The Effect of Civil Service on Diversity in Small and Rural Police Departments

• In Event: Standards in Policing

Abstract

Police departments in the US use the civil service system to reduce bias in hiring. However, not all police departments are required to use civil service, especially in small and rural areas. In particular, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires use of the civil service system for some municipality types (e.g., boroughs), but not others (e.g., townships). This study assesses whether civil service affects diversity in hiring in small and rural areas. That is, do small and rural police departments using the civil service system have more women and people of color among their sworn officers?
To answer this question, survey responses collected during the summer of 2020 from 349 police chiefs serving small and rural police departments in Pennsylvania were used. About half (51.7%) of the chiefs reported that their departments use a civil service system for hiring. Comparisons in sex and race/ethnicity of sworn officers between departments that do and do not use civil service will be discussed.

Author

• Jennifer C. Gibbs, Penn State Harrisburg