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Recruiting police diversity

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Recruiting police diversity

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Recruiting Police Diversity

Christopher A. Robins

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2023

© Copyright by Christopher A. Robins 2023
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Christopher A. Robins certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Jennifer Phillips
Susanne Foulk
Adrian Donato, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2023
iv
Abstract
This research aimed to examine the knowledge, motivation, and organizational root causes in
recruiting more ethnic minority police diversity in the Skyline Police Department that more
closely mirrors the racial population statistics of its municipal community. Clark and Estes’s gap
analysis provided a conceptual framework and methodology for this research study. The use of
exploratory and quantitative data analysis examines the current ethnic recruitment gap and the
dynamics that affect the problem of recruiting police diversity. Results from interviews and data
analysis verified four influences on the problem of practice in factual knowledge, procedural
knowledge, utility value, and cultural model. The verified influences and highly probable
influences were considered in selecting evidence-based solutions and the construction of an
implementation and evaluation plan using the new world Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016). The proposed program in Chapter 5 informs and supports the recruiting
staff’s learning goals toward recruiting a more ethnically diverse police workforce.

v
Dedication
To my Wife, Colleen Matthews, thank you for your love and your support on this journey. I am
thankful for your advice you have given to me. I am so grateful for our marriage, and I look
forward to what we build for years to come.

To my mother for her inspiration on the pathway to achieving academic and career success.
Thank you for your unconditional love, and thank you for your significant contributions in
raising me. I love you so much.

To my late Grandfather Rudy Robins, you were so proud when I told you I got accepted to the
University of Southern California. When I felt like I wanted to stop, your memories inspired me.
I love you and miss you, and I am thankful to make you proud.

To my Grandmother, Deloris Robins, you are such an inspiration. I am grateful for your
contributions in raising me and glad I can make you proud also. I love you and am thankful for
you keeping me in prayer.

To my Dad, Howard Williams, my aunt Natasha Robins, My uncles Rudy and Kevin Robins,
and my younger brothers. I am thankful for you all. I am excited to make each of you proud
thank you for supporting and inspiring me. Each of you motivates me to be a better man, and I
love y’all.
vi
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my dissertation committee members for their advice and guidance
in helping me develop and complete this dissertation. I am thankful to have Committee Chair
Adrian Donato as the chair of my dissertation committee. Adrian Donato has provided me with
incredibly sound guidance and support on this journey for about four years in total while I was in
and out of the program. He provided me with timely guidance and was available for counsel
when necessary. Thank you to Committee Co-Chair Jennifer Phillips for agreeing to serve on the
committee. Thank you for your thoughtful knowledge, especially in the very beginning of this
journey. You have given me plenty of things to think about and helped to start me off on the
right path during the process. Thank you, Committee Co-Chair Susanne Foulk, for your edits and
feedback during the chapter alignment process. Your edits and feedback were very helpful at
helping me complete this dissertation.

vii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
Organizational Context and Mission .................................................................................. 1
Organizational Performance Status ..................................................................................... 2
Related Literature ................................................................................................................ 2
Importance of Addressing the Problem .............................................................................. 3
Organizational Performance Goal ....................................................................................... 4
Description of Stakeholder Groups ..................................................................................... 4
Stakeholder Group for the Study ........................................................................................ 7
Purpose of the Project and Questions ................................................................................. 7
Methodological Framework ................................................................................................ 8
Definitions ........................................................................................................................... 9
Organization of the Project ................................................................................................. 9
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 10
Influences on Problem of Practice: Recruiting for Diversity in U.S. Policing ................. 10
Role of Stakeholder Focus Group ..................................................................................... 26
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 47
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 51
Chapter Three: Methods ............................................................................................................... 52
Participating Stakeholders ................................................................................................ 53
viii
Data Collection and Instrumentation ................................................................................ 57
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 59
Credibility and Trustworthiness ........................................................................................ 60
Validity and Reliability ..................................................................................................... 61
Ethics ................................................................................................................................. 61
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 63
Chapter Four: Results and Findings .............................................................................................. 65
Participating Stakeholders ................................................................................................ 66
Skyline Police Department Ethnic Demographics ............................................................ 67
Data Validation ................................................................................................................. 71
Results and Findings for Knowledge Influences .............................................................. 72
Results and Findings for Motivational Influences ............................................................ 83
Results and Findings for Organizational Influences ......................................................... 88
Chapter Five: Recommendations .................................................................................................. 97
Recommendations for Practice ......................................................................................... 97
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan ............................................................. 118
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach ................................................................... 138
Limitations and Delimitations ......................................................................................... 140
Future Research .............................................................................................................. 141
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 142
References ................................................................................................................................... 144
Appendix A: Level 1 and Level 2 Immediate Evaluation Instrument ........................................ 156
Appendix B: Delayed Evaluation Instrument (180 Days) .......................................................... 159
Appendix C: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 161
Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 161
ix
Respondent Type ............................................................................................................ 161
Introduction to the Interview (Start Audio Recorder) ..................................................... 161
Start Interview ................................................................................................................. 162
Appendix D: Document Analysis Protocol ................................................................................. 166
Document Analysis Criteria ............................................................................................ 166
Documentation and Artifact Storage .............................................................................. 167
x
List of Tables
Table 1: Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals 6
Table 2: Knowledge Influences, Types, and Assessments if Knowledge Gap Analysis Error!
Bookmark not defined.
Table 3: Motivational Influences and Assessments for Analysis Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 4: Assumed Organizational Influences and Assessments for Organizational Gap
Analysis 46
Table 5: Skyline Police Department Ethnic Demographics Total Numbers 67
Table 6: Skyline Police Department Ethnic Demographics by Percentage Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Table 7: City of Skyline Ethnic Population Statistics by Percentage 70
Table 8: Participants’ Demographics 70
Table 9: Skyline Police Department and City of Skyline Ethnic Population Ethnic Statistical
Comparison by Percentage Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 10: Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations 99
Table 11: Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations 107
Table 12: Summary of Organizational Influences and Recommendations Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Table 13: External and Internal Outcomes 120
Table 14: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation 123
Table 15: Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors 125
Table 16: Components of Learning for the Program 133
Table 17: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program. 135
Table 18: Historical Ethnic Minority Recruitment Data 137
Appendix A: Level 1 and Level 2 Immediate Evaluation Instrument 156
Table D1: Document Analysis Collecting 167
xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework: Recruiting Diversity in the Skyline Police Department 50

1

Chapter One: Introduction
This paper addresses the problem of recruiting and building a law enforcement agency
workforce that is more ethnically diverse and better reflective of the community it serves. Racial
minorities (Blacks, Hispanics, etc.) are historically underrepresented within the demographic
profiles of local and state law enforcement across several cities throughout the United States
(Alderden et al., 2017). Although there has been some increased effort in hiring more racial
minorities in policing over the years, progression is moderate at best. Evidence highlights that
minorities comprised only 27.2% of local police officers in 2013, which is a slight increase of
2% since 2007 (Cordner & Cordner, 2011). Today, the United States is more ethnically diverse
than ever, and many law enforcement agencies adopt the aspects of community-oriented
policing, which involves building relationships and working closely with the community
members. This problem is necessary to address because agencies can likely lack police diversity
and limit the agility of police agencies in accomplishing the missions of community-oriented
policing.
Organizational Context and Mission
The Skyline Police Department Recruiting Unit is a subdivision within the police
department that has a direct impact on attracting qualified candidates into new law enforcement
careers. Additionally, the unit is responsible for guiding and testing candidates, from civil service
exams to conducting background checks. The subdivision’s mission is to oversee an efficient,
effective, and fair selection process that results in the appointment of those select individuals
who possess the skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a law
enforcement officer in the Skyline Police Department. The recruiting unit performs recruitment
and hiring functions for a police department that serves a community of 145,000 residents. The
2

recruiting staff represents nine out of 200 sworn police officers in the department. One of the
primary roles of the recruiting unit and the police department is to present a police force that
ethnically reflects the citizens of the community it serves.
Organizational Performance Status
At the root of this study, the organizational performance problem is the nonreflective
racial composition in the Skyline Police Department in comparison to the citizen population in
its jurisdiction. Within the Skyline Police Department community, recent data reveals that
roughly 80% of the sworn-officers are White (The D Morning News, 2015) although Black
people and Hispanics made up 52.5% of the population in the city of Skyline in 2015 (U.S.
Census, 2015). While acknowledging the need to enhance police diversity, the Skyline Police
Department and the recruiting unit have set performance objectives; by spring 2027, the agency
aims to increase the number of minority police officers by 60%. Generally, research suggests that
attaining police diversity can strengthen citizens’ perceptions of the police and provide more
effective services to the members of the community (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016, p. 18). Overall, this problem is critical to address
because the lack of police diversity limits the public’s positive perception of its police force and
decreases an agency’s agility in achieving the missions of community-oriented policing.
Related Literature
Hundreds of police departments in the United States are struggling to recruit and build a
workforce that is more ethnically diverse and better reflects its community. According to recent
studies, the disparity in African Americans and Hispanic representation compared to White
representation among local and state police ranks has been an issue since the emergence of
centralized municipal police departments across the country in the 1830s (Alderden et al., 2017;
3

Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2016). One specific example of evidence measuring the racial
composition of 43 local and state agencies throughout the country (representing communities
with 125,000 people) highlighted that racial minorities only represented 27.3% of full-time
sworn police officers in 2013 (Wilson et al., 2016). While acknowledging the rapidly growing
population of minorities in several cities and states, it is evident that police agencies are not
sufficiently adjusting to provide a police force that reflects the current racial demographics of the
communities they serve.
This review of literature centers on the knowledge, motivational, and organizational
influences essential to the Skyline, Texas, police recruiting unit in achieving its goal to increase
the number of minority police hires. The recruiting unit’s mission is to attract candidates with the
skills and potential to perform the duties and functions of a police officer. The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit’s jurisdiction serves a population of 134,436 (43% White; 32% Hispanic; 21%
Black; U.S. Census Bureau, 2018). The analysis focused on the unit’s characteristics and
behaviors as it seeks to achieve the stakeholder performance goal. By spring 2024, the Skyline
Police Recruiting Unit aims to increase the number of qualified minority police applicants by
60%. In general, the stakeholders need to identify and evaluate the knowledge, skills, and
motivational capacity to increase ethnic diversity in the agency’s applicant pool.
Importance of Addressing the Problem
According to Grossman and Salas (2011), many organizations fail to conceptualize the
importance of developing skills and anticipating a shifting environment’s needs. The rapid
growth of ethnic minority groups across the United States increases the importance of law
enforcement agencies adapting. Mirroring the demographics of the communities they serve, it
strengthens an agency’s ability to uphold and implement healthy community-oriented policing
4

initiatives (Wilson et al., 2016). Moreover, the amount of diversity within a department serves as
a significant influence on the public’s perceptions of trust in the police. Research suggests that a
publicly perceived diverse police force enhances the public’s trust of law enforcement and
encourages more minority candidates to apply (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016, p. 18). Generally, the Skyline Police Department
will benefit from police diversity by focusing on the knowledge, motivational, and organizational
causes of performance gaps that are central to uncovering the organization-related causes that
serve as barriers to attaining diversity in police departments.
Organizational Performance Goal
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit will increase the hiring of qualified minority
candidates to 60% a year after this study. The agency will enhance ethnic/racial sworn-officer
presence. The goal to increase diversity in the department’s police ranks originates from a
historical underrepresentation of minorities and the failure to provide a police force that is more
ethnic/racially reflective of the community it serves. Acknowledging the need to enhance
diversity, the Skyline Police Chief and the recruiting unit set the performance objective. The
benchmark to increase the rate of qualified candidates by 60% is to double the number of
minority officers hired into the department. In general, the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit will
exercise various measures to track its progress in increasing the number of qualified minority
recruits hired.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
The Skyline Police Department’s recruiting staff is primarily responsible for attracting,
processing, and guiding applicants through the hiring process. The personnel and recruiting sub-
unit of the police department internally controls the hiring process factors, recruitment suites,
5

and recruitment methods in their approach to reaching their goal. In general, personnel and
recruiting unit’s main contributions to achieving the organizational goal will involve drawing a
larger pool of qualified minority applicants. The latest data from 2015 suggest that Skyline’s
police force needs a 32% increase in minority representation to mirror the 32.5% of its minority
residents. By September 2024, the Skyline Police Department Recruiting Unit will increase the
number of qualified minorities by 60%. Overall, the establishment of a larger minority pool of
applicants will increase their potential for incorporating a more diverse force to serve the people.
The Skyline Police Department supervises the personnel and recruitment unit’s functions
in attracting recruits to apply to the position of police officer trainee. The police department
ensures that the services of the recruiting staff align with its mission. Attaining the organizational
goal to achieve more diversity among qualified applicants will lead to providing a more
diversified force that mirrors the community. Additionally, the further diversification of the
police department will need to bridge communication gaps, increase perceived fairness from the
city, and increase the effectiveness of employing community-based policing initiatives. Lastly,
the dedication to achieve diversity can lead to perceptions of inclusiveness in the agency’s
internal work climate.
The municipal civil service commission of Skyline lawfully regulates the employment
and working conditions of public service employees. The civil service commission contributes to
the organizational goal of increasing diversity by administering, monitoring, and overseeing the
terms of the police entry civil service exam for the Skyline Police Department. The civil service
commission determines applicants’ eligibility after their civil service exam. In general, an
increase in eligible minority applicants can lead to a more diverse police force that comparably
reflects the community’s demographics.
6

The Skyline Police Department’s ethnic minority police applicants would benefit from
agency efforts to attract a more diverse police force. Gaining more qualified minorities will help
the department decrease any perception or effects of internal ethnic tokenism. Additionally, the
increased efforts to diversify the agency can better assure applicants that the department is
morally and professionally investing in them. Comprehensively, the increased investment in
gaining minority applicants will likely lead to an increase in qualified minority applicants. See
Table 1 for the stakeholder performance goals.

Table 1
Organizational Mission, Global Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals
Organizational mission
The mission of the Skyline Police Department Recruiting Unit is to oversee an efficient,
effective, and fair selection process, which results in the appointment of those select
individuals, who possess the skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to perform the duties
of a law enforcement officer in the City of Skyline.
Organizational performance goal
By September 2024, Skyline Police Department Recruiting Unit increases the number of
qualified minorities (Black, Hispanic, etc.) by 60%.
The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit

By November 2022,
the Skyline Police
Recruitment Unit
will develop an
action plan to
attract more
qualified ethnic
minority
applicants.
The Skyline Police
Department

By January 2023, the
Skyline Police
Department will
collect and analyze
data regarding their
efforts to attain
police diversity
among qualified
ethnic minority
applicants.
Skyline Municipal
Civil Service
Commission

By January 2022, the
city of Skyline Civil
Service
Commission will
provide statistical
data and analysis of
the number of
ethnic minority
applicants that were
eligible after taking
the civil service
exam.
Ethnic minority
police applicants

By September 2024,
60% more ethnic
minority police
applicants (in
comparison to the
applicant data
analysis of 2020)
will choose to
apply to the
Skyline Police
Department.
7

Stakeholder Group for the Study
Although the combined efforts of all stakeholders will help attain the overall
organizational goal of increasing the Skyline Police Department’s ethnic minority police
applicant pool by 60%, it is essential to assess the Recruiting Unit’s role in hiring a diverse
police officer force. Hence, the stakeholders of focus for this study consisted of the Skyline
Police Recruiting Unit. The unit has the most significant impact on the personnel hiring of police
officers. The agency equips them with resources and training to seek potential recruits
throughout the community. The stakeholder’s goal, supported by the Skyline Police Chief and
the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Director, is to comply with all action plan procedures that
lead to the desired increase in qualified minority police applicants. The action plan and
compliance procedures will include a police personnel demographic review, targeted recruiting
strategies review, and an ethnic community partnership review. Failure to achieve this goal will
lead to the continuation of a department that struggles to hire minority applicants.
Noncompliance will result in the community’s perception of a police agency that lacks the
initiative to establish a police force that better reflects its ethnic/racial demographics, which
unfavorably impacts the agency’s public trust.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
This project aimed to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root causes of the
organizational problem of recruiting ethnically diverse candidates for the Skyline Police
Department. Though an encompassing gap analysis would focus on all Skyline Police
Department stakeholders, for practicality, the stakeholders to be focused on are the members of
the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit. The analysis examined the causes of this problem due to the
lack of ethnic diversity existing between the percentage of Skyline police sworn officers and the
8

racial composition of the Skyline community. The analysis began by collecting the police
eligibility list that would be analyzed demographically based on performance measures to focus
on actual or validated causes. As such, three questions guided this study:
1. What are the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s knowledge and motivation related to
developing an action plan to attract more qualified ethnic minority applicants?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and the Skyline
Police Recruiting Unit’s knowledge and motivation?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
Methodological Framework
I used the gap analysis framework to examine this problem of practice via Clark and
Estes’s (2008) gap analysis framework. According to Clark and Estes, “in order to close
performance gaps and achieve business goals, we first have to identify the cause of the gap and,
therefore, the type of performance improvement required” (p. 41). Generally, the framework
focuses on a problem-solving approach to improve organizations by examining and categorizing
the causes of problems through its active ingredients of knowledge, motivational, and
organizational influences. The purpose of the three individual analyses of each influence was to
determine if workers had sufficient support to achieve organizational goals by diagnosing causes.
Comprehensively, Clark and Estes’s gap analysis serves as a systematic method to address the
organization’s performance problems and suggests that performance gaps exist when the
knowledge, motivational, and organizational influences are lacking.

