Police forces often sea of white

Share of Hispanic, black officers doesn’t match population

In at least 50 cities with more than 100,000 people, the percentage of black police is less than half of their share of the population, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census estimates.

Although attention has focused on underrepresentation of blacks on police forces, large gaps exist for Hispanics in even more cities. Hispanic representation among police is less than half of their share of the population in at least 100 cities.

“You’ve got to have a diverse police department so you can hear what’s coming from the community,” St. Petersburg, Fla., Police Chief Anthony Holloway says.

USA TODAY reviewed Census estimates from 2000 to 2010, the latest numbers available nationally about the racial and ethnic makeup of specific occupations in cities and counties. The analysis found:

uMinority officers are concentrated in a few metropolises. More than one- third of 111,000 black officers worked in just 10 cities. A quarter of the 107,000 Hispanic police officers worked in seven cities.

uIn 80 of 282 cities with more than 100,000 residents, the disparity between representation of blacks on the police force and in the community was greater than 10 percentage points. In 10 cities, including Buffalo, Detroit and Cleveland, the disparity surpassed 25 percentage points.

uLarge disparities exist for the Hispanic population in even more cities. In at least 125 cities, the disparity between Hispanics’ representation among police and the population was greater than 10 percentage points. In 37 cities, the gap surpassed 25 points.

uIn all but a few of the cities with the widest disparities for blacks and Hispanics, most saw the gap remain about the same or widen from 2000 to 2010.

“It’s a battle everywhere to diversify, especially here in the West with Latino peace officers,” says Lt. Andrew Peralta of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and president of the National Latino Peace Officer Association. “There has to be a national incentive to maintain a recruitment team and utilize minority organizations.”