Joliet Police Department short women, minority patrol officers

JOLIET – As a teenager growing up on Joliet’s east side, Juan Acosta knew he wanted to be a police officer.

“I thought, ‘Maybe I can show one kid, or two kids, they don’t have to live out a stereotype. … They can be whatever they want as long as you put your mind to it,’ ” said Acosta, a 26-year-old hired this year by the Joliet Police Department. “I figured I have a little brother and a godson, and I can show them a different path as to what’s available out there.”

Being Hispanic, Acosta knows he’s a rarity on the city’s police force, which, despite efforts to diversify, continues to have far more white males than African-American, Hispanic and women patrol officers.

Of the 272 patrol officers on staff, 19 are Hispanic and 21 are black, compared with 230 white officers, according to JPD data. That means 7 percent of patrol officers are Hispanic in a community that's nearly 28 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and 7 percent of patrol officers are black, whereas 16 percent of Joliet residents are black.

Diversifying the city’s police force is easier said than done, particularly in the face of anti-police sentiment fueled by instances of white officers’ fatal shootings of black men in cities across the U.S.

The Aug. 9, 2014, fatal shooting of Michael Brown – a black teen – by a white police officer thrust the issue of race into the national spotlight and highlighted the need for the predominantly white Ferguson, Missouri, police department to diversify its ranks.

Acosta said he believes the Joliet Police Department has a great relationship with the community, even in areas with high crime rates. But that doesn’t mean the department should stop striving for more diversity, he said.

“With things going on across the country, the world is changing and police departments have to change with them, but ... I believe the best person should get the job, regardless of race,” Acosta said. “That said, for the past four years, I’ve been going to school, I’ve been preparing myself for this opportunity. I didn’t just apply one day and say, ‘I should get this job because I’m Hispanic.’ I’ve worked hard to get to this point.”

Hiring practices, challenges

Like many departments across the U.S., the Joliet Police Department hires officers by establishing an eligibility list based on written examination scores and oral interviews, and hires from the top of that list.

Diversifying law enforcement is a complex issue – evidenced by the pool of applicants who applied in 2014 to the Joliet Police Department.

Of the 956 applicants who made it onto the department’s eligibility list, nearly 600 were white, while 179 were Hispanic, 108 were black and 123 were women.

“We have to work with the list we have,” training and recruitment coordinator Sgt. Rob Hall said. “At the end of the day, we have to hire top-notch people.”

The department is charged with hiring the best-qualified officer – regardless of race or gender – based on testing, background checks, psychological evaluations and physical ability, Hall said. To place more significance on someone’s race or gender over other qualifications would be detrimental and counter-productive to building a high-caliber police force, he said.

Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton said a hiring freeze and budget cuts in previous years led to significant reduction in the Joliet police force, hampering recruitment.

Once the multi-year hiring freeze lifted in 2015, many of the hires early on were lateral hires of applicants with vast police experience. Of the 45 officers hired since the freeze was lifted, 33 were white men. Three were Hispanic men and three were black men. Six women – all white – also have joined the force since that time.

Benton said a change in hiring practice may be necessary to foster a more diverse force. He said the city’s Board of Fire and Police Commissioners is discussing the possibility of giving additional preference points to applicants who are Joliet-area members of the Police Explorers, a group for teens and young adults to learn about law enforcement, about half of the members of which are Hispanic.

‘It’s critical’

Benton, who has served as police chief since 2013, said he made the department’s training and recruitment coordinator a full-time position with the hopes of dedicating more time and energy to minority and female recruitment.

“It’s critical to have a community that can look at the police force and see themselves in the workforce,” Benton said. “To have that shared respect ... in order for the police to be effective, the public’s trust has to be there.”

Just as well, Benton said, white officers should be capable of building relationships with minority communities.

“Having worked for years on the city’s South Side as a white officer in an all-black neighborhood, I realized early in my career how you have to work harder to gain that trust. But you can gain it,” said Benton, referring to his time in the 1990s as a patrol officer.

The fire and police board voted recently to renew the existing eligibility list for another year, Benton said, meaning it will be some time before any significant changes can be made to department demographics. Even then, he said, the goal is to hire the most qualified, regardless of race or gender.

“While it is our goal to improve the diverse demographics of our department, we do not want to compromise the quality of the officers we hire,” Benton said. “It takes a unique person to be a police officer, especially in this day and age.”

Under-representation of women

Women and minorities are underrepresented in police departments across the U.S., said Yvonne Isom, assistant professor of criminal and social justice at the University of St. Francis. In a class of 20, just one student is a black man. Two are Latino and one is a black woman.

Isom blames a long history of strained relationships and mistrust, adding that more needs to be done to recruit minorities, especially women, into the field.

She suggested providing and advertising the availability of additional resources, such as special training for women applicants who fail the physical fitness tests. That resource was available years ago when Isom applied for the Rochester, New York Police Department.

“They were overtly recruiting women,” she said.

In a male-dominated career field, Isom said women in policing can make a big difference, noting how studies have shown women officers are less confrontational and more effective communicators.

“We need more minorities and females to apply so we can break barriers of hostility and tension between police and the community,” Isom said. “We have to foster an environment of understanding and empathy.”

Hall said he also would like to see more women join the police force. They bring unique traits to the job, he said, such as instances when police respond to a female domestic violence victim. In some cases, the female victims may be more willing to open up to a fellow woman, he said. Children, too, may find it easier to speak with women officers.

Joliet patrol officer Kristi Petro, hired earlier this year in the most recent round, was one of the few women applicants who passed the required physical fitness test.

The police department has 22 white women, one Hispanic woman and no black women on patrol.

Petro said while she encourages women to join the force, she doesn’t think that’s necessary to build a culture of understanding and compassion between the department and the community it serves.

“It’s about having the right person in the field,” Petro said. “It’s about having the right mindset ... I hope to do my best for whomever I’m working with, regardless of race. It’s about building trust.”