Diversity as a Policing Innovation

Diversity and police brutality has centered U.S socio political discourse during the 2020s. Contemporary affirmative action bans and publicly displayed organizational dilemmas within police departments characterize the need to analyze gaps found in supporting social equity innovation. Bayley (2008) analyzed 9 police innovations with diversity listed as a major contemporary advancement. Scholarly debates and the most prominent evidence are presented to argue the protection of affirmative action within police departments. First, an introduction to affirmative action is discussed on a macro level before offering a micro level analysis of diversity policy within police departments. Positive and negative arguments of upholding equitable policies, concerning diversity, within police organizations are dissected. Concluding thoughts are shared to further emphasize the significance of affirmative action and lack thereof as an organizational dilemma. Varied gender and race demographics are slowly increasing in police departments. Statista demonstrates a low 3% increase of female officers since Martin’s (1991) study (Gender distribution, 2021). In 1991, Martin detailed women make up just about 10% of the nation’s police force. During 2023, the amount of police officers who identified as female accounted for 13% of the nation’s police force. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported 10% of the nation’s law enforcement officers were Black in 2020. Women and Black sworn officers are still underrepresented. Additionally, Bureau of Justice Statistics graphed white male police officers account for 61% of the nation’s force. Expanding equal employment opportunities to minorities faces extinction as new policies support federal bans on implementing race conscious approaches to confront systemic discrimination.