9

Definitions
Civil Service Commission: A government agency that is responsible for overseeing the
hiring and promotions of civil servants. The government agency administers merit-based civil
service exams for applicants.
Community-oriented policing: A philosophy that employs organizational strategies that
systematically uses partnerships with local citizens and problem-solving techniques that
proactively addresses crime and social disorder in the community.
Police diversity: A multicultural force of law enforcement officers prepared to address
cultural differences and unfortunate misunderstandings and equipped to address a variety of
cultures and misunderstandings within their jurisdictional limits.
Racial minority: A collection of people who are not a part of the dominant group of races
within society.
Organization of the Project
Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provided the key concepts and
terminology commonly found in a discussion about recruiting police diversity. The
organization’s mission, goals, and stakeholders, as well as the initial concepts of gap analysis
were introduced. Chapter Two provides a review of the literature surrounding the scope of the
study. Topics examined are the racial demographics, recruiting strategies, and barriers for
minorities in the police hiring process. Chapter Three details the assumed interfering knowledge,
motivation, and organizational elements and methodology when it comes to the choice of
participants, data collection, and analysis. In Chapter Four, the data and results are assessed and
analyzed. Chapter Five provides solutions, based on data and literature, for closing the perceived
gaps and recommendations for an implementation and evaluation plan for the solutions.
10

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
Chapter Two delivers a review of the literature on efforts to recruit ethnic minorities into
law enforcement across the nation. Diversity is a grappling issue across society at various
institutions and organizations, and it is particularly essential in the law enforcement field.
Presenting an ethnically reflective police force that mirrors the community is a critical
instrument in building trust with the community. Overall, the literature review begins by
centering on the historical and current impacts on diversity in policing. The second portion of the
literature review addresses community diversity attributes, strained community relationships
with the police, and the lack of effective recruiting procedures targeted toward candidates with
ethnic community backgrounds.
The final section of Chapter Two focuses on the knowledge, motivational, and
organizational influences of Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis conceptual framework used in
this study. Subsequently, the chapter defines the knowledge, motivational, and organizational
influences observed and presumed in the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s initiatives needed to
accomplish their organizational performance goals. The chapter concludes by presenting the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences of the conceptual framework through
multiple worldview lenses.
Influences on Problem of Practice: Recruiting for Diversity in U.S. Policing
Historical Context
The historical context of the problem of practice creates the rationale for using the critical
race theory in the framework of this study. According to Delgado and Stefancic (2007), critical
race theory examines culture as it relates to race in police ethnic minority recruiting. Minorities
have been under scrutiny in terms of their culture, intelligence, motivation, family arrangements,
11

and more (Delgado & Stefancic, 2007). Unfortunately, a disproportionate perception of
minorities in the United States creates irrespective encounters in hiring (Donohue, 2020;
Gustafson, 2013; Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2016). Strained agency-community
relationships, the sustainment of slavery, segregation, and discrimination for most of the United
States History, and cultural stereotypes of minorities impact how national law enforcement
institutions perceive racial minorities (Donohue, 2020; Holmes & Smith, 2018; Wilson et al.,
2015). Moreover, the perception of minorities in the United States continues to influence unequal
hiring practices for minorities across various professions (Cordner & Cordner, 2011; Donohue,
2020; Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2016). As a result, minority police recruits continue to
face disparate challenges in law enforcement recruitment, hiring, and selection compared to their
white counterparts (Donohue, 2020).
The establishment of slave patrols led to the repressive supervision of Black people and
to the political function of formalizing of the local police in America (Hadden, 2003; De Jong,
2002). Moreover, the roots of racism and the discriminatory occupational nature of policing have
prioritized and positioned White men to be the longstanding gatekeepers in primarily possessing
and granting access to the profession (Guajardo, 2014; Jordan et al., 2009; Wilson et al., 2013;
Wilson et al., 2016; Wilson et al., 2015). Overall, the establishment of slavery and attitudes of
White domination and minority subordination, before and particularly during the slave patrol era,
served as an external factor in influencing and facilitating institutional racism practices and the
occupational exclusion of minorities in American policing since the beginnings of its existence
(De Jong, 2002). In general, minorities had no presence in the police profession during the
slavery and Civil War eras. Overall, the next section of this study presents literature regarding
the historical trends of under-representation of ethnic minorities in policing, diversity’s role in
12

current-day community policing strategies, and national diversity statistics of police departments
compared to the populations they serve.
Historical Viewpoint
Ethnic minorities are historically underrepresented in various local law enforcement
agencies in the United States compared to their White counterparts because of racial
discrimination in society and law enforcement (Alderden et al., 2017; Jordan et al., 2009; Wilson
et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2016). The historical context of racism and desegregation in the
United States hinders the integration and progression of minority police officers into the
workforce (Cordner & Cordner, 2011; Wilson et al., 2015). The institution of slavery and the
control of minorities influenced the origins of policing in the United States (Durr, 2015; De Jong,
2002; Turner et al., 2006). In the early 1700s, White society’s concern with potential slave
rebellions led to the idea of implementing a slave patrol system in 1704. The slave patrols led to
Black people’s repressive supervision and to the political function of formalizing the local police
in America (Durr, 2015; De Jong, 2002). In 1837, regulating Black people through checking
documents, enforcing slave codes, guarding against slave revolts, and the geographic movements
and traveling of slaves and “free Blacks” were the primary duties of the Charleston Police
Department in South Carolina (Durr, 2015; Hadden, 2003; De Jong, 2002).
The earliest documented presence of minorities in policing did not occur until the
segregation era during the 1860s (Wilson et al., 2015). However, despite the newfound and less
than considerate minority presence in the police profession, the powerfully conditioned and
racially biased attitudes of the public and police agencies have remained to affect minority roles
and representation in policing through the Reconstruction Era (Guajardo, 2014; Jordan et al.,
2009; Kuykendall & Bums, 1980; Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2015). During the period,
13

many White citizens were not reluctant to accept Black officers, and several believed it was more
proper for White men to enforce the law (Kuykendall & Bums, 1980). Restricting and limiting
policies diminished the discretion of Black officers enforcing the law. For instance, around 1867,
Black officers in Mobile, Alabama, were only allowed to work in majority Black residential
neighborhoods and prohibited from arresting other African Americans. Additionally, the cities of
Raleigh and Nashville, Tennessee, had arrest restrictions for Black officers (Wilkins & Williams,
2008). Generally, despite the resentment towards the Black and other minority officers from
Whites, these officers executed their duties as police officers, nevertheless enduring their limited
rights as police officers and as citizens under the Jim Crow system.
Moreover, the strategies of discrimination against Black police officers impeded on their
career progression at multiple local jurisdictions continued well into the 1900s and the 1960s
civil rights periods. Examples of occupational racism in internal police procedural activities
frequently occurred within the Chicago Police Department during the 1930s (Kuykendall &
Bums, 1980). The local agencies restricted the type and location of assignments for Black
officers. Also, supervisory officers manipulated the Black officers’ evaluations to impede their
career advancement. Instances of occupational discrimination and institutionalized racism in the
Chicago Police Department were documented in the 1960s around the Civil Rights Era
(Kuykendall & Bums, 1980). Around the 1960s, the police and minority relationships throughout
the country were in turmoil and disconnect as the public’s perceptions of police declined due to
police brutality tactics used on civil rights protestors and minorities (Kuykendall & Bums, 1980;
Smith & Alpert, 2007; Wilson et al., 2015). To mend the relationship between the citizens and
the police, President Lyndon B. Johnson took the initiative to form the Kerner Commission of
1968 to address civil disorder and riots between minorities and police occurring during the
14

period (Gustafson, 2013; Hughey, 2018). The president’s advisory committee recommended
hiring more minority police officers to increase the perceptions of police legitimacy in all
jurisdictions (Gustafson, 2013).
After the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s and the Equal Employment Act
of 1972, U.S. law enforcement agencies began to make progress in diversifying the police force
by eliminating legal barriers to the hiring and advancement of minority officers (Hassell &
Brandl, 2009; Smith & Alpert, 2007). For example, in the 1970s, Black officers only made up
roughly 6% of the personnel in large police departments; in 2005 that figure increased to 18%.
An additional study concludes that African Americans represented 11.9% of the police force in
2007 (Wilson et al., 2015). The Latino representation in the 50 largest cities from 1990 to 2000
rose from 9% to 14% of total sworn officers (McCluskey & McCluskey, 2004). However,
regardless of the historical progress of hiring racial minorities into law enforcement, professional
representation in policing remains dominated by Whites.
Current Police Diversity Climate
Despite some historical progress in hiring ethnic/racial minorities into law enforcement,
they remain generally inadequately represented within various jurisdictions countrywide. In a
study including 15,236 officers serving across 88 agencies, participants took surveys to measure
racial diversification levels at each agency. The researchers generally found the disproportionate
representation of Blacks and Hispanics in the various participating law enforcement agencies
(Alderden et al., 2017). Evidence suggests that the average agency underrepresented Blacks and
Hispanics compared to the overall populations in their jurisdictions (Alderden et al., 2017). In an
additional regional study measuring the racial diversity of 43 agencies in the Northeast, South,
Midwest, and Western areas of the United States with populations of 125,000 or more,
15

researchers found regional-wide diversity gaps between the amount of Black and White officers
in sworn police positions. In comparison to their White counterparts, Black officers were
numerically underrepresented (Wilson et al., 2013). Overall, the demographic makeup of White
officers (60,152) was almost four times larger than the number of Black officers (14,560; Wilson
et al., 2013).
Wilson et al. (2016) analyzed the racial minority composition data of 36 law enforcement
agencies across Rhode Island and revealed deficiencies in Black and Hispanic police officer
representation within various agencies. In general, Black and Hispanic people collectively only
comprised 11.66% of sworn police officers in Rhode Island, with an estimated statewide
minority population of 21.02% (Wilson et al., 2016). Additionally, in a study involving a sample
of 12,575 local police agencies in 2007, researchers collected statistical data on race and
ethnicity of full-time sworn personnel in local police departments by population size served.
Overall, the study found that the minority representation in all sizes of the communities was
25.3% compared to White officer representation at 74.7%. Moreover, minority representation
tended to be more prevalent in the more densely populated jurisdictions. The highest minority
representation level was 44% in locations with at least 1,000,000 residents (Reaves, 2010).
Generally, the studies above provide significant indications of current trends of
underrepresentation in law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.
The New York City Police Department is the largest city law enforcement agency
operating in the United States (Guajardo, 2014). In a study examining the New York Police
Department’s minority integration from 2005 to 2011, Jordan et al. (2014) used the Lieberson
index scale of diversity disparity to measure the numbers to which White officers outnumbered
minority officers. The study finds that the number of White officers far exceeds the number of
16

Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other minority groups. Overall, for the majority of the department,
White officers account for 52%, followed by Hispanics at 26%, African Americans at 26%,
Asian at 5%, and Native Americans at 0.1%. White police officers dominated at every rank; 64%
in the rank of detective specialist and 54% in the rank of detective investigator. Moreover, the
total amount of Black officers has remained at roughly the same rate since 2005 (Guajardo,
2014). In general, the research indicates current trends of underrepresentation in law enforcement
agencies throughout the nation.
Rapidly Growing Ethnic Minority Population
The growth of the Latino population was two times greater than the Black population
from 2000 to 2003 and approximately four times greater than the general U.S. population during
the same period. Today, the U.S. Census Bureau (2018) projects that ethnic minority populations
will continually increase between 2020 and 2060. Immigration to the United States will likely
continue to be the primary stimulator of ethnic population growth. Hispanics are expected to be
the fastest-growing racial-ethnic group up until 2060. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the
Hispanic population is expected to grow from 24.9% in 2020 to 31.9% by 2060. Additionally,
the Black population is projected to grow from 15.1% in 2020 to 16.0% by 2060. Conversely, the
White population is projected to decrease between 2020 and 2060 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018).
Overall, the Census Bureau’s statistics indicate an increase of foreign-born residents drives the
rapid upward growth of minorities in the United States.
The United States’ population growth is rapidly changing due to a continual increase in
the ethnic minority population. Thus, creating a diverse environment in the workforce is critical
(Stevens et al., 2008). Latinos are twice as likely to live in metropolitan areas than non-White
Latinos (McCluskey & McCluskey, 2008). Black people are also highly concentrated in urban
17

communities in major cities (Alderden et al., 2017; McCluskey & McCluskey, 2008). Overall,
law enforcement recruiting personnel have been slow to adjust to the Latino population’s rapid
growth (McCluskey & McCluskey, 2008). Understanding diversity and cultural awareness will
be essential for recruiting more ethnic minority candidates to the police force.
The colorblind methodology toward diversity deemphasizes the differences in people’s
racial and ethnic disparities and focuses on individual traits and similarities (Kirby et al., 2020).
Color blindness is associated with the United States’ cultural ideals of individualism, equality,
meritocracy, and the melting pot. The colorblind approach to diversity seems to be the most
common approach to diversity in the United States (Dowd & Bensimon, 2015; Stevens et al.,
2008). Although the approach centers on treating everyone equally, evidence suggests that
minorities tend to distrust the colorblind approach, whereas Whites that tend to see the approach
as genuinely inclusive. Minorities especially distrust the colorblind approach in organizations
that do not appear diverse (Stevens et al., 2008). Minorities often view organizations
implementing the colorblind approach as institutions that ignore or devalue racial differences
(Dowd & Bensimon, 2015; Stevens et al., 2008). From a minority worldview, the colorblind
climate can be frustrating and likely confrontational (Stevens et al., 2008). Organizations that
exercise the colorblind approach to diversity tend to be associated with higher levels of racial
bias (Richeson & Nussbaum, 2004; Stevens et al., 2008). Comprehensively, the studies and the
data examined suggest that various law enforcement agencies fail to internally reflect the ethnic
population demographics of the population it serves. The lack of ethnic diversity can affect
community relations when there are large gaps in cultural differences.
In larger minority communities, the need for police diversity may be more apparent
(McCluskey & McCluskey, 2004). Minority citizens base their confidence and trust in the police
18

on their interactions with the police in their community (McCluskey & McCluskey, 2004;
Wilson et al., 2015; Wilson et al., 2016). The citizens’ perception of trust may be influenced by
the ethnicity and race of the police officers serving the community. Many communities in the
United States present a disproportionate majority of White police officers in minority
communities. Overall, not having a proportionate minority presence within police jurisdictions
creates the risk of creating a divide between police agencies and the ethnic minority community
(McCluskey & McCluskey, 2004; Walker et al., 2004). The internal composition of police
departments is important in changing the organization’s management style, and it adds to
changing police culture and attitudes towards minority citizens in the community. Balancing
internal composition while working toward being reflective of the external ethnic composition of
the community creates recurrent interactions between White and minority police officers
(Guajardo, 2014). In addition, having adequate minority representation among ethnically dense
populations will allow the police department to become more adaptive to adopting nontraditional
police strategies that benefit an externally diverse community (McCluskey & McCluskey, 2004).
Ethnic Diversity Statistics Between the Skyline Police Department
A 2015 report by University of Texas students in the Dallas Morning News reported that
Whites dominate the police ranks (80%) despite being the numerical minority (just under 45%),
in comparison to non-Whites in the city of Skyline (University of Texas at Austin students for
Reporting Texas, 2015). An additional source, a 2014 news article in UWire reported a disparity
between the percentage of Hispanic citizens (30%) and Hispanic officers (11%) in Skyline
(Flannery, 2014). According to the two reports, the Skyline police department appears to be
ineffective at recruiting diverse candidates. Comprehensively, the studies and the data suggest
19

that various law enforcement agencies are failing to internally reflect the ethnic population
demographics of the population they serve.
Community Policing and Diversity
Community policing emerged from the social transitions of the 1960s in the United
States. In 1994, Congress initially endorsed the widespread adoption of training, evaluation, and
implementation of community policing strategies for law enforcement (Carter & Fox, 2019).
Community policing operations seek to build close relationships with the community to deter
and solve crimes (Braga & Weisburg, 2018; Carter & Fox, 2019; Topping, 2008; Wilson et al.,
2015). The successes of community policing rely on the community’s perceptions of police
legitimacy and trust to participate in solving community crimes (Carter & Fox, 2019; Chriss,
2015; Wilson et al., 2016). One of the core principles for implementing community policing
initiatives is establishing partnerships with the public. These interactive partnerships include
developing solutions to problems and maintaining trust in the police. The second core principle
of the community policing approach is problem-solving. Problem-solving aims to address the
community’s immediate concerns by proactively developing solutions to prevent crime, as
opposed to responding to crime when it occurs (Makin & Marenin, 2017). Overall, police
agencies can rarely solve problems on their own without community involvement. To develop an
effective partnership, the police must have positive relationships with members of the
community to operationally achieve their objectives in being responsive to crime to ensure the
safety of residents.
Community policing presents multiple non-crime control benefits in policing. Focusing
on neighborhood-level community concerns promotes positive relationships between the citizens
and the police (Gill et al., 2014). Additionally, increasing collaborations to mobilize support and
20

resources to focus on local community issues effectively reduces fear of crime and improves
citizens’ perceptions of their neighborhoods’ quality of life (Gill et al., 2014; Carter & Fox,
2019). Active community policing approaches establish and strengthen trust between law
enforcement and the community. Citizens’ perceptions of the police play an important role in
their willingness to cooperate with the police during crime prevention programs (Lee et al.,
2017).
Moreover, citizens with positive perceptions of the police are typically more likely to
obey the law. Enhancing trust in the police also leads to more willingness to provide information
on criminal activity in the area and higher citizen performance ratings in the community (Carter
& Fox, 2019). Research consistently finds community policing effective in increasing citizen
satisfaction and trust in the police. Gill et al. (2014) conducted a meta-analysis review examining
37 evaluative research reports measuring the effectiveness of community policing perceptions
within neighborhoods. After examining the pre-post changes in evaluative studies involving
community policing, researchers found positive effects on citizen satisfaction and police
legitimacy.
As the police become more visibly ethnically diverse, police legitimacy’s perceptions
increase further in the eyes of the public. Citizens tend to perceive the organizational
commitment to valuing various cultures when agencies present a diverse police force. Ethnically
diverse police forces enable police agencies to be more responsive in carrying out community
policing initiatives (Gibbs, 2019; Guajardo, 2014; U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016). Ethnically diverse police forces create a positive
climate of inclusion for both citizens and ethnic minority police officers (Gibbs, 2019).
Involving, identifying, and connecting to specific community members is essential for law
21

enforcement organizations. Information sharing and awareness of opportunities are needed for
citizens to engage in community policing initiatives. Additionally, it is important for police to
inform members of the community employment opportunities. Attempts to recruit ethnic
minorities often fail due to the lack of targeting their audience, especially among ethnic minority
communities (Wilson et al., 2016). Overall, the research conveys that ethnic diversity in police
departments is critical in advancing community policing initiatives. Community-oriented
policing centers on the factors of problem-solving and building trust through partnerships with
the community (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, 2016; Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2015). The lack of trust in the police
creates strained relationships and negative perceptions of the community’s residents.
Strained Ethnic Minority Relationships With the Police
Historically, there have been tensions between the police and ethnic minority citizens.
Blacks and Hispanics tend to distrust the police significantly more than Whites (Gibbs, 2019;
Wilson et al., 2013). Racial profiling of ethnic minorities dates back to the slave patrol days in
the United States, and it continues to be an institutionalized part of policing. The negative
perception of the police and unfair treatment mostly involves racially biased police practices
(Wilson et al., 2015). Racial profiling is police tactics that heavily rely on race and ethnicity. The
practices of racial profiling led to the mass incarceration of ethnic minorities. Various studies
and statistics (Gibbs, 2019; Medina, 2013; Wheeler, 2019; Wilson et al., 2013) affirm that police
officers stop individuals from ethnic minority groups more frequently than Whites relative to
their proportions in the population.
Historically, there have been tensions between the police and ethnic minority residents.
Black and Hispanic people tend to distrust the police significantly more than Whites (Gibbs,
22

