Schenectady police minority recruitment effort stumbles

The police recruiting process takes four months of interviews, background checks, lie-detector tests, agility screenings and psychological exams.

In short, said Schenectady Police Chief Mark Chaires, there is little room for race to play a major factor once the recruitment phase has started.

All seven of the new recruits to the Schenectady Police Department sworn in on Monday afternoon are white males, despite the department’s efforts to increase the number of minorities in the force.

“I’m disappointed,” Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard said. “Not to take away from anyone’s ability — but we need to step up and do more effective recruiting. They should represent the city of Schenectady. That includes white women and men, African-American women and men, and Hispanic women and men.”

Likewise, Council President Gary McCarthy said he wants and encourages minority recruitment, but he did not know a lot about the new recruits. “I have not met any of the hires. I wasn’t invited to the swearing in. I’m really out of the loop for the whole thing,” he said.

The Police Department for years has been marked by officer corruption and misconduct. This year alone, five officers have either been fired or resigned under duress. And the city is trying to fire two more.

Cleaning up the department by replacing these officers with dependable and qualified recruits is Chaires’ stated top priority.

“First and foremost is good character and a desire to serve the community. Minorities are going to bring a unique perspective, which is important. But the process is so exacting,” he said.

Currently, the police force is made up of 156 officers, six of whom are black, including Chaires. He is the department’s first black chief and his father was its first black police officer. And unfortunately, Chaires said, that number will drop to five if the department is successful in firing officer Dwayne Johnson.

Johnson faces four felonies related to allegations that he worked at a gas station when he was supposed to be patrolling for the city. His criminal trial is set for late August.

Small slice

Officials said minorities and women account for about 7 percent of the Schenectady police force.

Chaires said one of the difficulties in hiring minority officers is competition from other departments in cities such as Albany or Troy. About 12 percent of the officers at the Albany Police Department are minorities, not including women, said Detective Jim Miller, spokesman for that department.

To become a police officer, applicants take the Civil Service exam. High scorers receive a letter from the SPD asking if they are still interested. If they are, the four-month process of tests, checks and interviews begins, Chaires said.

The key to increasing the number of minority officers is to make the job more appealing to women and minority groups, Chaires said.

If more minorities and women take the Civil Service exam to begin with, there will be a greater chance they will move on to the recruitment stage. At that point the process becomes so standardized, there is no place to interfere to give these groups an advantage, he said.

Paul Webster, president of the Schenectady chapter of the NAACP, agreed that getting more minorities in the police force requires getting them interested in the first place.

He said that the challenge SPD faces in recruiting more minorities is distrust of law enforcement or disinterest within minority communities.

“In many cases, qualified candidates with the necessary credits can earn higher pay elsewhere, without putting their lives at risk,” Webster said. “That does not mean the city should not continue its vigilance in attracting and recruiting diverse candidates.”

Fixing the corruption within the force and cleaning up its reputation, in addition to a vigorous campaign that encourages minorities to take the Civil Service exam, are the ways SPD can increase its minority numbers, Webster said.

Chaires and Miriam Cajuste, the county’s affirmative action coordinator, have been working to reach out to minority communities by handing out brochures in churches, mosques and community centers.

“I leave some brochures at my barber shop,” Chaires said. The department also looked at a pool of candidates from across the state in order to increase the chances of hiring minority officers.

Chaires said he and Cajuste will meet Thursday to discuss how to get more minorities to take the next Civil Service exam in November.

In addition to community outreach, Chaires said he has been taking a cue from the Schenectady Fire Department, which promotes careers in fire fighting among children in middle school and high school.

“The most important thing is to reach out to young kids,” Chaires said. “If a kid sees a person of color, like me, they might think, ‘Maybe I’ll consider law enforcement.’ ”