Nov. 16--PEORIA, IL-- There's still not enough diversity in Peoria's police and fire departments.
But things are a lot better than they were. Those were a couple of the points made in a report to the Peoria City Council on Tuesday night.
The police and fire departments met hiring goals set for 2015 -- 18.6 percent minority for the police and 14 percent minority for the fire department -- but have fallen short in 2016 and 2017, the report from the Peoria Fire and Police Commission noted.
Police goals for minority hires in 2016 and 2017 were 20.1 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively, while minorities represented 19.1 percent of new personnel in 2016 and 19.5 percent in 2017.
The fire department minority goals in 2016 and 2017 were 15.5 percent and 17.1 percent. Minority personnel made up 13.9 percent of new fire hires in 2016 and 16 percent in 2017.
Lisa Snow, the former assistant police chief who recently retired after 27 years as a Peoria policewoman, and Phil Maclin, the fire prevention chief with the Peoria Fire Department, provided council members with an update on progress made since 2015 when Don Jackson, then head of the Peoria branch of the NAACP, called for more minority hiring in the city's public safety ranks.
Among the statistics that Jackson cited was the fact that of 33 firefighters hired in Peoria since 2008, none was African-American and no Hispanics had been hired in 15 years and no women in 17 years.
A subcommittee of the city's Fire and Police Commission produced a series of recommendations and annual goals in order for fire and police forces to mirror the demographics of Peoria, a city with a minority population of 38 percent, by 2025.
As of September, the Peoria Police Department was 73 percent white, 12 percent African-American male, 8 percent white female, 2 percent African-American female, 2 percent Hispanic male, 2 percent Asian male and 1 percent Hispanic female. The fire department was 83 percent white male, 14 percent African-American male, 1 percent Hispanic male, 1 percent Asian male and 1 percent white female.
At Tuesday's council meeting, At-Large Councilwoman Beth Jensen asked how Peoria compared to other cities in minority hiring. "Better than most," responded Police Chief Jerry Mitchell, noting that, in some cases, qualified minority candidates who lived outside Peoria had been unwilling to relocate.
To solve that problem, both departments have undertaken efforts "to grow their own," said Snow, who explained that the police department's Explorer program seeks to provide high-school age students the fundamentals of policing.
Both police and fire departments have also instituted cadet programs combining schooling with job learning. Fire Chief Charles Lauss noted in 2016 the fire department joined with Peoria Public Schools and Illinois Central College to establish a program with classes in EMT and fire service technology.
The fire cadet program looks to be in jeopardy, however.
"The police cadet program is in the budget," said City Manager Patrick Urich. "The fire cadet program is going to be a casualty of the budget. Local 50 insisted on language in the contract that we just signed that if there was any reduction in resources for the fire department, the cadet program would be eliminated. To reinstate it would require the union's consent," he said.
Lynn Pearson, chairwoman of the city's fire and police commission, hailed progress made in promoting diversity among city employees. "We've achieved movement towards an important goal," said Pearson, who appealed at Tuesday's meeting that budget constraints not hinder efforts going forward.
Al Hooks, an NAACP member who, with Rita Ali, co-chaired the subcommittee that set up the diversity goals, said the program's success depends on efforts by the council and community. "This is not an easy goal," he said.
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