Dec. 03--A group of retired African-American Chicago police officers on Wednesday called for the hiring of more black officers in the wake of the disturbing video of a white officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.
The approximately dozen retirees said blacks have been underrepresented in the police department for decades.
According to department figures, the race of its approximately 12,000 officers and supervisors breaks down to about 52 percent white, 23 percent black, 22 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian.
Yet Patricia Hill, a former executive director of the African-American Police League, noted that blacks comprise about 33 percent of the city's population.
Flanked by the other retirees inside a storefront in the South Side's Auburn-Gresham neighborhood, Hill said her conversations with active black officers lead her to believe their morale is low.
For years, she said, black officers were often promoted more for political reasons than for their qualifications.
"They are so disenchanted," Hill said. "They've always felt as though that they were under the gun."
Last month, then-police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the number of blacks and Latinos in the department remained lower than he would like, especially in its upper ranks. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the department would try to persuade more minorities to apply to be officers as part of a new recruitment effort.
The group of retirees on Wednesday also called for a federal investigation into the police department, particularly into questionable officer-involved shootings.
"We're not here today to bash anyone. We're not here today to start an uproar. We're here today to get justice," said Richard Wooten, another retired officer.
The group said it plans to protest in the near future outside the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in the Loop.
jgorner@tribpub@.com
