Litigation

A tale of two police departments

By Ted Frank

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is critical of the New Orleans Police Department and its use of excessive force. Its report (via Sailer) singles out the too-low recruiting standards:

NOPD hired hundreds of officers during a relatively short time period; one estimate is that 400 officers were hired during the three year period following Katrina. In its press to hire these officers, NOPD reportedly lowered its recruiting standards, essentially removing the physical agility requirement and asking the Civil Service Commission to score the written portion of the application less vigorously. ...

In interviews with NOPD officers at all ranks, we heard the consistent complaint that the Training Academy routinely graduated police recruits who were sub-par and not fit for duty.

Meanwhile, in Dayton, Ohio, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has successfully demanded that that city's police department lower its recruiting standards, complaining that the existing high standards on the written exam discriminated against African-Americans.

Full post as published by Point of Law on March 24, 2011 (boomark / email).