1996_02 The Daily Collegian February 1996

              February 16, 1996
Page 3
The blue glass ceiling: The
emergence of the
African-American police chief
ByJacq Wilson
Editor in chief
History shows that the dominant cul¬
ture within American policing has en¬
gaged in the systematic denial of African
Americans for positions of police chiefs.
This systematic denial was facilitated by
an unwritten policy that suggested that
minorities did not possess the mental
capacity or professional skills needed to
occupy leadership positions.
Dr. Jerome Jackson, a criminology
professor at C.S.U., Fresno, is conduct¬
ing a study on the career paths and pat¬
terns of women and minority executive
officers. According to Jackson, although
there is a void in the literature surround¬
ing the difficulties African American
police officers have experienced while
trying to advance to the pinnacle of their
profession (the position of police chief),
it can be inferred that the belief that non-
whites perceive blacks as not having the
v. skills and knowledge to be successful
police officers can be transferred over to
the position of police chief. s
"By infer, I maintain that those who
apply traditional stereotypes to the of¬
ficer on the street, also apply those ste¬
reotypes to the officer in the suite," Jack¬
son said. .
However, during the past few de¬
cades, there have been numerous success
"Stories amo/ng police chiefs, such as, Lee
BrowhTa graduate of C.S.U., Fresno
(1961), and the first African American to
serve as police chief in a predominantly
white-populated city (Houston, Texas).
Chief Joseph Samuels, who was Fresno's
first African American police chief, is
currently a police chief* in Oakland, Ca.
Thus, the erroneous beliefs held about
African Americans have begun to dissi¬
pate and African Americans are receiv¬
ing greater opportunities to prove them¬
selves qualified for leadership positions.
Prior to 1950, no matter how quali¬
fied African Americans were, they were
unable to advance to the position of po¬
lice chief. However, after the 1950s, this
salient void slowly began to disappear.
In 1958, Pay ton I. Flournoy became the
first African-American police chief^He.
-    *Wved as the police chief of the Patmya, j
New Jersey, Police Department. In the
following year (1959), a Baptist Minis-
fe^ Robert Wesby, became chief of Au¬
rora, Illinois. In (1962), Theodore
* Wilburn became chief of Portsmouth,
Ohio. During the seventies, conditions
for African-American police chiefs
changed considerably. By 1982, the num¬
ber of African-American police chiefs
had escalated to 50: during the early
1990s, the number of African-American
police chiefs had climbed to 130; and in
1994, the number of African-American
police chiefs had reached a staggering
169.
Jackson has attributed this increase of
to the increase of minorities in inter cities,
the Civil Rights Movement, affirmative-ac¬
tion legislation, African Americans pursu¬
ing higher degrees of education and, most
importantly, to African-American police of¬
ficers in executive positions, prior to the civil
rights movement. African-American police
officers
"We have at least three categories of
assistance in the mobility of police execu¬
tives. (1) Those who have made it, without
the assistance of social service agencies or
civil-rights initiatives; (2) those who have
been assisted by social service agencies and
affirmative action, or luckily being in the
right place at the right time; and (3) those
who have made it as a combination of what
they know, where they were, and through
African-American police officers to
afirmative-action policies, civil-rights ini¬
tiatives and laws coming into effect," Jack¬
son said.
Although the number of African-Ameri¬
can police chiefs
has proliferated
during the past
three decades, they
are still seriously
underrepresented
in law enforce¬
ment. In 1994,
there were between
17,500 and 18,000
police departments
in this county. Af¬
rican Americans
served as police
chiefs in 169 of
these cities. Ac¬
cording to a 1994
study entitled—
Police Leadership:
The Arrival of the
African-American
Commander, which
was conducted by
Jackson and Wil¬
son, African
Americans repre¬
sent .00966% to
.00939% of all po¬
lice chiefs. It is,
therefore, apparent
that African
Americans still ex¬
perience difficul¬
ties while advanc¬
ing to die position
of police chief.
Dr. Jackson
said there are at
least two major
factors preventing
African-American
police officers
from advancing to
the highest seat of
leadership.
"Policing has at
its core, the disease
that is at the core of
America, and that
is racism. The ex¬
perience of African Americans in American
law enforcement closely parallels theirover-
all experience in America's," said Jackson.
"But not only that, the institution is so
designed that one has to move up the ladder
for promotion in order to be in a position to
become a chief. If the pool of individuals at
this level does not include minorities, then
they cannot move beyond that point," said
Jackson. 'The task is to get more, in the
hierarchy of policing, so that when promo¬
tion, selection or election comes, they have
a chance of being selected. Our problem is
that we are not there."
African-American police chiefs have
been effective in implementing numerous
reform policies—community-oriented po¬
licing and neighborhood policing—thathave
^en opposed by those historically serving
in the position of police chief.
According to Jackson, this is one of the
most significant impacts that African-Ameri¬
can police chiefs have had on policing. They
have consistently introduced policing
statagies that continue to reach out to the
larger population.
"They reach out to the grassroots of the
members of the population. They try to
address the needs of those who more often
than not become clients of the criminal jus¬
tice system," Jackson said.
African-American police chiefs bring a
unique characteristic to the position of po-
/lice chief. Jackson said, "They have lived
\the minority experience. They bring a
perspective and an understanding to the
position that is uniquely different than that
brought to the position by members of the
dominant culture. Members of the domi¬
nant culture do not understand what it is to
be a second class citizen in this country,
whereas African-American police chiefs
do."
Aside from their minority status, Afri-
can-American police chiefs, as well as
 See Page 7
MLA Convention in windy city
draws over 700 participants
By Janet Fujimoto
Managing editor
The windy city of f
Chicago drew thousands of   *
people from across the
United States as they gath¬
ered at the Eleventh Annual
Modern Language Associa¬
tion (MLA) Convention, held
Dec. 27-30, 1995. The MLA
Convention is an annual
gathering of teachers and
scholars in the field of
language and literature, who
meet to share their ideas and
research with colleagues from
other universities.
The English sessions were held
at the Hyatt Regency Chicago,
while the foreign language and
comparative literature sessions were
held at the Chicago Marriott. Hotel
shuttles transported participants to
and from both hotels to sessions
that began as early as 8:30 a.m. and
lasted until 10:15 p.m.
This year's program consisted of
over 700 interesting and concurrent
sessions. Famous names such as
Trudier Harris, a Toni Morrison
scholar, and legendary poets such as
Gwendolyn Brooks, Shirley Lim,
and David Mura brought an
exceptionally large and diverse
audience to their sessions.
Other sessions contained useful
information for job seekers and
graduate students, while giving them the
opportunity to network with other
faculty and students. "I highly recom¬
mend it for those who want to be
informed of current scholarship in this
field," said Fresno State's Julie Nagao-
Thompson, graduate student of English.
k
As the convention came to a close,
many of its attendants rushed out of
their hotels to sightsee on their last day
in Chicago. Many headed from the Art
Institute of Chicago, which was a few
blocks away from where the convention
was held, while avid sports fans paid a
visit to Michael Jordan's famous
restaurant.
The 1996 MLA convention will be
held Dec. 27-30, in Washington D.C.
Attendance is encouraged, and partici¬
pants are seldom disappointed!
)
Uhuru is
printed on
recycled paper
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