Police Commissioner trying to diversify ranks

Phialdelphia’s Police Commissioner talked about recruiting and hiring qualified applicants during his city council testimony.  

 Commissioner Charles Ramsey says a third of his officers are African American but recent police violence has made it increasingly difficult to hire more minority recruits.

“There is not a day that goes by you don’t see something negative about what’s occurring in policing somewhere in the country that has an impact on young people too.”

The commissioner says many young minorities who don’t have relatives to follow into the profession are seeking out high tech jobs instead of the police department.

“Trying to go after that population of people that probably would not have thought about law enforcement because they have no family members as part of it is a population we have to attract. “

Ramsey says the department has hired a person with recruiting experience in order to broaden the department’s hiring.