this, NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton is blaming the low number of Black males hired on account of high arrests from NYPD officers…yes, this is what he’s said.
In an interview with The Guardian Bratton was asked about the record low number of non-white hires and Bratton cited the high number of blacks incarcerated and or arrested as the reason behind the number.
“We have a significant population gap among African American males because so many of them have spent time in jail and, as such, we can’t hire them,”
Bratton did take into account the unfair consequences of ‘Stop and Frisk’ which, he should be taking a lot of the blame for even letting thrive for as long as it did. That policy added to the number of Black males arrested, in many cases unfairly. Convicted felons are automatically disqualified from applying for an NYPD job, and while those with misdemeanors aren’t disqualified it is still a mark against you further into question on the application.
Stop and Frisk was ruled unconstitutional back in 2013, but the consequences of the the policy caught many Blacks and Latinos in the ‘net’. Now as Bratton further went to point out “…population pool [of eligible non-white officers] is much smaller than it might ordinarily have been”
Bratton was vocal about being against the policy, but the aftermath is still on his hands as he’s an open supporter of the ‘broken windows’ policy which thrives off attacking low-level crime to prevent serious crimes from occurring. Many feel the policy mirrors stop and frisk and again unfairly targets non-white males.
Bratton further said that there’s more to the numbers than arrests thinning out the pool of eligible non-whites, he says the anti-police climate in society among Black males is a factor. And by stating that he’s right, but again, I must ask why is that? The NYPD is playing the blame game on Blacks in the City for a problem they created. Take the blame.