2019; Wilson et al., 2013). Racial profiling of ethnic minorities dates to the slave patrol days,
and it continues to be an institutionalized part of policing (Wilson et al., 2015). Racial profiling
is police tactics that heavily rely on race and ethnicity. The New York Police Department’s Stop-
and-frisk tactics from 2003 to 2013 are an example of city-based racial profiling initiatives. Stop-
and-frisk practices involve temporary detainment and search of suspects for weapons and drug
contraband. Research of the New York Police Department’s analysis of stop-and-frisk found that
nearly 90% of those subjected to street interrogations for weapons and drugs were innocent.
Particularly, Black and Hispanic communities were targets of these practices. Stop-and-frisk
statistics showed that Black and Latino residents account for nearly 90% of the stops, compared
to Whites at roughly 10% (Holmes & Smith, 2018). Overall, racial profiling practices cause
significant social problems between the community and the police.
Specifically, researchers have found a strong connection between perceptions of race-
based practices and negative perceptions from community members toward law enforcement
organizations (Holmes & Smith, 2018). The confrontations mostly take place in disadvantaged
ethnic minority neighborhoods throughout the country. Residents of disadvantaged
neighborhoods tend to believe the police forces do not care for their safety or well-being
(Holmes & Smith, 2018). They also commonly claim that the police do not spend adequate time
and effort when dealing with their problems (Holmes & Smith, 2018; McCluskey & McCluskey,
2004). Ethnic minorities are also disproportionately surveilled in non-minority-dominated
neighborhoods, where they stand out or appear out of place (Holmes & Smith, 2018). These
inappropriate exercises often cause psychological effects (Fagan & Davies, 2001; Holmes &
Smith, 2018). In recent years, the high-profile shootings of unarmed Black people by the police
have driven much outrage and mistrust of the police force. Ethnic minorities have been outraged
23

with the police climate due to the media publicizing the shootings of unarmed people over the
past couple of decades (Holmes & Smith, 2018; Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2016).
Overall, strained relationships between ethnic minority communities and the police have created
an us-versus-them mentality. The division, therefore, creates separatism and constrained
communication channels (Holmes & Smith, 2018). As a result, many police departments may not
prioritize reaching out or targeting police prospects from ethnic minorities in their community.
Lack of Effectively Targeting Ethnic Minorities During Police Recruitment
Wilson et al., 2013 indicated that recruitment programs do not work because of the lack
of strategic recruitment planning, out-of-touch marketing strategies, and a selection process that
undermines effective recruitment. Marketing practices and community interactions have a large
impact on the recruitment of Black and Hispanic people. Police departments have often been
criticized for exercising perceived institutional racism in recruitment (U.S. Department of Justice
& U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016; Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al.,
2016). Recruitment of minority personnel has traditionally been an afterthought for many law
enforcement agencies (Alderden et al., 2017; Wilson et al., 2013). Current police recruitment
campaigns typically use advertisements that cater to the greater (White) community at large.
Nearly all recruiting teams are overly composed of White officers (Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et
al., 2016). These dynamics generate little trust and interest from racial minorities who may
already believe law enforcement is hostile to their interest. When citizens see that a police
department has personnel who reflect across-section of the community, they have greater
confidence that police officers will understand their problems and concerns (Wilson et al., 2013;
Wilson et al., 2016). In the departments with greater numbers of minority employees, police
legitimacy perception increases (Guajardo, 2014; U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
24

Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016; Wilson et al., 2016). Additionally, the police
interaction with members of the minority community perceives to be much improved.
Community-oriented policing demands recruiting agencies consider strategies for
recruiting a diverse applicant pool (White et al., 2010). The inability to recruit a diverse police
force will compromise the organization’s flexibility in implementing community-oriented
policing initiatives. Law enforcement recruiting units often lack in strategically prioritizing the
efforts to target ethnic minorities for sworn-officer positions (White et al., 2010; Wilson et al.,
2013; Wilson et al., 2016). Wilson et al.’s (2013) study, which examined the diversity recruiting
efforts of 43 local and state law enforcement agencies, revealed inadequate levels of information
dissemination and contact with significant core constituencies and institutions in minority
communities. Furthermore, the conscious efforts to make partnerships with Black law
enforcement officers’ organized groups were low. Overall, only 28.6% of state agencies and
30.8% of municipal agencies maintained contact with these organizations that depicted African
American police officers’ interests and concerns. The approaches used in the publication of the
recruiting information in print media to specifically recruit minority applicants was one of the
least used methods by municipal (38.5%) and state (21.4%) agencies (Wilson et al., 2013). In the
high-traffic areas (salons/barbershops, Historically Black colleges and universities, Black
churches, and shopping malls) for potential minority applicants, the distribution of recruiting
information was considered low. Only 7.7% of municipal agencies and 14.3% of state agencies
distributed recruiting information at salons and barbershops (Wilson et al., 2013).
Concerning the minority recruiting efforts at Historically Black colleges and universities,
only 30.7% of municipal agencies and 42.9% of state agencies distributed recruitment
information. Only 30.7% of municipal agencies and 21.4% of state agencies distributed
25

recruitment information at Black churches. There was a low distribution of recruiting
information at shopping malls: 11.5 % for municipal agencies and 26.7% for state agencies
(Wilson et al., 2013).
Police Diversity Achievement
The Center for Police Equity (CPE) explored promising practices to enhance police
diversity in law enforcement. The CPE began data collection by examining Law Enforcement
Management and Administrative Statistic (LEMAS) data sets in 2013 to pair police department
demographics to 2010 city census data statistics (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
Opportunity Commission, 2016). The purpose of the data collection was to determine the ethnic
and racial composition equivalence between the community and local police departments. The
CPE identified police departments mirroring their communities’ ethnic and racial demographics.
After identifying police departments that reflected their communities, CPE decided to conduct
interviews with police chiefs and focus groups from these agencies to uncover diversity
recruiting and hiring successes (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Opportunity
Commission, 2016).
According to the CPE data results, the Bowie Maryland Police Department found that
community outreach for youth and prioritizing the hiring of diverse community-oriented policing
contributed to their success in attaining diversity. Also, the Evanston Police Department of
Illinois cited leveraging existing diversity and emphasized practicing community policing
contributing to building their ethnically reflective workforce (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S.
Equal Opportunity Commission, 2016). Although diversity alone will not solve hostile
community relations with minority communities, a diverse police force is a solution to the
problem (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, 2016). Police
26

agencies that have broadened their talent pool will find a range of benefits to their workforces
and community relations (McMurray et al., 2010; U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
Opportunity Commission, 2016; Wilson et al., 2015).
In general, influential community policing will require agencies that need officers to
promote partnerships and establish trust, especially among diverse populations and
neighborhoods (Wilson et al., 2013; Wilson et al., 2016). Hiring officers who reflect the
community is pivotal for external relations; it increases racial and ethnic cultural understanding
within police agencies (Guajardo, 2013; U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Opportunity
Commission, 2016). Achieving diversity in entry-level recruitment and hiring is vital for law
enforcement agencies (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission,
2016). Police departments must get more creative with recruitment outreach and leverage the
public, business, and community establishments to help them achieve more police candidates’
diversification.
Role of Stakeholder Focus Group
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s goal is to enhance the number of qualifying
minority applicants. The recruiting unit’s mission is to attract candidates with the skills and
potential to perform a police officer’s duties and functions. The unit’s jurisdiction serves a
community of 134,436: 43% White, 32% Hispanic, and 21% Black (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018).
The analysis focused on acknowledging the characteristics and behaviors of the police recruiting
unit as it seeks to achieve the stakeholder performance goal. By spring 2024, the Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit aims to increase the number of qualified minority police applicants by 60%. In
general, the stakeholders need to identify and evaluate the agency’s applicant pool’s knowledge
and skills, motivation, and organizational influences to attain more ethnic police diversity.
27

