South Bend Police Recruiting Data. The Facts.
I told you on my show the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the South Bend Police Department (and the city) for alleged violations of Title VII.
The reasons listed by the Biden/Harris administration are that the SBPD requires a physical and written exam to apply to become a police officer. The government says this is not necessary for the job’s duties. That’s obviously insane.
Here’s the SBPD’s response:
The City of South Bend will vigorously defend a lawsuit filed today by the Department of Justice, which accuses the City’s Police Department of unlawful hiring practices.
The City learned of the filing through the DOJ’s press release and has not yet been formally served with the Complaint. Based on a preliminary review, the DOJ is not accusing the City of intentional discrimination. Instead, the lawsuit claims that the City Police Department’s hiring process and testing for new officers has had a disparate impact on female and African American applicants.
The City has consistently sought to build a diverse workforce, while it fulfills the requirements of state law, and makes sure that applicants can perform the job responsibilities of a South Bend police officer.
The South Bend Police Department believes its screening process fairly measures a candidate’s ability to perform the job. Like every other city in Indiana, South Bend must ensure its officers meet certain minimum criteria. Unlike every city in Indiana, South Bend allows every applicant multiple attempts at the physical examination per hiring cycle.
In its lawsuit, the DOJ accuses the SBPD of requiring a physical test that allegedly disproportionately screens women. However, the City’s requirements are consistent with the ILEA, the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (an agency created by Indiana law), which sets the minimum physical standards for police officers in Indiana.
The DOJ’s lawsuit also attacks the SBPD’s written test, which is administered by an outside firm and is similar to written tests in other Indiana police departments, including the Indiana State Police. South Bend has regularly evaluated its written test to make sure it is fair and non-biased. Importantly, all SBPD applicants are invited to free tutoring sessions to prepare for the written test.
SBPD is confident that its standard applicant process results in high quality officers to protect and serve the City.
“I am beyond disappointed that the DOJ has not been forthcoming with how these claims were determined in the first place,” said South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski. “Our hiring process, which includes females and African American applicants, has been consistent over the last ten years and led to an increasingly diverse department, especially over the past several years. We have even asked the outside testing company to modify the written test to open the process to more applicants. We are, and have been, very transparent and inclusive in our hiring process. All requirements are listed online and meet State mandates, and more importantly, meet what our community expects in a professional police officer.”
From 2017 to 2023, SBPD hired 15 female officers and 29 officers of color, accounting for 12.6% and 24.4% of all new officers, respectively. Currently, 9.9% of all officers are females and 11.5% of all officers are black – the highest percentage of black officers since at least 2012. Nationally, female officers make up 13.5% of local police departments and black officers make up 11.6%.[1]
The City, which has been cooperating with the DOJ during its investigation, believes the DOJ’s lawsuit ignores the City’s obligations to comply with state law, will cause a delay in the City’s hiring processes, and amounts to a waste of taxpayer resources.
“The City is committed to recruiting a workforce that represents the community we serve, and the City is proud of the progress we have made over the past several years,” said Mayor James Mueller. “Our police department has worked diligently to increase the number of officers from underrepresented groups and to follow the letter and spirit of Indiana and federal law. Although the costs of this targeted litigation will be borne by federal and local taxpayers, the City will not voluntarily agree to federal control. We hope that common sense will prevail during the judicial process.”
[1] Local Police Departments Personnel, 2020. United States Department of Justice, November 2022.
City of South Bend
The City of South Bend gets a lot of things wrong. However, they have an awesome police data portal. This portal is accessible to everyone for free and covers recruitment data.
The chart above is for overall numbers.
The chart below is for SBPD recruiting based on ethnicity.
Nearly 65% of Black candidates passed the written test.
Nearly 85% of White candidates passed the written test.
This appears to be the source of the Biden/Harris administration’s ire.
77% of Black candidates passed the physical test.
White candidates passed with an 87% rate.
Black and White candidates were nearly equal in the percentage who made it past the background check to the polygraph, medical, and psych evaluations to be hired.
This simplified chart only compares Black, White, and all candidates:
The Biden/Harris DOJ also alleges the physical test is sexist against women. Below is a chart for SBPD recruiting based on gender:
Just under 54% of women candidates passed the physical test.
Just over 87% of men passed the physical test.
This is at the heart of the DOJ’s allegations.
Nearly 88% of women passed the written test.
Just under 80% of men passed the written test.
Notice the DOJ isn‘t concerned with women outperforming men on the written requirement.
