Race, Ethnicity and the Female Cop: Differential Patterns of Representation

Abstract

This article examines factors hypothesized to be associated with the employment of female police officers in US municipal law enforcement agencies. Female officer representation is investigated within three primary racial or ethnic groups-Caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanics. This study utilizes data collected from a representative sample of police departments serving populations over 25,000 residents across the US during the period of 1993 to 1996. The primary findings of the research suggest that a small but noteworthy increase in the number of female officers occurred during this three-year period. In addition, it was found that variation in the proportion of female police officers hired in each racial or ethnic group was influenced by different sets of external and internal explanatory variables. Previous research treating female officer representation as a single aggregate group is misleading to the extent that it hides the observed cross-racial and ethnic differences observed here.

Ethnic diversity in policing: An application of quantile regression to the New York City Police Department

“…Guajardo, 2015bGuajardo, & 2015c. These findings are consistent with prior studies which have found that minority men and women have made marginal progress with respect to entering into policing and subsequently ascending to supervisor and command positions (e.g., Bolton, 2003;Franklin, 2005;Martin, 1991Martin, , 2004Polisar & Milgram, 1996;Raganella & White, 2004;Riccucci & Saldivar, 2014;Schroedel et al, 1996;Shelly et al, 2011;Stokes & Scott, 1996;Townsey, 1982;Warner et al, 1989;Zhao, Herbst, & Lovrich, 2001). Since few studies on ethnic and gender integration into policing have utilized diversity indices to assess the overall level of workforce heterogeneity in police and civilian positions, the extent to which police agencies are diverse in terms of ethnicity and gender is not fully known (Guajardo, 2014a(Guajardo, , 2014b(Guajardo, , & 2015a.…”

“…It does so by including the ethnicity and gender of employees jointly to obtain a more comprehensive measurement of workforce heterogeneity. In prior studies, the percent of Black, minority, or women officers in policing have served as dependent (or response) variables (e.g., Gustafson, 2013;Hochstedler & Conley, 1986;Kellough, 1990;Kim, 1993;Zhao, Herbst, & Lovrich, 2001). While these measures are useful for assessing ethnic or gender integration of specific populations into policing, they provide limited information in terms of the overall workforce diversity achieved by a police agency (e.g., Guajardo, 2015a).…”

“…This study is based in the theoretical framework that factors within police agencies determine the extent to which they hire and promote minority men and women into and within their workforces (see Figure 1; e.g., Guajardo, 2014cGuajardo, & 2015cGustafson, 2013;Warner et al, 1989;Zhao, He, & Lovrich, 2006;Zhao, Herbst, & Lovrich, 2001). At the organizational level (i.e., macro level), internal organization-based covariates (e.g., the type of workforce and the size of the workforce) effect the rate to which minority men and women are hired into a police agency and effect the level of ethnic diversity (e.g., Guajardo, 2014cGuajardo, & 2015cGustafson, 2013;Warner et al, 1989;Zhao, He, & Lovrich, 2006;Zhao, Herbst, & Lovrich, 2001).…”

“…At the organizational level (i.e., macro level), internal organization-based covariates (e.g., the type of workforce and the size of the workforce) effect the rate to which minority men and women are hired into a police agency and effect the level of ethnic diversity (e.g., Guajardo, 2014cGuajardo, & 2015cGustafson, 2013;Warner et al, 1989;Zhao, He, & Lovrich, 2006;Zhao, Herbst, & Lovrich, 2001). Within the hierarchical structure of police agencies (i.e., micro level), internal organization-based covariates also effect the integration of minority men and women into supervisor and command positions (e.g., Bolton, 2003;Guajardo, 2015c;Gustafson, 2013).…”

Race and Officer Decision Making: Examining Differences in Arrest Outcomes between Black and White Officers

“…While there have been gains in the raw number of Blacks working in American law enforcement agencies, with most employed in metropolitan areas and in municipalities where African Americans hold key political positions (i.e., Black mayors), Black police officers remain a numerical minority in most police agencies (Dulaney, 1996;Saltzstein, 1989). The ability to gather adequate data to examine actual differences in officer behavior between racial groups, not just officer views or attitudes about police behavior or other phenomena, may have eluded those interested in this subject matter (Zhao et al, 2001). In other words, the costs associated with securing a large sample of Black officers may have been prohibitive.…”