By Rosaland TylerAssociate EditorNew Journal and GuideWinston-Salem, Baltimore, Maryland and Philadelphia are among several local police departments that say they are actively recruiting HBCU grads who would work in local police departments that are typically comprised of more than 66 percent white officers nationwide.The new HBCU recruitment effort does not specify the total number of HBCU graduates who will pass basic training requirements, receive a badge at swearing-in ceremonies and actually serve as police officers. But, according to recent news reports, Winston Salem State University grads will reportedly receive college scholarship funds. Baltimore recently unveiled a 10-week internship that aims to recruit students and recent graduates of Morgan State University and Coppin State University. Philadelphia recently introduced legislation that will partner two HBCUs with police departments, in an effort to increase diversity in law enforcement.Critics argue the HBCU hiring program is a PR gimmick. LaTonya Goldsby, president and co-founder of the Cleveland chapter of Black Lives Matter, said the problem is an HBCU grad from these four HBCUs could fulfill all admission requirements and still be subject to a local police network's silent, harsh and unwritten codes.“The truth is Black police officers kill Black people, too, and once they become a part of the blue line, they are no longer Black. They’re blue, Goldsby recently told Yahoo News. Which means they must conform to the ways of the blue line,” Goldsby said.Census reports show police departments are 66 percent white and just 13 percent Black nationwide.We need authentic and empathetic Black leadership, not smiling Black faces in high places,” Goldsby said.However, Kirk Burkhalter, a retired NYPD Detective and advocate for police reform said, Black folks have been serving this country in the military, in civil and public service. So why should this be an area where Black folks cannot be trusted to think for themselves? What is the alternative?Records show the number of Black people killed by police has actually increased over the last two years.The most recently reported incident (as of Jan. 23) occurred on Jan. 7 in Memphis, Tenn., where five police officers were suspended from duty after police video showed them beating Tyre Nichols for three minutes after a traffic stop. Nichols, a Black man, died. All five officers are Black.On Jan. 2, 2023, a Black unarmed teacher from Washington, D.C. was tasered to death in Los Angeles during a hit and run investigation. Keenan Anderson, the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, died at an L.A. hospital on Jan. 3 about four and a half hours after he was tasered before he was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.The LAPD reported cocaine and marijuana were found in Anderson's blood, however, the Los Angeles County Coroner has yet to rule on the cause of Anderson's death, according to news reports.According to Washington Post data, police shot and killed at least 1,176 people nation
