Torrance Racial Bias Trial Opens

A U.S. Justice Department lawyer argued Tuesday that the city of Torrance uses a discriminatory written test to screen Police and Fire Department applicants.

In his opening statement, Philip Eure said the South Bay community’s test is unfair to blacks, Latinos and Asians.

But Wayne S. Flick, who represents Torrance, said the tests are used to select applicants who possess critical skills that police officers and firefighters need to be effective in their jobs.

The trial, expected to take four weeks, is the first of three claims brought by the U.S. Justice Department against Torrance. All will be heard by U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer.

Eure has suggested that if Torrance employs the written test, test scores should be treated differently. He suggested that the city either use a pass/fail system or group similar test results and treat them as equal--he calls that “banding”--rather than order them by actual test score.

By banding the test scores or using a pass/fail system, more minorities would receive qualified ratings, according to the government.

But Flick said that the publishers of the test “suggest that rank ordering be used.”

Flick argued that the city is “not seeking to avoid hiring minorities. We’re seeking to hire minorities, but we want to hire minorities with the same qualifications as non-minorities.”

He said the “reading, writing and comprehension” skills the written test measures are “critical skills to the proper performance of both [police officers and firefighters].”

The attorney also argued that the government has yet to propose a better system. After Pfaelzer decides the testing claim, two other cases by the government will go to trial.

The Justice Department also alleges that blacks and Latinos are treated differently by the departments and overlooked for promotions.

The last claim to go to trial will be an allegation that Torrance Police and Fire Departments have created a hostile environment for blacks. . . .