Barriers to Entering a Police Patrol Career: Examining Perceptions from Students of Color

• In Event: Perceptions of Police in the Educational Context

Abstract

Tensions between the police and communities of color have renewed calls for increasing the diversity of police departments. While representation of ethnic minority officers has increased in the past three decades, the recruitment, selection, and hiring of police officers of color remains a distinct challenge for many departments. Notably, the hiring of Black and African-American police officers appears to be the most problematic across the United States. Despite the obvious struggle to hire a diverse group of officers, little research has systematically examined the barriers to entry into a police patrol career as they are perceived by college students interested in criminal justice careers. Drawing upon a survey of students in criminal justice classes across five universities, the current inquiry seeks to explore how students of color perceive barriers for entry into a policing career.

Authors

• Charles Scheer, University of Southern Mississippi

• Michael Travis Rossler, Illinois State University

• Michael J. Suttmoeller, Missouri State University