Clark and Estes’s Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences Framework
Clark and Estes’s (2008) knowledge, motivation, organization (KMO) gap analysis was
used to examine this problem of practice. According to Clark and Estes, “in order to close
performance gaps and achieve business goals, we first have to identify the cause of the gap and,
therefore the type of performance improvement required” (p. 41). Generally, the framework
focuses on a problem-solving approach to improve organizations by examining and categorizing
the causes of problems through its active ingredients of KMO influences. The purpose of the
three individual analyses of each impact is to determine if workers have sufficient support to
achieve organizational goals by diagnosing causes. However, although each KMO element
appears to be isolated, each of the frameworks factors is interconnected; and they must be
positioned and aligned with each other for successful goal achievement (Clark & Estes,
2008). The construction and execution of interviews, surveys, and focus groups’ utilization
identify the employee beliefs and perceptions when diagnosing the gaps in the three areas of
KMO. Once gap analysis is complete, practitioners use suggested improvement tools as
guidelines to address the causes of performance gaps. Comprehensively, Clark and Estes’s
(2008) gap analysis serves as a systematic method to solve the organization’s performance
problems and suggests that performance gaps exist when the KMO influences are lacking.
Knowledge and Skills
Implementing progressive changes within an organization requires practical application,
knowledge, and skills development. In general, the knowledge dimension is referred to as the
agency’s know-how in achieving organizational performance goals (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Knowledge influences are extensively functional through five types of knowledge: factual,
conceptual, procedural, strategic, and beliefs in instructional objectives that specify the proposed
28

change among learners (Mayer, 2011). Identifying the individual and team gap analysis to ensure
that employees have adequate knowledge to perform is critical for analyzing performance gaps.
For the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit members, their knowledge and skills are essential factors
in solving new problems and adapting to changing conditions in the environment. Improving
individual and team learning within an organization will strengthen the organization’s capability
in the cognitive domain of knowledge (Clark & Estes, 2008). In general, the Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit must enhance individual and collective competencies in comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in the cognitive knowledge domain. The initial
process supporting the unit’s pursuit of reaching both performance and stakeholder goals is to
evaluate the necessary knowledge influences, knowledge types, and assessment measures to
highlight the present knowledge gaps.
The unit needs to evaluate the knowledge-related influences in achieving its stakeholder
goal. Krathwohl (2002) presents four distinct types of knowledge: factual, conceptual,
procedural, and metacognitive. Factual knowledge alludes to what is generally known as facts or
standard fundamentals one must know and understand specific to particular disciplines and
contexts (Mayer, 2011). Secondly, conceptual knowledge entails two or more functions together;
some of these functions include applying the understanding of categories, theories,
generalizations, models, and principles. Procedural knowledge involves applying one’s
knowledge through specific and general techniques or methodologies (Krathwohl, 2002).
Metacognitive knowledge refers to one’s recognition of one’s understanding of their thought
process and specific cognitive series of actions. This knowledge type enables one to distinguish
when and why to do something (Mayer, 2011). Moreover, metacognitive knowledge allows one
to assess the contextual and conditional dynamics of any present situation or problem.
29

A recent literature review characterizes two main knowledge influences that are
important to the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s goal to increase diversity among applicants.
Furthermore, these knowledge influences represent the underlying principles for determining the
applicable methods for assessing and analyzing each knowledge influence for stakeholder
groups. Collectively, the knowledge influences will make distinct but aligned general
impressions on the stakeholder’s examinations and decision-making process.
Developing Knowledge of Ethnic Internal and Community Composition
The first knowledge influence that the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit needs to attain its
performance goal is determining how the agency internally reflects the composition of the
community it serves and how the lack of police affects their role as recruiters. One of the federal
government’s key recommendations is that local police agencies ethnically reflect the
communities they serve (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission,
2016). The path to attaining a diverse police force starts with the recruitment effectiveness and
efforts of the recruiting units; however, along the journey are inherent challenges for agencies
like the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit. Like the Skyline Police Department, police agencies
throughout the country struggle to mirror and adapt to the rapidly changing demographics within
their city jurisdictions. However, despite challenges, the role of police recruitment must
overcome historical and current negative perceptions between communities of color and the
police to present a police force that is reflective of their community.
Based on Krathwohl’s (2002) proposals on the structure of knowledge dimensions, the
factual knowledge domain is necessary for the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit to understand the
particular details and elements of where they stand in presenting a police force that is internally
reflective of its community. First, the recruiting unit needs to acquire the factual knowledge
30

elements and statistics that reflect and compare the police department’s ethnic internal diversity
with the community’s ethnic population make-up. According to Mayer (2011), the learner needs
to know the facts to address real-world problems. Therefore, the recruiting unit needs to apply
the cognitive processes in the manner in which knowledge needs to be put to use, including
understanding, implementing, analyzing, and evaluating the ethnic diversity gaps between the
police department and the Skyline community (Krathwohl, 2002). After acquiring and assessing
the essential declarative knowledge that will facilitate the recruiting unit’s success in increasing
diversity, the group should evaluate the conceptual concepts that are essential to achieving its
stakeholder and performance goals.
Learning to Enhance Partnerships and Relationships With the Ethnic Minority Community
The next essential knowledge influence that the Skyline Recruiting Unit needs to reach
its performance goal is understanding how to build stronger partnerships and relationships with
the ethnic minority community in the agency’s surrounding areas. The recruiting unit is
responsible for cultural competence and interpersonal skills to adapt to the changing working
demands due to rapidly changing demographics. However, the lack of diversity and insufficient
community outreach efforts in recruiting make ethnic minority candidates reluctant to apply for
police positions (Wilson et al., 2016). To counter the ethnic minority candidate’s reluctance to
apply, the Skyline Police Department must establish and enhance partnerships with ethnic-
minority-dominant institutions and communities. These partnerships can create pipelines of
potential qualifying candidates, which will also help address the historical and current negative
perceptions or experiences that ethnic communities have with law enforcement (U.S. Department
of Justice, 2016). Considering these indications, the recruiting unit must evaluate and apply
31

conceptual knowledge foundations to establish community partnerships that will help facilitate
the duties to attract an applicant pool that is more reflective of its city’s ethnic population.
According to Grossman and Salas (2011), many organizations fail to conceptualize the
importance of developing skills and anticipating a shifting environment’s needs. The rapid
growth of ethnic minority groups across the United States increases the importance of
establishing police recruiting unit partnerships with these communities (Matthies et al., 2012).
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (2016) suggested that proactive efforts to partner with ethnic minority communities
and civic organizations can encourage racial minorities to consider careers in policing.
Recruitment personnel must understand the importance of partnerships, collaboration, and
outreach efforts to build and enhance partnerships with ethnic minority communities. In general,
the recruiting unit needs to emphasize building these partnerships through education and research
initiatives to strengthen its personnel’s conceptual knowledge.
Showing Trainees How to Achieve Task and Performance Objectives
Organizational units need knowledge of subject-specific skills, techniques, and
procedures to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This assumed influence is
critical because it plays a central role in understanding why organizations lack diversity.
According to Krathwohl (2002), procedural knowledge examines one’s ability in how to do
something when aiming to complete definite tasks and goals. Instituting training enables
personnel to receive information, guided practices, and corrective feedback that results in high-
impact learning or procedural knowledge. In general, providing personnel with practical training
would improve their understanding of managing procedural knowledge influences (Clark &
Estes, 2008). Proper procedural knowledge training will give the recruiting unit how-to
32

strategies, opportunities for guided practice, and expert feedback required for them to recruit for
police diversity.
According to Clark and Estes (2008), training must show employees exactly how to
decide and act to attain performance goals. Successful training provides and shows trainees
specific procedures that demonstrate how to accomplish the task. When necessary, training
procedures need to sequence and include demonstrations of the procedure through skill practice
during and after training to enable feedback that will correct mistakes. Generally, the Skyline
recruiting unit needs to ensure officer training courses focus more on telling how to do it and not
what to do to employ effective procedural training and knowledge initiatives toward recruiting
for diversity. Focusing on communicating what to do only enables people to help apply what
they have learned in the past. Implementing training will cut down on the automated practices
and expand procedural knowledge among personnel. Shifting the training’s focus will allow
members to execute newfound best practices toward utilizing techniques that incorporate ethnic
diversity in police recruitment and facilitate effective multimedia outreach.
Table 2 demonstrates the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s organizational performance
and stakeholder goals’ alignment with the knowledge influences that are fundamental in
accomplishing both goals. The table also uncovers the connecting assessment instruments for
examining the knowledge influence for the stakeholders.

33

Table 2
Knowledge Influences, Types, and Assessments if Knowledge Gap Analysis
Assumed knowledge
influences
Knowledge type Knowledge influence
assessment
The Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit needs to know how
reflective the agency’s
racial and ethnic
composition is of the
demographic makeup of
the citizen population in the
city of Skyline.
Declarative (factual) In what ways does the
Skyline Recruiting Unit
measure how its ethnic and
racial composition
compares to its citizen
population?

To what extent do you
believe that the population
percentage of minorities in
your law enforcement
agency currently mirrors
the population percentage
of citizens who reside in
the city?

Document analysis
Obtaining and comparing the
ethnic and demographic
configuration of the
Skyline Police Personnel to
the civilian population in
the city of Skyline.
The Skyline Police
Recruitment Unit needs to
know the conceptual
benefit of building and
enhancing partnerships and
relationships with the
dominant ethnic minority
organizations and
institutions in the
community.
Declarative (conceptual) Please explain to me the
principles involved in
developing recruitment
relationships within the
community?

What measures work best to
promote a collaborative
relationship between police
departments and the
communities they serve?

What are the best strategies to
strengthen the relationship
between the police and
minorities?
34

Assumed knowledge
influences
Knowledge type Knowledge influence
assessment
How has your police
recruitment training
prepared you for building
relationships to recruit in
ethnically diverse
populations?

What training and experience
do you have in developing
and implementing
recruiting initiatives that
incorporate ethnic
diversity?
The Skyline Recruiting Unit
needs to show recruiting
agents how to implement
recruiting initiatives and
strategies that attract more
minority police candidates
Procedural knowledge What training and experience
do you have in developing
and implementing
recruiting initiatives that
incorporate ethnic
diversity?

