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By no means do all blacks feel that way. Sergeant William Perry Sr. of the New York Guardians group says he would not encourage his members to do that kind of police intelligence work, "but we also won't hold it against them." He adds: "If a unit has to infiltrate the Panthers or the Young Lords, then perhaps the bosses ought to be black so that the attitudes are correct, so that you have control over what's going on." Assistant Chief Inspector Eldridge Waith, highest-ranking black officer on the New York force, suggests: "Infiltration by blacks can help because it sometimes makes for more objective police work."
Since much black crime is committed against other blacks, there is good reason why ghetto populations, instead of feeling hostile to black cops, should welcome more of them. Indeed, one of the major aims of the new militant black police organizations is to increase the numbers of black cops on duty in the ghetto. Blacks remain underrepresented in big-city police forces in the U.S. Some departments are working hard at increasing the proportion of blacks in their ranks. Washington's Chief Jerry Wilson, with a 73% black population in the city, has upped the number of black cops from 25% in 1968 to 35% today. Nowhere yet, though, is the percentage of black cops in U.S. cities proportionate to the local black population. In Pittsburgh, which is 22% black, 7% of the police are blacks. Detroit has a black population of more than 45%, but the police force is only 11% black.
Recruiting blacks to redress that imbalance is not easy. Black youths are reluctant to join a force that many of their peers consider the enemy; some of those who do apply are ill-qualified by education or sometimes barred because of a criminal record. Inevitably, some blacks charge that a double standard is applied to applicants, making it tougher for blacks to join the force than whites.
The black cops' chief argument for a bigger role in ghetto law enforcement is that they can do it bettermore fairly and more intelligently. Says Deputy Chief Inspector George Harge, top-ranking black cop in Detroit: "Language is the biggest barrier. White policemen find it hard to differentiate between riot language and horseplay language. Some black talk implies an imminent riot to whites, but to blacks it is a way of life. A rash decision by a patrolman based on language that he believes is offensive can precipitate instead of quash a riot." Leon Fisher, a black cop assigned to the juvenile bureau in St. Louis, is hopeful. "We are entering a new era," he says. "The image of this department is changing from the brutal sort of thing to a role of assistance. We are assisting people."
Los Angeles' Oscar Joel Bryant Association, named after a black policeman killed on duty, succeeded in obtaining the transfer of a captain and a community relations officer whom it demonstrated to be insensitive to the needs of Venice, a Los Angeles district populated largely by blacks, Chicanos and hippies. According to one Bryant Association organizer, Police Chief Edward Davis has been "amenable to manyI wouldn't say mostof our ideas."