OMAHA, Neb. — As confident and comfortable as she appears in uniform, it’s tough to imagine Omaha Police Sgt. Sherie Thomas ever questioning whether she would become a cop. But 17 years ago, when approached while in college, she did.
“I was like, ‘No, not me.’ But then I signed up for the test,” said Thomas, who, as one of the department’s 60 black police officers, has worked patrol, as a domestic violence detective and now is a training instructor. “It’s a great career.”
Black police officers make up just over 7 1/2 percent of the department’s current 778 officers. Nine black men and women are part of the 55 Omaha recruits who are in their second week at the training academy. If all the recruits graduate in 21 weeks, the department will have reached its authorized strength of 833 officers, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
Police leaders acknowledge that the department’s percentage of black officers falls short of the 12.4 percent of the city’s population that is black. Since Todd Schmaderer became police chief in 2012, the department has been trying to boost the numbers by taking a more strategic approach to seeking black recruits.
The percentage of black recruits in the past three classes has increased even as the class sizes have grown.
“You want to be reflective of the community,” said Deputy Chief Greg Gonzalez. “We didn’t feel like we were.”
The department has started recruiting outside of Omaha, including at job fairs at universities throughout the Midwest. Officials also have begun working with university athletic directors to find physically fit, emotionally strong applicants. Military bases have provided another pool of qualified minority recruits, Gonzalez said.
The department also is looking to set up booths at local endurance and sporting events, such as marathons and bike rides, and it has stepped up its social media efforts in the hopes of finding more people of color who would consider a law enforcement job.
“We are trying to broaden our reach,” Gonzalez said.
Departments in similar size cities say they face similar problems and are taking similar steps.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the city’s population is about 30 percent black, according to census data, but black officers make up about 11 1/2 percent of the police department.