In what ways have you
demonstrated commitment
and sensitivity to the
importance of diversity in
your previous police
recruitment experiences?

How consistent is the
recruiting unit in
implementing strategic
planning around recruiting
practices related to
diversity?

Motivation
Motivation is a complex dynamic where one’s internal state is responsible for initiating
and directing one’s cognitive processes and goal-oriented behaviors (Mayer, 2011). Moreover,
motivation is the element that gets people going, keeps them moving, and transfers the effort
35

spent to accomplish a work task. Clark and Estes (2008) also highlighted the three motivational
directories of active choice, persistence, and mental energy as playing critical roles as potential
strengths or problem areas within a working environment. For the Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit, these three motivational processes will help achieve the stakeholder and performance goals.
Comprehending the main motivational aspects that influence an organization’s working
capacity is essential for the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit. The first facet that an organization
needs to monitor is the individual or collective efforts of the active choice domain, which
determines whether people choose or fail to select to start the organization’s work goals. The
second facet is the team, or singular levels of persistence remain engaged in focusing on work
goals. The third component for an organization to observe is the mental effort or persistence of
work goals in the face of employees (Clark & Estes, 2008). Also, it may be even more critical for
the recruiting unit to understand the motivational belief principles that influence their
developmental and cultural dimensions in the workplace. Overall, six motivational beliefs that
are significant for the unit are self-efficiency, attributions, value, interest, goal orientation, and
emotion (Mayer, 2011).
This section will present three types of motivational beliefs for discussion: attributions,
self-efficacy, and interest. According to Anderman and Anderman (2006), the locus of causality
for success or failure typically relates to internal or external measures. Furthermore, the self-
efficacy behavioral element refers to an individual or team’s capabilities to organize and
accomplish the directive actions toward attaining the desired level of performance (Mayer, 2011;
Pajares, 2006). In terms of situation, personal interest, and the utility value theories, each impacts
organizational motivation. Each of these motivational influences and approaches aligns with the
36

motivational factors that are important for achieving the stakeholder and organizational goals
(Eccles, 2006; Schraw & Lehman, 2006).
Task Value: The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Needs to See the Usefulness of Attaining
Police Diversity Within Their Law Enforcement Agency
The first motivational influence that the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit needs to succeed
at recruiting a more ethnically reflective police force is expectancy value. Eccles (2006) based
the motivational theory on two simple central questions: “Can someone do the Task?” and “Does
someone want to do the Task?” The first question reflects the expectancy component and
confidence one has in addressing the work task. The level of confidence in one’s ability to
master a function is a strong predictor of achievement-related activities. Past success or failures
in personal experiences have a strong on confidence levels. In general, someone with high
confidence and positive experience will likely demonstrate full and sustained engagement toward
achieving the task. Contrastingly, if someone has low confidence in their ability to perform, they
will probably have a low expectancy level, resulting in exemplifying limited engagement in the
achievement-related task. Eccles’s (2006) second question addresses the value component of an
achievement-related task. The value of doing a task relates to the author’s four connecting
constructs: intrinsic value, utility value, attainment value, and perceived cost.
The first task value construct, intrinsic value, refers to the enjoyment one has in doing a
job. Motivation becomes optimal when someone enjoys doing an achievement-related task. The
intrinsic value level of a person will likely predict a strong level of intrinsic value. Generally,
high intrinsic motivation is likely to positively influence one’s engagement and achievement
outcomes during a task (Rueda, 2011). The second value construct, attainment value, involves
the significance one puts on doing a task. Attainment value can also be intellectualized in terms
37

of someone’s needs, personal interest, and personal values toward a function and activity
(Eccles, 2006). High attainment value leads to intense levels of engagement. The third value
construct (utility value) refers to the usefulness someone believes in pursuing an activity or
future goal (Rueda, 2011). Attainment and utility value impacts the extent to which the situation
provides opportunities for autonomy, a sense of competence, and social relatedness. The fourth
value construct, perceived cost involves the worth someone sees in participating in the activity.
The perceived cost value factors strongly influence one’s thoughts on the estimated amount of
time expended, exerted effort needed, fear of failure, and social consequences of rejection. In
general, it is vital for the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit to subjectively interpret and analyze the
value constructs presented above.
To accomplish their stakeholder and performance goal, the Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit needs to acknowledge the utility value concept of attaining a police force that is more
racially reflective of the community they are responsible for serving and protecting. Achieving
diversity within a police department should be seen as a necessary and useful function for the
recruiting unit to pursue. The recruiting department needs to acknowledge that providing a more
reflective police force presents a more open-minded culture at the agency. The acknowledgment
can benefit police reform initiatives through community policing initiatives, more positive
community perceptions, and public trust and enhancing the encouragement for more applicants
to apply (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016,
p. 18). The recruiting unit’s capacity to understand and acknowledge the value of police diversity
heavily relies on the leadership’s role in communicating and emphasizing the importance of
achieving police diversity to engage all personnel in attaining the organization’s performance
goal.
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Self-Efficacy: The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Needs the Confidence That They Can
Attract More Ethnic Minority Candidates Through Their Recruiting
The self-efficacy theory is the second motivational influence that Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit needs to achieve its organizational performance goal. Bandura (2000) defined
the self-efficacy theory as internal judgments someone believes about their learning capabilities
or executing the right courses of action during achievement-related activities. Self-efficacy
beliefs underpin human motivation, well-being, and personal accomplishment (Pajares, 2006).
The beliefs aspects are present throughout virtually every feature of a person’s life, whether it
involves productivity, self-debilitating, and optimistic occurrences. Self-efficacy is especially
important in responding to adversity (Rueda, 2011). Moreover, collaborating individuals also
create the social construct of shared beliefs, which may translate into group capability beliefs in
achieving a task (Pajares, 2006). Therefore, an organization must have a strong sense of
collective efficacy and greater beliefs in their competence to encounter the difficulties and
hardships when achieving performance goals.
Pajares (2006) presented four areas that serve as sources of efficacy beliefs: mastery
experience, vicarious experience, social persuasions, and physiological reactions. Master
experience is the perception of one’s outcomes from their performance or mastery experience.
Generally, mastery experience is the most influential source for individuals because success or
failure of tasks either raises or lowers one’s efforts toward the function. Vicarious experience
refers to observing others perform tasks. The results of an individual’s success or failure during
performances will likely contribute to one’s own beliefs in t whether or not they can achieve the
tasks through the interpretations of one’s vicarious experience. Social persuasions influence self-
efficacy through verbal messages that someone receives from other individuals. These messages
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can either encourage or discourage the effort one puts into a task. Physiological reactions to
someone’s anxiety, stress, and mood indicate one’s self-efficacy. Positive physiological
responses that enhance optimism are likely to increase one’s self-efficacy, and adverse
physiological reactions will most likely diminish one’s self-efficacy (Pajares, 2006). Overall, the
Skyline Police Recruiting Unit needs to examine its collective organizational efficacy to recruit
more police diversity.
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s ability to recruit more ethnic minorities is heavily
influenced by its beliefs in its internal collective efficacy toward its stakeholder and
organizational goals. Bandura (2000) suggested that sharing beliefs and growing
interdependence will strengthen an organization’s collective efficacy and motivation to pursue
tasks and goals. The functioning or shared beliefs within a unit will likely produce effects of
collective actions that motivate them to devote strong efforts and persistence to attain their goal
(Bandura, 2000). Regardless of the failures and success in the unit’s collective mastery
experience, leaders consider inspiring and growing confidence with new and improved research-
based approaches and initiatives to lure more minority candidates. Also, the unit leaders need to
ensure that the staff has adequate support through resources, information, and encouragement
throughout their process of working on mastering the challenges and tasks of recruiting police
diversity.
Table 3 exhibits the intersection of the recruiting unit’s organizational performance and
stakeholder goals to the central motivation influences that are pivotal in achieving its objectives.
The table also reveals the associating motivational influence assessment items that are
instrumental for the stakeholder’s evaluations.

40

Table 3
Motivational Influences and Assessments for Analysis
Assumed motivational influences Motivation influence assessment
Task value: The Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit needs to see the usefulness of attaining
police diversity within their law enforcement
agency.
Interview questions used in this study:

How useful do you feel it is to attain an
ethnical demographic police force that
mirrors the community it serves?

How valuable do you feel it is to attain or
maintain ethnic police diversity within the
Skyline Police Department?

How valuable is it to present a police force
that is demographically reflective to the
community?
Self-efficacy: The Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit needs the confidence that they can
attract more ethnic minority candidates
through their recruiting.
Interview questions used in this study:

What are some causes for the success or
failure to attain more police diversity?

How confident do you feel, being a member
of the recruiting and personnel unit, in
your ability to recruit or attract qualified
ethnic minority police candidates?

Can you discuss your confidence level in
adapting to challenges in the recruitment
of minority recruits?

