Should the Newtown Township PD Hire Qualified Officers of Color?

At the January 13, 2021, Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, resident Frank McCarron made a case for increased diversity among Newtown Township's police officers. Currently, all 29 or so officers of the Newtown Township Police Department (NTPD) are white. Mr. McCarron suggested that all 3 officers that are planned to be hired in 2021 be officers of color.

How Are Police Officers Recruited?

Mr. McCarron explained that the NTPD uses the Bucks County Police Consortium to provide a list of qualified applicants who pay $50 to take a written test. If they pass the written test, candidates would need to pass a physical test and if they pass that, they tell the Consortium which township they want to interview for. Mr. McCarron claimed that this is a passive recruitment process rather than a pro-active process, which is necessary to achieve diversity.

Chief Hearn responded that he has confidence in the diversity of the application process and that he has pro-actively reached out to colleagues in the Philadelphia police force to recruit qualified officers of color. He pointed out, however, that it would be unfair to hire three officers of color in 2021.

Listen to the following audio clip of the discussion, which includes Mr. McCarron’s comments and Chief John Hearn's response when asked by Supervisor David Oxley to respond.

Some Statistics

To back up his claim that the racial profile of the NTPD does not match that of the community it serves, Mr. McCarron cited statistics from Council Rock North that claimed 15% of students were minority students. The Chief, however, cited Newtown Township specific statistics that indicated its population is 95% white.

However, another argument could be made that the NTPD racial/minority profile should match that of the targets of the majority of NTPD's actions: Traffic violations. The NTPD makes many traffic stops on major roads - Newtown Bypass, Swamp Rd, and Stoopville Rd - that have a lot of non-resident traffic. We don't know the racial profile of that group, partly due to the fact that the NTPD does not collect such information in routine traffic stops unless there is an arrest. Meanwhile, the Pa. State Police are resuming the collection of racial, ethnic data during all traffic stops. Read more about that here (read “Pa. State Police Resume Collecting Racial, Ethnic Data During Traffic Stops”).

Regardless of which population should be used to determine if NTPD officers are representative of the racial/ethnic makeup of the community it polices, it is important that ALL police officers are well qualified no matter what their race, ethnicity, or religious preference.

What Do You Think?

To gauge the opinion of residents, I am hosting a survey that asks your opinion of increasing the diversity in hiring of NTPD officers. It includes one simple question: “Should Newtown Police Department Hire Qualified Officers of Color?” Yes, No, or Not Sure?

Just as important as the answer to this question are your open-ended comments, some of which I have quoted below.

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Newtown Township approved survey. Its purpose is solely to inform John Mack – a Newtown Supervisor – of the public’s opinion regarding this issue.

A Summary of Results To Date

As of January 28, 2021, 142 responses have been collected. Sixty-three percent (63%) of respondents answered “Yes,” 18% answered “No,” and 19% said they were Not Sure/It depends. Over 85% of respondents live in Newtown Township (81%) or Wrightstown, which are the two townships covered by the NTPD.

Some Comments from Respondents Who Voted “No”

As one person noted on a Nextdoor post of this survey said: “I can't believe this is an actual poll and that people would actually vote no or disagree with a policy that promotes diversity.” Nevertheless, 26 Newtown Township/Wrightstown residents voted “No.”

A common argument of “No” respondents could be summed up in this response: “Most experienced and qualified should be the only hiring criteria employed in decision making.”

I can agree with the following sentiment expressed by a “No” voter but still vote “Yes.”

“Newtown should hire the most qualified applicants regardless of race or gender. If you want to hire more diverse candidates, recruit more diverse candidates, but make sure they are also the best candidates for the job, not just the best that applied.”

It’s a given that only qualified applicants are considered by Chief Hearn. But how does the Chief pick from amongst them? I am sure he looks at other factors that will improve the overall makeup of his department. Diversity could be one of those factors to consider when reviewing and hiring qualified applicants.

Some comments went further making arguments often heard against pro-active efforts to diversify:

“In my experience, diversity will trump qualifications and soon, reverse racism sets in. This is very much like reverse racist affirmative action.”

“Its racist to force people to hire employees based on their skin color. POCs should not get special treatment, they should get equality.”

“I don’t believe in hiring anyone just to diversify anything. I think there is too much of this type of thinking.”

“Our neighbors are protesting Racism with their BLM posters and 'End Racism' posters. Recruiting or hiring a person of color because of their skin color is Racist. Let's support the BLM movement, work to End Racism, and not hire people of color based on race or skin color.”

Unfortunately, some respondents decided to rephrase the question as “Should the NTPD hire officers SOLELY on the basis of color?” as in the following comment:

“Hiring someone based on Race is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is a bona fide violation the Equal Employment Opportunity Act to hire someone of color solely based on their skin color.”

Some Comments from Respondents Who Voted “Yes”

Many “Yes” respondents such as the following recognized that no matter what the color of an applicant is, he or she must be qualified.

“Qualifications & vetting of prior experience should always take precedence over skin color. If we/you are truly color-blind, skin color would not matter and the above would guide hiring. Newtown cannot cure national problems but we should have diversity.”

“The officers should be qualified, of course. I would hope that their presence on the police force alone would help create a better sense of racial tolerance among the rest of the officers. I’m sure our white officers make traffic stops, etc., of Blacks and other minorities.”

“With what has been going on in our country we need to show diversity in our local law enforcement . I'm all for it if they are qualified. We could consider women of color, too.”

“We should not wait until officers of color apply but should actively reach out to candidates. It is a tired old argument about how unfair it is to white police if all three hires are officers of color. How many hundreds of black police officers were overlooked until now? We have to start somewhere to make people of color feel as welcome as anybody else everywhere in Newtown.”

“I think it's important for the police to be diverse, even in a predominantly white community, as others do pass through, work, and shop here. It's a good practice for every employer.”

“I also think it is better for our children (and even adults!) to be seeing persons of color in positions like that to promote attitudes/recognition of diversity.”

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Newtown Township approved survey. Its purpose is solely to inform John Mack – a Newtown Supervisor – of the public’s opinion regarding this issue.