Manchester Police Department Study: Diversity Statistics

Manchester Police Department Study: Diversity Statistics

This paper conducts research on the Manchester Police Department to assess the diversity of its staff. The findings from the assessment are then compared against the national statistics and recommendations developed to help the police department improve the diversity of its employees.

Summary of Data

Manchester Police Department, NJ, is a police department where gender and race are less diversified. Of the 71 officers in total, 97.18% are male, whereas females take up only 2.82%. Also, in this police department, 94.37% are White, whereas Blacks, Hispanics, and others take 1.41%, 2.82%, and 1.41%, respectively, of the number of officers (Manchester Police Department NJ, 2024). This reflects that those in the workforce are predominately white and male, since limited representation exists in females and racial minorities, and there is therefore considerable room for improvement to foster a more diverse and inclusive police department.

Comparison with National Data

Diversity in the Manchester Police Department of NJ significantly differs from the national average. For example, whereas Data USA (2022) indicates that 14.2% of police officers nationwide are women, only 2.82% out of all officers in Manchester are females, which is a huge difference in gender distribution. Racially, the Manchester department composition is 94.37% white, far higher than the 70.9% average across the nation (Data USA, 2022). The department also has only 1.41% Black officers, which is very much below the national number, which stands at 13.6%. In Manchester, Hispanic representation is even less, at 2.82%, while nationally it is 17.2% of the workforce (Data USA, 2022).

These figures denote that Manchester Police Department is less diversified both in gender and race compared to the national averages. The national policing has a greater representation across racial minorities and women; therefore, Manchester’s police department need to implement relevant initiatives to further improve diversity in order to reflect broader demographic trends within U.S. law enforcement.

Discussion

The Manchester Police Department of New Jersey is less representative than the national average across police departments in the United States. As stated above, nationally, 14.2% of all officers are women, while Manchester’s department has only 2.82% female representation within their ranks (Data USA, 2022). Even racial diversity falls short: 94.37% of Manchester’s officers are white, whereas nationwide, that number is only 70.9%. Whereas Manchester police department’s respective Black and Hispanic officers equal a low 1.41% and 2.82%, the national averages are 13.6% and 17.2%, respectively (Data USA, 2022). This would indicate that, within Manchester’s police department, diversity in relation to gender and race is highly lacking compared to most police departments throughout the country.

Recommendation on how to Enhance Diversity

In order to improve diversity within police departments, several strategies could be adopted:

1. Incorporate DEIS training into basic police curricula

According to the argument made by Cohen and Goodman (2023), incorporating DEI in police learning and training could actually foster the uptake of women and minority groups into police departments. DEI training, especially during the formative years, might inspire people of color to join the police force.

2. Promote increased representation of women and minorities through formal recruitment strategies

Wiseman (2021) noted that remedial actions such as targeting particular candidates of color or female candidates can help to reduce existing diversity disparities. This might include working with community-based agencies or with universities in order to attract a wider pool of candidates.

3. Expand outreach efforts

Another suggestion by Wiseman (2021) that needs to be implemented would be the expansion of the recruitment campaign, which would bring in talented candidates from different diversity backgrounds. Making police recruitment events widely available and making police careers popular throughout many media channels can establish increased interest and participation.

References

Cohen, G., & Goodman, D. (2023). Rethinking diversity in policing: an analysis of diversity training standards in basic police academies across the United States. Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration, 1(2), 65-85. https://doi.org/10.24926/jsepa.v1i2.4836

Data USA. (2022). Police officers | Data USA. Datausa.io. https://datausa.io/profile/soc/police-

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Manchester Police Department NJ. (2024). NJ Police Diversity Data. NJ Police. https://nj-police-diversity-data.fly.dev/nj-police-diversity-data/nj-police-diversity-data/303

Wiseman, J. (2021). Recruiting for Diversity in Law Enforcement: Selected Recent Research Insights Introduction. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/janewiseman/files/police_recruiting_research_summary_august_2021.pdf