Identity Politics and Law Enforcement: A Dangerous Mix

This rush by governmental units and corporations to artificially create equality through social engineering experiments has met the law of unintended consequences. At some point along the way reality works its way through the lies, misinformation and myths and exposes the weaknesses in using this model in hiring and promotion decisions.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has kicked to the curb the all-important variable of merit in choosing people. The identity politics chart makes decisions based on skin color, gender and sexual preference. You can interpret this as dog whistle for need not apply for heterosexual males, especially white but even black or Hispanic, who might be more qualified based on relevant criteria or achievement.

Leveling the playing field in hiring and promotions is an admirable goal after decades of proven past discriminatory practices. What replaced it however has become another form of discrimination based on gender, race and sexual preference. Economist and author Thomas Sowell said to me in a conversation that you do not remedy past discrimination by discriminating against a new class of people. That is exactly what we have done, and it is having disastrous results.

It is happening more so in government than in private industry. It might be because in private industry, everything is based on a bottom line, profit, not inclusivity. Making a mistake in hiring a CEO or other promotions could be disasterous, and shareholders will not tolerate it. In government however, human resource departments and elected officials do not have to worry about a bottom line. Hiring and promotional mistakes are tolerated as long as it leads to a more “diverse “looking” workforce.

These DEI initiatives in government have led to cliches and platitudes that are never challenged because to get in the way of this out-of-control social engineering will result in a person being labeled as racist, misogynist or homophobic. Former President Joe Biden made race and sex a cornerstone in appointing many of his appointees including some particularly important selections. After winning the Democrat primary for President, Biden said that he would pick a woman of color as his running mate. When he made an appointment to the Supreme Court, he again said he would pick a woman of color. This eliminated many qualified people of other demographics. We used to call that discrimination but know its new name is DEI and it is allowed.

What this has led to is rank incompetence in picking people to lead important governmental agencies. It is seeking inferiority instead of highly qualified people.

No where is this more pronounced than in local law enforcement where choosing a police chief in democrat controlled cities have allowed clearly incompetent and unaccomplished people to lead police agencies. It has hurt morale among front line officers who know they are being led by incompetent buffoons. It has become clear in cities like Memphis, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Washington DC. DC Metro Chief Pamela Smith held the position of Chief Equity Officer, a desk job before being names to the top spot. New Orleans Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has a resume that is padded by teaching FBI courses on bias and diversity. Cincinnati Chief Teresa Theetge whose mishandling of a beating by a mob of black youths against a white man and woman that became a national story where she actually became an apologist for the suspects. Memphis Chief C. J. Davis was temporarily suspended after complaints about her lack of leadership. She was later reinstated.

There are some common denominators here. These women were a “first female police chief” in each city’s history. Who cares? These cities also have out of control violent crime rates that are among the top in the nation. None of these women in a position of leadership has put forth a comprehensive crime reduction plan. Might it be because they had no real crime fighting experience along the way? Using “optics” as an element in choosing a law enforcement executive or other high-ranking position is a threat to public safety, one that should be immediately ended. Lives of officers are at stake. Residents in these cites are at risk for continually being victimized by the criminal element.

President Donald Trump recently took action to stem the rising tide of violence in Washington DC. He should be applauded for taking action when DC Metro Chief Pamela Smith stood by doing nothing. There is actually a plan in place now to coordinate all the agencies in DC with law enforcement authority to work jointly on a single mission instead of in silos. The goal is crime reduction and order maintenance. At a news conference announcing the plan, DC Metro Police Chief Smith was asked about what the “chain of command” was now. She responded that she did not know what the phrase chain of command meant. That is embarrassing.

One key element of leadership is for a person to exhibit strength. That was not on display when these chiefs had an opportunity show it. Front line officers did not see strength either. This is not just limited to female DEI hires. Milwaukee, Wisconsin black Police Chief Jeffrey Norman was interviewed by local TV about the out-of-control violence in the city. He said he was “shocked” at the level of violence. Really? It has been going on for years with no plan by him to abate it. It is abject incompetence.

It is time to get social engineering out of government hiring and promotions. It is destroying not only the safety of residents but the morale and esprit de corps of the officers who are putting their lives on the line in service to their communities. They deserve competent leadership.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com