NCJ Number
15161
Date Published
1970
Length
11 pages
Annotation
EMPLOYMENT RATES, POLICE DUTIES, AND PROMOTION RATES FOR NEGRO POLICEMEN DURING THE PERIOD OF 1949 TO 1961 IN SOUTHERN STATES ARE EXAMINED.
Abstract
A BACKGROUND HISTORY OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGRO POLICEMEN IN SOUTHERN STATES IS GIVEN FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. FIGURES SHOWING A GRADUAL INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF BLACK POLICEMEN HIRED FROM 1945 TO 1961 ARE PROVIDED. THE AUTHOR STATES THAT AFTER 1954, THERE WAS LITTLE OR NO INCREASE IN THE RANKS OF MINORITY POLICEMEN, AND THAT RATIOS OF BLACK POLICEMEN TO THE GENERAL POPULATION REMAINED LOW. PATTERNS IN THE ARREST POWERS OF NEGRO POLICEMEN AS OF 1961 ARE EXAMINED. IT WAS FOUND THAT BLACK POLICE MOST OFTEN WOULD PATROL ONLY SEGREGATED NEIGHBORHOODS AND WERE GENERALLY RESTRICTED IN THEIR POWERS TO DETAIN OR ARREST WHITE CITIZENS. PROMOTION AND ADVANCEMENT OF NEGRO POLICEMEN WAS FOUND TO BE LIMITED. THE REACTIONS OF WHITE COMMUNITY LEADERS TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF MINORITY POLICEMEN WAS REPORTED TO BE POSITIVE, WHILE REACTIONS AMONG THE NEGRO COMMUNITY WERE FOUND TO BE MIXED.