Attorney General's office says black community must persuade more qualified applicants to apply
New Jersey State Police troopers are shown graduating in this 2009 file photo. The department has come under criticism from the state chapter of the NAACP for not having enough black troopers in this year's recruit class.TRENTON — Lawyers for the NAACP will meet with Attorney General Paula Dow and State Police Supt. Rick Fuentes next week to discuss why just five black applicants were selected for the new 123-member trooper recruit class that began Monday.
In an effort to avoid a new round of legal action threatened by the NAACP, the two sides will review minority recruiting by the State Police and what can be done to bolster the number of black candidates, officials said Tuesday.
"We’re going to explore any possibility we can to resolve this by an agreement that avoids litigating in front of the judge," said David Rose, an attorney for the NAACP. "But we’re certainly prepared to go to court if we are not able to resolve our differences."
Rose said the NAACP wants to discuss how background checks might be disproportionately failing black applicants to the State Police, and how the division can free up more money for recruiting.
Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for Dow, said the discussions will focus on future recruiting efforts and that the background checks for State Police candidates will not be changed. He said the office has always kept the NAACP apprised of recruiting efforts and there have been no complaints about the process until now.
The Star-Ledger Monday reported the new class of recruits includes just five black candidates despite the State Police’s decade-long efforts to increase minority representation.
The NAACP charges the state has failed to uphold its end of a 2000 legal settlement that called for bolstered minority recruitment and hiring. While Hispanics and women have gained ground since then, the percentage of black troopers has fallen from 8 percent to 6.4 percent, state figures show.
"If our boat is sinking and other boats are rising, there has to be a racial overtone to it," said James Harris, president of the NAACP state chapter.
With more than one-third of black troopers nearing retirement, their ranks could thin to levels not seen since the division was under federal oversight for discriminatory hiring decades ago.
The Attorney General’s office acknowledges the decreasing number of black troopers but says the black community must persuade more qualified applicants to apply.
Rose said the NAACP will suggest reducing the number of trooper candidates in the current class and using the money saved to put toward recruiting. Loriquet said the current class of recruits will not be canceled or disrupted.
The NAACP previously called for the class to be canceled, but Gov. Chris Christie said Monday he needs the new troopers to augment coverage in municipalities that depend on the State Police. Christie acknowledged he is concerned about the low number of African-Americans in the latest recruit class, and said Dow and Fuentes have assured him they will work to improve that number in the future.
Of the 263 candidates for the incoming class who passed the written exam, 33 were black, the Attorney General’s Office said. Of those 33, six dropped out and 22 were disqualified for failing a background check, the office said.