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By Kim Minugh - kminugh@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, September 5, 2008

Racial diversity within the Sacramento Police Department has not kept pace with a city that increasingly is a rich melting pot of cultures. Three-fourths of sworn officers are white in a city with a population that is 45 percent white.

The number of officers of color has fallen a percentage point since 1992, when then-interim Chief Jerry Finney said work was needed to diversify the force. Current Chief Rick Braziel has echoed that call, following a recent study that found African American drivers were twice as likely to be pulled over by Sacramento police as non-black drivers.

Police officials said diversification has been a priority but will take time and community cooperation.

"It's not for a lack of trying," said Deputy Chief Sam Somers Jr., who oversees hiring. "Our department has tried to be innovative, tried to be on the cutting edge, but a lot of times you get nothing."

Researchers continue to debate whether having a police department that reflects its community yields quantifiable results, such as fewer arrests of minorities or fewer excessive-force complaints by minorities.

The consultant who recently found black and Latino drivers are pulled over more often than whites and Asians said past studies have shown an officer's race does not affect whom he or she stops.

But police, experts and community members alike agree that increased diversity improves public perception.

"The general notion is that if a community sees itself reflected in a police department, it will feel more attached to the police department, it is less likely to see them as an occupying force … and it is more likely to be willing to cooperate with the police," said Delores Jones-Brown, director of the Center on Race, Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

In the past five years, Sacramento police have made virtually no progress in increasing the percentage of Asian or Latino officers. The percentage of African American officers has declined to 4 percent from 6 percent.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department's demographics are nearly identical to those of the Police Department – but closer to the population the agency serves. About 73 percent of deputies are white, compared with about 65 percent of residents.

Though a more diverse department is a good goal, Sheriff John McGinness said he is satisfied with progress the department has made.

And while community leaders have focused on the Sacramento Police Department's racial breakdown, Somers and Braziel point to tremendous gains in gender diversification – also key to having a police force reflect its community. The number of female officers has increased 30 percent since 2003.

To recruit minority candidates, officials are using the model that improved the department's gender numbers. "Our mottoes are 'Recruit one at a time' and 'We train for success,' " Braziel said.

For now, police efforts are hamstrung by the city's budget shortfall. With hiring frozen, recruitment is at a standstill.

Experts say other hurdles include competition from the private sector and distrust in some minority communities.

Police can change that by interacting with residents in ways other than arresting them, said Jones-Brown. The more that happens, she said, "the more the community will see (police) as human beings and young people will see them as role models."

David Swim, a criminal justice professor at California State University, Sacramento, and a retired Stockton police captain, cautioned against assuming that residents would always see themselves in an officer, even within a diverse law enforcement agency.

African American officers, for example, are not only sent to calls involving African Americans, he said. But officers of different backgrounds interact – and that's where understanding and sensitivity can breed.

"The more demographically diverse we are, the more we get to understand each other's plight," Swim said.

Despite Sacramento's budget troubles, Braziel said he plans to ask the City Council in October to expand an existing program that works to hook young people into the department early.

Public service aides are hired to assist in criminal justice academies at area high schools that serve large minority populations. When they graduate and go to college, they can become student trainees. At age 21, and with a two-year college degree, they can enter the police academy.

"You can't not invest in your future," Braziel said. "And this is, in my opinion, a very cheap investment financially … to try and diversify this organization."