Boston police want to recruit more minorities, but how isn’t clear
The Boston Police Department distributed index-size cards promoting the police officer exam this year, organized informational seminars, and helped residents sign up for the test at neighborhood stations. The department also tapped religious and civic leaders to spread the word and fanned out to high schools and colleges throughout Boston encouraging people of color and women to take the exam.
“It was probably the greatest effort we ever made,” Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said in a recent interview. “More than ever we tried to promote this job. We recognize the importance of increasing our diversity.”
But despite this effort, a thousand fewer applicants signed up to take the civil service exam to become a Boston police officer than in previous years. Of the 1,536 who did sign up, 51 percent were people of color — a percentage that has remained about the same since 2011 despite the department’s targeted efforts to attract a more diverse applicant pool this year.
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