While a nationwide debate on the racial makeup of law enforcement agencies continues, statistics show agencies in Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties are working toward becoming mirrors of the communities they serve.
About 40 percent of the 71 employees with the Columbus Police Department are African-American, according to Chief Tony Carleton. Census data from 2010 shows 60 percent of the city’s residents are black.
In Starkville, where about 35 percent of the residents are African-American, about 28 percent of the police department’s 53-officers are from a racial minority (13 blacks, 2 others), according to Chief Frank Nichols.
Only five of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department’s 48 deputies are African-American, according to Sheriff Mike Arledge. That’s about 10 percent. Census data shows 44 percent of Lowndes County’s population is African-American.
Four of the Oktibehha County Sheriff’s Department’s 20 deputies are African-American, according to according to Sheriff Steve Gladney. That’s 20 percent. Census date shows 37 percent of Oktibehha County’s population is African-American.
‘One of my goals is to make the PD mirror the community’
Carleton, who joined CPD as chief last summer, said he actively promotes diversity in hiring. Still, getting minority officers on the force is easier said than done. CPD has only received four African-American applicants in the last four to six months, and Carleton hired two of them.
White applicants for police positions continue to heavily outweigh the number of black applicants, the chief said, despite his efforts to recruit for diversity.
“We go to the high schools, we go to career fairs at (Mississippi University for Women) and Mississippi State, and we will be going to one at Jackson State,” Carleton said. “We’re trying as hard as we can, but we’re just not receiving very many (minority) applications. When I was hired, I said one of my goals was to make the police department a mirror of the community. When you don’t receive those applications, it’s hard to get there.”
Carleton’s strategy is similar to that of Nichols in Starkville. Nichols, though, gets slightly better results.
Nichols, who completes his first year at SPD’s helm this week, said the department boasts programs that specifically recruit minorities and women to the force. Beyond that, SPD frequents area career fairs and posts job openings on social media. Those efforts, he said, increase the department’s exposure, thus makes fielding a more diverse roster a greater possibility.
But even for SPD, Nichols, who said he has six female officers, said policing had little to do with color or gender.
“We don’t hire somebody just because they are black or because they are female,” Nichols said. “We hire the most qualified person. No matter what color or gender an officer is, we are going to treat people right. And if you treat a person right, that’s what they’ll remember — not the color or gender of the officer. Our demographics may not be exactly up to standard, but that doesn’t mean we’re not doing a quality job.”
Little turnover, few minority applicants
In Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties, diversity in sheriffs’ departments exists, but it’s more stratified.
Of 108 LCSD employees, 29 are black. Yet, that includes only eight (five deputies and three support staff) in its enforcement division. In its jail division, 21 of 56 employees are African-American, but those jobs pay less than deputies are paid.
Arledge, who is nearing the end of his first term in office, said he had seen very little turnover, replacing only seven enforcement division employees since 2012. Of those, three were African-American, the sheriff said. He would not specify how many were deputies.
But Arledge, like Carleton, did say his applicant pool is decidedly white.
“Most of the people we replace are people who retire,” Arledge said. “I have a drawer full of applications, but very few have been minorities…As far as being a mirror of the community we serve, that is something we look at when we do hire. I wish we had more blacks to apply.”
Lowndes Jail Administrator Rick Jones credited more diversity in jail work in part to more turnover creating more job opportunities. Also, jail jobs only require two weeks of specialized training, compared to 11 weeks of academy training to become a deputy.
“People, a lot of times, are just looking for a job, and they feel like they can get a job easier at the jail,” Jones said. “Some use it as a stepping stone to getting other law enforcement jobs.”
‘A very important part of law enforcement’
Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney, also in his first term, said he’s hired three of his department’s four black deputies since taking office in 2012. He said he’s not actively trying to augment his minority staff numbers, but he recognizes the value of having a diverse department — especially in a diverse county.
“I think it’s a very important part of law enforcement now,” Gladney said. “It’s certainly an asset and a big part of who we are as a department.”
Still, most of Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department’s diversity is found in the jail staff, where 11 of 30 employees (37 percent) are black.
Neither the West Point Police Department or Clay County Sheriff’s Department returned calls requesting information or comment last week.
‘Diversity is of great benefit in any setting’
Historic cultural distrust of police among African-Americans may very well be preventing blacks from seeking police positions, according to state Sen. Derrick Simmons of Greenville. He said Mississippi, particularly, is not so far removed from systematic discrimination and police brutality during the civil rights era, and though a new generation of black adults might not have experienced that turmoil, they see instances of what they believe is continued discrimination today.
Most notably, he mentioned an incident last year in Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. Both Brown’s death and a grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer sparked protests and riots that harmed people and destroyed property.
In that case, Ferguson’s police force had only three blacks on its 55-officer roster, while two-thirds of the city’s population was African-American.
“We have come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement, but we still have a long way to go,” Simmons told The Dispatch. “Certainly, a lack of police officers has been a key component of the unrest in Ferguson.”
Despite perceived cultural distrust of police, Simmons wants to see more African-Americans become law enforcement officers because he believes diversity will help alleviate distrust.
“I think diversity is of great benefit in any setting,” he said. “It’s very important because different idea, different backgrounds and different cultures to the table, and that benefits everyone. Now does that necessarily mean that I think Ferguson’s police force should be two-thirds African-American? No. But, there needs to be more than three. Just like it would be unacceptable in a Mississippi legislature with 174 members if only 10 of the were African-Americans, especially when more than one-third of the state’s population is African-American.”
Simmons also hopes to advocate for what he believes will be fairer law enforcement practices in a more tangible way when he introduces Senate Bill 2788. That bill, he said, would require independent investigations of any officer-involved death or injury on the local level. The bill, if passed, would require the state attorney general to appoint two investigators who are not associated with the department in question to investigate the incident, then report its findings to both the AG and the local district attorney.
Simmons said the bill seeks to “eliminate conflict of interest and bolster public confidence.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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