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Impact of Fanchon Blake v. City of Los Angeles on the Selection, Recruitment, Training, Appointment, and Performance of Women and Minorities for the Los Angeles Police Department and the City of Los Angeles, Volume II

NCJ Number
155236
Date Published
1990
Length
175 pages
Annotation
This study assesses the extent to which the Los Angeles Police Department has complied with the Blake Consent Decree, which set annual and long-range goals for the percentage of pre- training appointments of females, African-Americans, and Hispanics up to 1988, as well as their representation in entry-level sworn-officer positions through the first quarter of 1990.
Abstract
Since the Blake Consent Decree mandates that the City perform reasonable selective recruitment efforts for women and minorities, this report discusses specific programs developed to enhance the recruitment of women and racial and ethnic minorities. Departmental outreach recruitment programs are examined within the context of both their focus and effectiveness, and in-house programs developed to prepare and retain recruits are addressed. The Blake Consent Decree mandates that qualified applicants be appointed to sworn-officer positions and that the decree shall not be construed to require the appointment and retention of unqualified applicants. This study analyzes incidences of attrition during both the academy and field-training phases of the probationary period by sex ethnicity, and reasons for attrition; this is to compare attrition rates through resignations or terminations before and after the Blake Consent Decree. Regarding promotions into management-level, sworn-officer positions, the decree mandates that the LAPD promote at least six female officers into the position of lieutenant. The representativeness of both minorities and women within LAPD's various ranks is assessed. The study concludes that although the department has not yet achieved its long-term goals in appointing women and Hispanics as sworn officers, its annual progress in hiring substantially greater numbers of women, African-Americans, and Hispanics, as well as other minorities, shows that the department has, acting in good faith, made reasonable efforts to do so. 53 tables and appended supplementary information