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From 1985 through 1989 black
safety forces in Toledo reached peak levels as a result of a
federal consent decree requiring police and fire personnel
to reflect the community’s demographics. The decree was
vacated approximately five and a half years ago despite the
dwindling presence of minority police officers and fire
fighters, who continue to retire in droves.
Why should we be concerned
about the racial makeup of police and fire forces?
“Just recently in the last five or six years
we’ve had hires of others’ family members, but for the most
part, African Americans or Hispanics are first generation
employees,” says Mark McBee, a veteran of the 1984
court-ordered fire class. “So as a result, here we are in
what I call a crisis, in that we’re headed back to our
police and fire service looking like it did in the late
60’s,” he adds.
When the racial make-up of safety forces is
greatly out of sync with the racial composition of the
community, police and fire forces lose credibility with the
local populations they serve, according to research.
With the looming possibility that the Toledo
Fire Department could eventually become all-white, McBee and
Tony Hague, a 27-year veteran, have begun to recruit and
mentor potential candidates through Glass City Black
Brothers United.
Yet institutional bias within the hiring
process presents a formidable barrier. One such problem is
the test itself, which is job specific rather than a
knowledge-based exam.
“Let’s say that if you
give a test that’s job related, and often I use the example
if your father, your grandfather, your uncle or your cousin,
and your brother all work at an auto mechanic shop, and I
get a kid off the streets and say you’ve got 60 days to
study for a test on auto mechanics, who’s going to fare
better?” McBee asks hypothetically. “The one that has the
familial relationship with the job or the kids that only
have 60 days to study this manual? So that’s what we’re
talking about. We are not asking to lower the standards; we
just want them to be fair. Can you read, can you write, can
you add, can you subtract, can you have abstract
comprehension of an idea and can you come up with a
solution? That’s what we need to know. We don’t need to
know if you know what’s the friction loss needed to pump at
110 pounds per square inch of three stories with 150 laid
hose and you’ve got 60 pounds of static pressure…we don’t
need to know that, but some people already do. When you ask
that type of question you give an unfair advantage to other
individuals,” he points out.
The lengthy two and one half year hiring
process is also problematic. Often top minority candidates
have accepted other employment by the time the city has
completed its process. Others have eventually become
disqualified as unemployed candidates have had their credit
ratings suffer because of the long wait.
The solution?
Change to Toledo’s structurally-biased system
of government will come only from the community and not from
protests by black firefighters alone, according to McBee who
plans to retire soon, himself. “We make that change through
community action, community involvement, community pressure
and having members of the religious community coming
together and addressing government and asking why this is
happening.
The bottom line is when safety forces are
diversified, everyone benefits,” he says.
Researchers agree with McBee. When police
close wide racial gaps between their departments and the
communities they serve while also practicing community
norms, the result is reduced crime and increased trust and
cooperation (Kochel, 2012; Sargeant et al., 2013).
In addition, “having someone who looks like
me come to my house that I can relate with on a cultural
basis,” means much, especially to the many minority children
who are unaware that black firefighters exist in Toledo.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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