The City of Lawrence has announced that it will hire the first all-Spanish-speaking police class. Mayor Daniel Rivera says the next seven police officers will be hired from a civil service list of only Spanish-speaking candidates.
Rivera says, "We're thrilled, because we've been trying to figure out a better way to serve our community. And this problem that we've seen nationally, where there's a disconnect between the police and the people, we cannot afford in Lawrence."
There's a disconnect between the police and the people [that] we cannot afford in Lawrence.
Rivera says this plan comes after city authorities pushed to bypass "the Castro consent decree" - a 1970s ruling that the city must hire one person of color for every three non-minorities.
He says only 21% of the city's 96 police officers are Hispanic or Latino...yet 82% of the city's residents are black and Latino.
Says Rivera, "If we are going to avoid the problems of Ferguson, MO with the death of Michael Brown; and Baltimore, MD with the death of Freddie Grey; and New York, NY with the death of Eric Garner and Walter County, TX with the death of Sandra Bland, we cannot continue to hire in the same manner."
He adds that having the ability to use a Civil Service list to fill the next 7 slots with Spanish speakers will help create a tighter bond with the community.
Rivera says, "This is not about quotas; this is about common sense. When almost half of your population is Spanish speaking and/or limited English, uyou want to insure that the men and women of the police department reflect that."