Women also performed better than men on the personal evaluation and the background check. All were ignored by the DOJ in this issue.
Men and women were also nearly equal in the percentage who made it past the background check to the polygraph, medical, and psych evaluations to be hired.
Various sources of data on these statistics fluctuate a couple of percentage points here and there. I used data mainly from the National Policing Institute. That’s why you will see some of my numbers differ slightly from the numbers released by South Bend.
Looking at the data, you can see that as long as a candidate can get past the required examinations, they stand roughly and equal chance of getting hired regardless of race or gender.
Furthermore, since 2017, the South Bend Police Department has hired more Black officers and Women officers than is the national average. Their total force is getting closer to national averages as a whole. This is line with my interview with SBPD Chief Scott Ruszkowski in August of 2017 where he highlighted the efforts to diversify the department after former mayor Pete Buttigieg became a national story and had an embarrassing campaign setback due to his stance on policing. Chief Ruszkowski assured my in 2017 that they were making efforts to diversify the department but that they weren’t going to jeopardize the department’s quality in doing so. Candidates needed to meet the requirements and standards.
The SBPD doesn’t even administer the tests the DOJ is suing them over. They are administered by a third party who works with over 100 agencies in multiple states.
The department has been using the same written test since 2012, and the physical testing is mandated by the state of Indiana, according to department sources. This has never been brought up before now.
In January 2021, Joe Biden chose Kristen Clarke to head the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Suddenly, the SBPD is in the crosshairs.
Clarke has a history of race-obsessed left-wing activism and election denying. She has previously claimed that Blacks had “superior physical and mental abilities” to others. She also invited an antisemitic conspiracy theorist to be a guest speaker on campus at Harvard.
Clarke’s disturbing history of bigotry and left-wing zealotry is concerning enough. However, it’s her history of supporting the radical ‘defund the police’ movement that is most concerning.
Given Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s ties with the city of South Bend, his tattered relationship with the SBPD, and Kristen Clarke’s radicalism, one has to wonder if this might be personal against the SBPD. One also has to consider that the DOJ is advancing the ‘defund the police’ agenda with this lawsuit.
CHEAT SHEET
Key Takeaways from the Blog Post on South Bend Police Recruiting Data
- DOJ Lawsuit Against South Bend Police Department (SBPD)
- The DOJ has sued SBPD and the City of South Bend, alleging discrimination in hiring practices under Title VII.
- The lawsuit claims that the physical and written tests used by SBPD disproportionately impact female and Black applicants, despite SBPD arguing that these exams are essential to police duties.
- SBPD’s Defense and Response
- The City of South Bend asserts that the tests comply with Indiana state law and are aligned with the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy’s standards.
- SBPD emphasizes that applicants have multiple attempts to pass the physical exam during a hiring cycle and access to free tutoring sessions for the written test.
- The department argues that the lawsuit ignores SBPD’s efforts to build a diverse police force and meet community expectations.
- Recruitment Data Analysis
- Black candidates have a pass rate of 77% on the physical test, compared to 87% for White candidates.
- The physical exam pass rate for women is lower at 54%, compared to 87% for men, which forms the core of the DOJ’s discrimination claim.
- Women perform better than men on the written test (88% vs. 80%) and background evaluations, but the DOJ does not highlight these results in its lawsuit.
- SBPD maintains that candidates who clear the required tests stand equal chances of hiring regardless of gender or race.
- Efforts Toward Diversity
- From 2017-2023, SBPD hired 15 female officers (12.6%) and 29 officers of color (24.4%), bringing it closer to national averages for diversity in police departments.
- SBPD Chief Scott Ruszkowski has reiterated efforts to diversify without compromising hiring standards.
- Political and Personal Factors in the Lawsuit
- The blog suggests that the lawsuit may be influenced by political motives given South Bend’s connection to Pete Buttigieg, and the involvement of Kristen Clarke, head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, who has a controversial history with race-related activism and police reform advocacy.
- Third-Party Test Administration
- SBPD clarifies that the tests are administered by a third-party organization used by multiple agencies across states and have been in place since 2012 without previous legal challenges.
- Impact on City Resources
- South Bend officials criticize the lawsuit as a waste of taxpayer resources and emphasize their commitment to following both state and federal law.
This summary highlights how the city believes its hiring practices are fair and compliant with legal standards while portraying the DOJ’s lawsuit as politically motivated and harmful to local hiring efforts.
