Racial Discrimination in Urban Police Departments

Abstract

The highly emotional issue of racial discrimination in hiring by law enforcement agencies is examined. Circumstances that make this topic both salient and problematic are discussed, and a conceptual model is presented which outlines barriers to the em ployment of blacks in predominantly white police departments. Barriers are classified according to purpose (whether intentional or unintentional) and location (within the individual police officer, the law enforcement organization, or other social institution). The literature concerning all these obstacles is reviewed and data are presented which bear on one phase of this model—namely, barriers that are unintentional and departmental. The principal finding is that white officers, irrespective of racial beliefs, are un willing to relinquish certain role behaviors to black officers.