LONG BEACH : Police Aim to Increase Diversity in Hiring
The Long Beach Police Department has kicked off a new recruiting drive in an effort to hire more minority and female officers.
For the first time, recruiting officers will be visiting churches and service clubs with predominantly black, Asian and Latino memberships, as well as more traditional sources of new recruits such as military bases, high schools and community colleges, said Cpl. Mary Jensen. For example, recruiters recently attended a job fair sponsored by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.
Of the department’s 744 officers, 73% are white, 13% are Latino, 5% are black and 4% are Asian, Jensen said. About 90% are male. According to 1990 census figures, the city’s population breakdown is 49.5% white, 13.2% black, 12.9% Asian and 23.6% Latino, with other groups composing less than 1%.
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