Police minority recruitment: Predicting who will say yes to an offer for a job as a cop

Abstract

Despite substantial gains made by law enforcement agencies in attracting minorities into police work, blacks still remain underrepresented in most municipal police departments. One common explanation for their underrepresentation has been that blacks find the prospect of a carrer in law enforcement unattractive, presumably because they have negative attitudes toward the police. Using survey data, this study used logistic regression to test whether attitudes toward the police predicted interest in police work among black and white high school seniors. Only limited support was found for the assertion that blacks' negative attitudes toward the police preclude their consideration of a career in law enforcement.