Police 'diversity' not worth the effort

More racist talk from Derry Glenn.

This time, the most prominent of Lima's three stooges wants to spend his own money to scour other cities for black applicants to apply to become police officers and firefighters. He hopes to scan civil service lists in other communities to look for possible applicants, if the lists indeed contain the skin color of the applicants.

Fortunately for Lima, Glenn rarely follows through on his crazy plans.

Still, there appears to be a belief among some that diversity in the Police and Fire departments is something important. Actually, it extends to work forces generally.

This is simply a fallacy.

Diversity of opinions is good. Diversity of skill sets is good. Such things are functional. Nonfunctional difference such as color, age, nationality, etc., have no bearing on how a person, othwise qualified for the position, performs his or her job and any claims to the contrary are simply racist ramblings.

Let's look at it from the perspective of police work. Glenn, et al., likes to make the claim that it is somehow better to have blacks patrol black neighborhoods and Hispanics patrolling Hispanic neighborhoods. There is no reason to believe this is true. In fact, it is simply racist to suggest that whites are incapable of policing black neighborhoods or blacks policing white neighborhoods. Not a single shred of evidence exists to back up this claim.

We can take this even further. Should only black judges and black prosecutors handle crimes committed by blacks? What about those of mixed heritage? Can only black reporters write stories about black subjects? Should black baggers at the grocery store be used to bag the groceries of black shoppers?

See how silly it can get. Didn't we have a civil rights movement to eliminate such race-based ideas?

As a resident of Lima, I don't care what color of skin is under that blue uniform. I simply want the best qualified candidate. Same holds true for sex. I don't care if it is a man or woman saving my life in a house fire, so long as he or she is capable of doing the job. If blacks or women do not apply for those jobs, then so be it.

In the end, skin color matters not. It's a shame that someone like Derry Glenn and Tommy Pitts, supposed representatives of their respective wards, have decided their representation ends where the skin color lightens.