Iowa City amps up job offers to minority officers

IOWA CITY - Presented with an unusual opportunity to bolster diversity in its ranks, the Iowa City Police Department is temporarily increasing its authorized strength to offer jobs to three black officers.

The police department currently has two openings due to retirements. However, City Manager Geoff Fruin and Interim Police Chief Bill Campbell said when they were looking at the applicant hiring list - compiled every 18 months to two years - they saw something rare.

'We recognized three of the four (candidates) are minority status,” Fruin said. 'It has been a goal for some time ... for us to take steps to diversify our workforce.”

According to a memo from Fruin to the Iowa City Council, the police department currently has 64 police officers, 59 of whom are white. The department has two black officers, two Asian officers and one Hispanic officer. No one on the command staff, which is not included in that number, is a minority.

Typically, the department would fill only the two open positions and wait for future openings before hiring more officers. But Campbell said the city felt it couldn't wait this time.

'The thought was if we wait until we have those openings, we're simply not going to have those candidates,” he said. 'Departments all over the country are looking for minority applicants. In my mind, there's no doubt these young men would have been hired by another agency.”

Campbell said the department has attempted to attract minorities to the area in the past - including advertising at typically black colleges - but has not had much success. He speculates that Iowa City's demographics play a role. The 2010 census shows that only 5.8 percent of Iowa City residents identify as black.

Fruin and Campbell said the city did not deviate from hiring standards to make offers to these four officers. Officer candidates are ranked, and these were the next four officers on the list.

'These individuals have risen to the top through the testing process and have demonstrated they're excellent candidates for the officer position,” Fruin said.

While the City Council unanimously approved the request to hire the additional officers, Campbell noted those applicants still have to accept the city's employment offer, which was to be made Wednesday. If the applicants accept, they will attend the next session of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, which stars in January.

Should all four officers be hired, the city would not fill the next two positions that open, bringing the department back down to its authorized strength. In the meantime, Fruin said the additional two officers is going to cost the city an extra $7,737 per month.

Fruin said the potential hirings could potentially help to address concerns about the lack of diversity in the search for a new police chief, which resulted in three white finalists.

'Our hope is as we diversify our pool at the entry level, the officer level, over time that diversity starts to filter upward in the organization through other positions of rank,” he said.

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