“font-family: Verdana;”>Recently, Deputy Fire Chief Charles Coyle received a jury ruling that the St. Louis Fire Department had in fact discriminated against him. A jury of six whites and six African Americans delivered the truth blow of what many in the Fire Department already knew. But just like the phenomenon of racial profiling had to be affirmed, first with a law and second with the collection of data, this is all part of a continuing struggle for equality and fairness.
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The racial policies of the St. Louis Fire Department are well documented. At one point, the department was under a court-ordered quota system that required the recruitment classes to be half white and half black. This was supposed to raise the overall numbers of blacks that had been suppressed for years due to the white affirmative action policy in place for decades. There was nothing that would stand in the way of promoting white firefighters, including cheating on the tests. Currently, white firefighters are being hired and promoted disproportionately to blacks – a guarantee to return to the good ole days for the good ole boys.
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Meanwhile, on the streets of St. Louis, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is still engaging in blatant racial profiling. The most recent data analysis showed that African Americans in Missouri were 61 percent more likely to be racially profiled than whites. As the stats have shown for the past 11 years of data collection, in 2010 blacks were twice as likely to be searched than our white counterparts, even though we are less likely to have contraband. Larry White, former chief of the Ladue Police Department, alleges that he was fired when he refused to submit to city officials’ demand that he stop blacks and out-of-towners to meet ticket quotas. These incidents, along with the growing disparities, have continued without much intervention from the attorney general’s office or other officials.
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The internal operations of the police department are not free of racial dynamics as they relate to hiring and promotions either. One can only imagine the tensions between the races, fanned up by self-serving brass that spew over into meaningful job relationships and performance. Deputy Fire Chief Coyle reported that since he filed his law suit, he has experienced intimidation by his peers and some of his duties were re-assigned. African-American police officers have experienced similar hostile working environments when they broke the “blue wall of silence.”
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Chief Coyle’s law suit claimed he was next in line for promotion to fire chief once Mayor Francis G. Slay had ordered Charles Bryson to fire the city’s first African-American Fire Chief Sherman George. Chief George was unceremoniously demoted by Bryson, the newly appointed head of Public Safety, allowing interim fire chief Steve Kotraba to start the promotions from a list contested by Chief George. While interim chief, Kotraba appointed as many whites as possible. After his dirty work was done, Kotraba was replaced by Dennis Jenkerson (a battalion chief) instead of Coyle (deputy chief and fire marshal). But it seems like the City Charter is followed only when it preserves and advances white privilege and superiority. If the city was serious about this issue (especially in light of the court ruling), Mayor Slay would promote Deputy Fire Chief Coyle to his rightful position of fire chief.
“font-size: 9pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The passivity by the attorney general’s office, the heads of the fire and police departments and Mayor Slay are unacceptable. We are all concerned about public safety, particularly our own, but if all this drama is going on internally, we cannot expect that our public servants will be at their best. I urge all fair-minded citizens to call the offices of the attorney general, the police chief and the mayor of St. Louis to see what remedies they intend to put in place to bring about equity for city employees and unbiased public service to all citizens. As taxpayers, it is time for all of us to get more involved – the courts can only go so far.
