NAACP Vows to Challenge N.J. State Police over Low Black Representation in New Recruit Class

When the New Jersey State Police’s first class of recruits in two years reports for training today, only five of 123 will be black, a striking failure in the division’s decade-long effort to achieve greater diversity.

Now the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which settled discrimination claims with the State Police in 2000 to force greater minority recruitment, says it will return to court to argue the state has given only lip service to the problem.

And the governor’s office, in response to inquiries from The Star-Ledger, said the issue will get attention from the highest levels of state government.

“We are concerned with diversity in the State Police ranks, and will be examining the matter with the attorney general and State Police,” said Michael Drewniak, spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie.

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“It’s actually going backwards rather than forwards,” said James Harris, president of the New Jersey chapter of the NAACP. “The state doesn’t keep its promises.”

Harris said the state should cancel the recruit class, but Attorney General Paula Dow, who oversees the State Police, said it will proceed. The State Police and the Attorney General’s Office said overall diversity is improving but acknowledged concern about the few black recruits.

“We will continue to partner with clergy, community leaders, and others to improve on those numbers,” State Police Supt. Rick Fuentes said.

{snip} As minority recruiting backed by millions of dollars continues to fall short, there’s a new round of finger-pointing.

The NAACP says the state is not trying hard enough. The Attorney General’s Office says the African-American community is not referring enough qualified recruits. And the troopers union says the company that scores the written tests for recruits uses a secretive system that may exclude good black candidates.

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The State Police has tried to change that by sending troopers to black churches, colleges, job fairs and cultural events. It also courted African-American community leaders like the Rev. Jethro James of Paradise Baptist Church in Newark. James said it’s discouraging when he invites troopers to speak, but so few blacks make the class.

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The Attorney General’s Office said the community shares some blame for not referring more qualified candidates. “We need the community to step up,” said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for Dow.

Of the 263 candidates for the incoming class who passed the written exam, 33 were black, the office said. Of those 33, six dropped out and 22 were disqualified for failing a background check, the office said.

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Some things, like a drug conviction, prompt automatic disqualification. But others, such as a poor credit history, are part of a subjective review Harris said hurts blacks.

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Harris said background checks and all other parts of the selection process must be reviewed. “The screening mechanism clearly has a component of bias,” he said.

With the exception of background checks, the Attorney General’s Office declined to say how many blacks began the process for the new class and when they flunked out.

As part of the 2000 settlement with the NAACP, the State Police agreed to revamp its written test and suspend the four-year college degree requirement that could unequally eliminate minorities. It also hired Connecticut-based APTMetrics, Inc.–which has been paid $2.2 million since 2000–to score the test in a more fair way for minorities.

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