Commission on Human Rights
Kentucky Commission on Human Rights releases police diversity study

Diversity makeup in KY police agencies

KCHR released a survey in January  that examined diversity in law enforcement agencies in Kentucky. Promoting Law Enforcement Diversity – A Demographic Survey of Police and Sheriff Departments – asked agencies about their officer workforce composition, their foreign language training, and their interactions with the public. The survey began in September 2005. (See it at www.kchr.ky.gov.)

Out of 344 agencies invited to participate, 148 (43 percent) responded. Participants were local, county and state police and sheriff departments. The total number of officers accounted for in the survey is 5,331.

Some Highlights
• 46 agencies have black officers
• 15 agencies have Hispanic officers
• 7.3 percent of all KY officers are black
•  .75 percent of all KY officers are       Hispanic
•  Less than 1 percent of all KY minority officers are other than black or Hispanic
•  9 percent of all KY officers are women
•  22 officers in KY have a known disability
• Proportionate hiring of 185 black and 52 Hispanic officers would curb under-representation of KY’s two largest minorities.  
• 80 agencies asked for more information about diversity and cultural competency training.

KCHR will tie the results of the survey into a new program to promote law enforcement careers to interested minority students. The first Color of Justice Law Enforcement will be held for high school students on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University, home of one of the top law enforcement schools in the nation.