Many people have heard about the “blue code” or “brotherhood” that exists within the police department, and policepeople are known for having strict loyalty for each other.
However, it looks like there may be some separation within the ranks in New York City. A complaint filed by three black New York City detectives who claim that black detectives are routinely passed over for promotions, has been found valid by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
According to the New York Times, the black detectives who brought the suit are part of the NYPD's “rap unit,” an almost completely black group of officers who go on missions such as going undercover at hip-hop concerts, investigate feuds between rap artists and protect hip-hop stars from scammers and fraud.
All though the operatives of the rap unit are almost all black, its supervisors are all white.
The rap unit is officially called the Enterprise Operations Unit; however one of the detectives who brought the complaint said that it was known by its nickname: “E-O-U-ain’t-getting-promoted.”
After investigating the unit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that that nickname was fitting.
The commission ruled last year that a “wholly subjective and secret process” resulted in black detectives suffering “lesser and later opportunities for promotion consistent with their qualifications” in comparison to their white counterparts.
The "secret process" the commission referred to works like this: rather than taking an exam to move up the ranks, a detective's eligibility for promotion is determined by mysterious reviews conducted by (in this case white) bosses. Detectives are never told why they did or did not receive a promotion.
The commission had analyzed the records about 75 detectives in the Intelligence Division (which the rap unit was a part of) who were promoted from third grade detective to second grade detective. It found that black detectives had to wait an average of 12 years for a promotion. White detectives moved up in about six years.
Promotions mean not just more prestige, but more money at the NYPD. Second grade detectives make $11,000 more than third grade detectives; first grade detectives make $27,000 more than third grade detectives. And your grade influences how much you get in retirement money as well.
“You’re almost embarrassed to talk about it,” said Detective Theodore Coleman (who passed last year), on witnessing white Intelligence Division colleagues that he actually trained get promoted over him. “It looks like you’re doing something wrong, it looks like you’re a bad guy, or you’re a bad seed.” He added that, in fact, “in reality, you’re being held back by no fault of your own.”
Jon McCollum, another detective in the complaint, alleged that a supervisor once told him that he would’ve been promoted more quickly if he were white.
Lawrence Byrne, the police department’s deputy commissioner for legal matters rejected the commission's analysis and denied any racism within the department. “The E.E.O.C. is a largely incompetent agency,” Byne noted. “The E.E.O.C. had a political agenda here and they ignored the objective evidence.”
Retired black detective Darryl Haynes disagrees. “You have to do twice as much work as your white counterparts,” he noted. “Or if you’re not out drinking and partying with the bosses, you know, it was just difficult [to be promoted].”
Coleman, according to his widow Sara Francisco-Coleman, put it like this: “You jump one hurdle, you run. You jump another hurdle, you run. Then they tell you, keep going, you’re going to get there, you’re going to get there. And they keep putting hurdles in front of you to the point where you’re like, 'I’m never going to get to the damn finish line because I keep having hurdles put in front of me.’”
