Black Police, White Society

Chapter 2. On the Job: Perceptions within the NYPD

Chapter Two On the Job: Perceptions within the NYPD There's this one [white] sergeant here that loves to refer to [black] people as "those people." If you're black and you refer to black people as "those people" you're treated okay by him. Otherwise you may not be. You get a few black cops who do that sort of thing, guys who have no backbone. They're treated by th is one sergeant as one of the guys. E ARLIER we presented racial data for the NYPD from a number of sources including government reports, newspapers , and the department's Office of Equal Employment Opportul1ity. These data, while revealing the statistical accomplishments (and failures) of black police officers over the past decade or so, do not tell us how black officers themselves perceive their situation in the department today as compared with that of the past. Our intent is to try to uncover and present these feelings since they, and not the statistics, create the individual officer's particular sense of identity and of belonging, and influence his reactions to his wo::-king environment, colleagues, and to society at large. And it is the individual officer's reactions to his perceived environment that, in turn, help shape the public's view of the department. Stated another way, if the black policeman feels that he is getting ahead in his career with the department, he is apt to communicate these sentiments in various ways to his police colleagues and to the many different people and groups he comes in contact with daily. On the Job: Perceptions within the NYPD 39 Conversely, if he senses that he is being left behind or unfairly treated because he is black, or if his accomplishments are seen as trivial or unimportant by others, those feelings too are likely to be communicated and may eventually become the basis for grc)up dissatisfaction . Virtually all of the 46 black policemen interviewed for this study were aware of the many and varied efforts in the past two decades to improve the overall position of black people in America. Most were also aware of some of the more direct attempts that have been made to restructure the New York City police department in keeping with the changing interests and needs of the city's bla(:k population , including its police. Yet there are clear differences c.f opinion among the officers as to the effect these efforts have .had on the overall situation of blacks in the department and especially on the extent to which individual police commanders and sup(~rvisors have lived up to their "official" position of equal treatment: for all police personnel regardless of color or ethnic background. What follows in this chapter is a breakdown of these differences into essentially three response categories: (1) those who believe that black officers are now treated in about the same fashion as are wllite officers , (2) those who perceive a basic discrepancy betweerl "official " department policy which outwardly supports standards of full equality and the "actual" practices of individual white superiors toward black policemen, and, (3) those who are dissatisfied with the overall progress that has been made in removing racial barriers to full job equality and opportunity. We are especially concerned with the perceptions of these men concerning patterns of racial discrimination and inequality in the police department and with the explanations they offer to account for their persistence or absellce today . Where Policy and Practice Coincide The feeling that black officers are now treated on an equal status basis with white officers is reflected in the views and comments of 24 of the 46 respondents who were asked, "In your opinion are black policemen treated the same as white policemen by the deparnnent ?" This majority reports that conditions under which black 40 DISCRIMINATION AND THE BLACK OFFICER officers work have vastly improved in recent years, and most attribute this chal1ge to forces operating outside the police bureaucracy . That is, they do not acknowledge department leaders as having taken the initiative in bringing about racial reform; rather, they view recent gains in their collective position as stemming primarily from formal government intervention, pressures exerted by various civil rights groups and black organizations, and changing police needs in the city. C11anging Political and Social Climate It is claimed by a number of men in the study that the overall political and social climate in...