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Court raises question about the way Boston Police hire some women cadets
By adamg on Fri, 07/31/2015 - 11:32am
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today a man who failed to win appointment as a Boston police cadet was so far down the candidate list - despite getting a really good score on a written test - he probably wouldn't have gotten appointed even if BPD hadn't given preferential treatment to several women candidates it wanted to hire to bring more women into the ranks.
But in striking Sean Pugsley's suit, the state's highest court also said the department needs to show its need to move women up in eligibility isn't masking a failure to actively recruit more women who could score high enough on tests to gain appointment without preferential treatment.
[T]he department essentially argues that its use of a female selective certification was justified by the statistical disparity between the number of female Boston police officers and the number of female suspects and female victims that come into contact with law enforcement. While we recognize the need for and the importance of diversified, professional, police departments, the use of statistical disparities, without more, will generally be insufficient to support [preferential treatment]. We leave it in the first instance to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination to particularize the showing necessary for engaging in such discriminatory hiring through the [bona fide occupational qualification] process.
The court ruled that because he failed to prove definitively he would have gotten an appointment without the women candidates ahead of him, Pugsley had a lack of standing to sue. According to the ruling, Pugsley objected just to the higher rankings given women, not Haitian and Cape Verdean creole speakers, who also jumped to the top of the list
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Free tagging:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Complete ruling, Sean Pugsley vs. Police Department of Boston and others | 203.79 KB |
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Comments
The last acceptable American
The last acceptable American prejudice.
Ouch, the court basically
Ouch, the court basically ruled that he was too dumb to be a cop under any circumstances.
No, it didn't
The court noted that he actually got a really good score on the test. But he was pushed far down on the appointment list by preferential treatment given veterans (by state law), and by Cape Verde and Haitian Creole speakers (which he apparently did not object to) and women. Even if the women applicants were not given preferential treatment, he still was unlikely to get an appointment to the academy, the court said.
My apologies for leaving that bit out of my original post; I've added it in.
Here is a biased article but
Here is a biased article but the only article I can find that has "a typical list of absolute preferences used to create a Civil Service hiring list in a Massachusetts city or town:"
http://commonwealthmagazine.org/economy/civil-service-hiring-rules-promo...
It explains how preferences effect test scores. But draw your own conclusions..
Thanks for linking to that
Thanks for linking to that article, it's quite enlightening. I just read it, and what I learned from it is that if you are 1) The children of police officers or firefighters killed or injured in the line of duty, 2) A veteran, 3) A cadet, you are pretty much guaranteed a job in the BPD or BFD, no matter your lack of qualification or ethical standards. If I understood this right, these attributes have a lot more weight than being a minority or a woman. The tests results count for very little, with many hires coming from the bottom of the test result list.
Sure, all the people above deserve some sympathy, but it shouldn't come at the expense of everyone-else. That explains a lot when it comes to the qualification of some of our cops and firefighters...
On the other hand...
Mayor Marty Walsh and Evans have another plan — reviving the police cadet program.
“It’s an apprenticeship for two years. When you get paid, after two years, you get the same status as the veterans do, and that will allow us to get more diversity on the job,” says Evans. “So we’re working to do that.”
http://www.wbur.org/2015/06/22/boston-police-force-racial-diversity
That would be a huge mistake!
Number 1: There is an age limitation for Cadets and that would be unfair for others that isn't in the age range.
Number 2: This is so wrong because the candidates are hand picked from friends and family members of politicians, BPD Personnel, contributors to campaigns, other people who are connected in some way to someone.
Assumptions
Your post makes the incorrect assumption that survivors, veterans, and cadets do not include proportionate numbers of women and minority's.
He actually had the highest
He actually had the highest test score of all civilians. A 103 to be exact.
Bravo
Seems like a well thought-out decision.
No, it doesn't
The system is rigged in favor of those with connections (regardless of skin color, gender, etc.) and a class of people who receive legally favored status above others. I don't have an issue with giving some extra points to, say, vets, but the rest is B.S.
Women
Written tests dont always determine best candidate for a job like a police officer. Since you are dealing with situations that may call for a female to perform the task you need enough females on the payroll to do the job. Sounds like they need more female creole and portugese speaking officers.
More issues at hand
If you read the whole case - his actual fight was that BPD didn't follow hiring procedures - they only got permission to hire 10 females but hired 30 ( and got permission after the initial suit was filed) and that being a female isn't a qualification for anything. It was actually agreed that BPD didn't follow hiring procedures and that being a female shouldn't give you preference. So- he won that battle- but they couldn't prove that he still would have gotten hired as he was below the vets still - so they ruled on that issue only- hence his loss. I think they would have easily gotten to him if they didn't hire the 30 females that shouldn't have been hired.
Boston Cadet program mostly political
Don't forget, the "Cadet Program" is how the likes of Thomas Menino Jr. and other political hacks slid onto the force. It apparently served Menino Jr. well, quickly landing a second job as "safety engineer" for Suffolk Construction while dad's BRA was approving hundreds of millions in construction for Suffolk and CEO John "Boston 2024" Fish. Of course when Menino died shortly after leaving office, the tearful local media boasted "not a hint of scandal" during his tenure. It would take a heart of stone not to laugh.
The police exam is quite easy. Anyone not scoring the top 90's should be quickly eliminated from consideration. While the idea of a cadet program (apprenticeship) is noble, the lack of safeguards in the hiring process makes it unfeasible in a city as corrupt as Boston. "Cadets" should not be confused with "Academy Recruits." In general, those who become Academy Recruits have done so without benefit of the politically charged cadet program.