A Seat at the Table: The Promises and Limitations of Black Officer Representation

• In Event: 2451 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 21. Representation and Inclusivity II

Abstract

Scholars, policy makers, and police administrators have proposed that hiring more Black police officers might positively impact police-community relations and decrease racialized police violence in Black urban settings. Drawing on 30 interviews with Black police officers in a large urban police department, I offer an empirical account of how Black officers may—or may not—alter the reality of racialized police violence. Findings suggest that officers’ responses to racially biased behaviors were often influenced by contextual and situational factors (e.g. the presence of white officers, race of the command structure) as well as the strength of officers’ racial identification. Based on these findings, I develop a theoretical model called the Black & Blue paradigm which groups officers into three categories: racially conservative, racially neutral, and social justice oriented. The Black & Blue paradigm identifies officers as primarily active or passive in their racial or organizational representation, depending upon their identity categories and policing context. Simply hiring more Black police officers is not sufficient, the type of officer and the organizational context matter as well.

Author

• Kayla A. Preito-Hodge, University of Massachusetts-Amherst