Michael1942's Blog

The announcement of the minority hiring initiative by the Springfield Police is commendable but doomed to failure. Looking at the available candidates one will quickly realize that many of the age appropriate minorities in Springfield are high school dropouts, have minor criminal backgrounds and no chance of passing a background check. This was borne out during the “Put Illinois to Work Program (PITW) as administered by the Springfield Urban League last year. Towards the end of that program and a more adequate screening 50 to 80 % of the hires were released due to background screenings. The focus on this initiative needs to take place at the High schools and not at a non profit that is not in touch with their client base. It is already a problem at some of the lower performing schools where there is an uneasy relationship with law enforcement due to poor outreach and sensationalized police encounters. A better solution in recruiting is an alliance with the school district where the ability to monitor the process is possible.