Organizational Influences
The DNA of a culture reflects organizational stability that can be influenced by external
and internal cultural effects in both cultural models and settings influences (Gallimore &
Goldenberg, 2001; Schein, 2004). Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) defined cultural models as
collective mental schema or normative understandings of how the world works or should work.
Cultural models conceptually encompass behavioral (activity), cognitive, and affective
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components. Within an organization, the cultural model influences share the environmental and
event interpretations of values, beliefs, and attitudes that are generally invisible but automated.
These invisible and automated behaviors and concepts determine the rules of interaction, who
gets to participate, and the purpose of interactions within organizations (Gallimore &
Goldenberg, 2001). Cultural models can be explained as the “tools of the mind” (Cole, 1985, p.
47) and signify traditionally evolved and shared ways of perceiving, thinking, and amassing
possible responses to adaptive challenges and conditions. Overall, the cultural model influences
define what things are and what they should be (Gallimore & Goldenberg; 2001). The cultural
model concept fits well within the second major organizational influence described as the
cultural setting.
Culture settings form “whenever two or more people come together, over time, to
accomplish something” (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001, p. 47). Gallimore and Tharp (1988)
described cultural settings as the social furniture of our family, community, and work lives.
Thus, cultural settings are visible concrete manifestations of cultural models that emerge in
activity settings. Organizational workplace settings take place at home, school, the community,
and the workplace. The demands influenced by cultural settings shape the social constructs of
how and why tasks are completed in the various operative settings (Gallimore & Tharp, 1988).
Comprehensively, cultural models and settings are interrelated but distinctly different within the
context of this study. Organizational influences on cultural models and settings tend to be
interrelated (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). It is extremely difficult to establish the foundation
of one without the other. For this study, it will be imperative to allow the distinction between
cultural settings and cultural models. A culture setting relates to the occasions where people
come to carry out an activity to accomplish something of value, and cultural models develop
42

from collective transmitted information and the shared experiences that go unseen (Gallimore &
Goldenberg, 2001).
Cultural Model: The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Needs to Build a Culture of Trust With
Ethnically and Racially Diverse Communities
Establishing trust is imperative for instituting an environment where organizational
performance can provide the basis for effective teamwork. A culture of trust creates powerful
leverage on an organization’s performance. Building a culture of trust is essential for
organizations to be successful (Clark & Estes, 2008; Zak, 2017). The establishment of a high-
trust culture has a powerful influence on human behavior as long as it is appropriately
implemented. Trust demands organizations to view one who works as a whole as complete
pieces of human beings, not human capital (Zak, 2017). Despite the importance of trust within an
organization, problems obtaining trust seem to be more pervasive and more profound than ever
before. Currently, there is much mistrust and conflict between minority community members and
the police. Overall, broken relationships of distrust are very complicated to rebuild, and it can
take a considerable amount of time to amend once trust is broken. Trust can be considered in two
somewhat different ways: reliance and confidence (Burke, 2014). Reliance involves believing in
one another’s ability, and confidence involves one feeling they can depend on something
regarding another individual or organization (Burke, 2014). In general, building trust and more
partnerships with the ethnic minority community is fundamental for the Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit’s efforts.
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Cultural Setting: The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Needs to Assess the Common Ethnic
Minority Police Barriers Within the Recruitment and Hiring Process of Potential Police
Candidates
Improving and managing work processes leads to an effective change from multiple
improvement efforts (Moran & Brightman, 2000). All organizational goals are accomplished
through a system of interactive processes that involve specified fundamental knowledge, skills,
and motivation to work successfully. The interwoven work processes identify how people,
equipment, and materials must connect to produce the desired objective (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Success in work processes also leads to improvements in the customer’s focus and strengthens
employee involvement to achieve change improvement efforts (Moran & Brightman, 2000). The
chances of an intuitive failing rise when the processes are inadequate and misaligned. When
organizational policies create chaos, they become barriers to change. Workers with sufficient
knowledge, skills, and motivation will not be successful if inefficient work processes are present.
Work processes must be aligned with the organizational goals and be continuously improved to
succeed in closing organizational performance gaps (Clark & Estes, 2008). Combining separate
work procedures into a smooth functioning unit will increase team effectiveness (Clark & Estes,
2008). Overall, the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit needs to identify common roadblocks for
minority applicants in the application process.
Cultural Settings: There Need to Be Enhanced Strategies in Targeting Minority Based
Community Groups Within the Underrepresented Settings to Create More Pipelines for
Potential Ethnic Minority Police Candidates
Law enforcement agencies typically lack or do not prioritize the strategic marketing
efforts to target racial minorities and female prospects in recruiting. For instance, a survey to
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characterize various nationwide agencies’ efforts in targeting minority and female police
candidates, 985 agencies across the United States small agencies (with 20 or fewer officers) only
targeted 8% of minorities in their recruiting efforts. At medium agencies (between 101 to 500
officers), only 15% of minority candidates were to recruit minorities specifically. Only 38.5% of
local agencies and 21.4% of state agencies used recruiting information in print media aimed to
specifically recruit minority applicants. Lastly, only 30.7% of municipal agencies and 42.9% of
state agencies distributed police recruitment information at Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (Wilson et al., 2013).
Wilson et al. (2016) surveyed local law enforcement agencies across Rhode Island. The
survey consisted of questions on current minority staffing; the number of candidates of color
who applied, were hired, and retained; those who were released prior to the end of probationary
periods, and methods used to communicate their recruiting information to the minority
community. A total of 36 questionnaires from agencies were determined as usable (Wilson et al.,
2016). The study determined low levels of information distribution, contact with core constitutes
in minority communities of color, and issues related to the selection process of police officers).
In regard to the circulation of recruiting information to core constitutes in communities of color,
only 8.3% contacted faith-based groups.
In general, Rhode Island agencies lack the will or effectiveness to target racial minorities
through their recruitment efforts (Wilson et al., 2016). The lack of a diverse police force will
impair the crime prevention and suppression efforts of community-oriented policing. The
inability to recruit a diverse police force will compromise the organization’s flexibility in
implementing community-oriented policing initiatives (White et al., 2010). In regard to
distributing recruiting information, agencies reported the use of their agency website (88%) and
45

concentration on local community news media (83%) for promotional purposes. However, only
38.9% of the agencies focused their promotional police recruitment efforts on minority-centric
news publications and media (Wilson et al., 2016). Overall, 19.4% of the agencies used targeted
email list, and only 5.6% sent notices to historically African-American schools. One (2.8%)
police department distributed recruiting information in a church lobby. Only one (2.8%)
circulated recruiting information in predominantly Black barbershops and salons. Two (5.6%)
passed out hiring information at a shopping mall. Only one (2.8) distributed information to
Historically Black college and universities. Only nine (25% distributed information to
predominately racial minority local community centers, and four (11.1%) distributed information
in local gym and fitness centers (Wilson et al., 2016)
Organizational change efforts ensure that everyone has the resources (equipment,
personnel, time, etc.) to properly pursue the goal (Clark & Estes, 2008). The organization must
commit the necessary resources upfront to ensure that those impacted by proposed changes have
a safety net of knowledge and skills development at their disposal. Organizational resources need
to align with the necessary organizational change initiatives (Moran & Brightman, 2000).
Organizations require the proper use of tangible equipment, and supplies must properly align
with organizational priorities (Clark & Estes, 2008). Considering the findings, the regularity of
contact regarding police recruitment programs with partnerships that concern the African
American community appeared to be poor at the agencies across various regions of the United
States. Considering the research above, the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit needs to shift its focus
on its resources to optimize recruiting and targeted marketing strategies that enable them to reach
its goals of attracting more diverse candidates. Table 4 represents the unit’s organizational
performance and stakeholder goals in alignment with the organizational influences that are
46

essential for accomplishing diversity goals. The table also reveals relevant assessment
instruments for examining the cultural model and cultural settings influences on the stakeholders.

Table 4
Assumed Organizational Influences and Assessments for Organizational Gap Analysis
Assumed organizational influences Organization influence assessment
Cultural model: The Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit needs identify any potential challenges
and build a culture of trust with ethnically
and racially diverse communities
Interview questions used in this study

What strategies do the Recruiting Unit use to
build trust within minority communities?

What role does trust play when recruiting
ethnic and racial minorities
Cultural setting: The Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit needs to assess the common ethnic
minority police barriers in the recruitment
and hiring process of potential police
candidates.
Interview questions used in this study

What departmental barriers do you feel
ethnic minority candidates face that could
keep them from entering a law
enforcement career?

Over the past five years, describe the
recruiting unit’s difficulty in attracting
ethnic minority candidates?

How much impact do civil service exams
have on excluding ethnic minority
applicants from the hiring pool?

How much impact do background checks
have on excluding ethnic minority
candidates from the hiring process?
Cultural setting: There needs to be enhanced
strategies in targeting minority-based
community groups in the under-represented
settings to create more pipelines for potential
ethnic minority police candidates.

Interview questions used in this study

How do you reach out to diverse groups or
ethnic minority communities about police
hiring opportunities?”

What programs or police recruiting
initiatives have you been part of to recruit
candidates from diverse ethnic
47

populations, and specifically, what was
your role in those efforts?

Is the agency capturing and evaluating the
success and/or effective contemporary
recruitment methods efforts in attracting
minority police candidates?” “If so, how?”

How would you describe the number of
ethnic minority police candidates applying
for a sworn-officer position within your
law enforcement agency?

Document analysis

Document analysis data will enable the
researcher to analyze the recruitment
outreach, marketing practices, and
allocation of resources used to reach more
ethnically diverse police recruits.

Conceptual Framework
For police departments, mirroring the ethnic demographics of the communities they serve
strengthens the agency’s ability to uphold and implement strong community-oriented policing
initiatives (Wilson et al., 2016). Moreover, the amount of diversity within a department serves as
a significant influence on the public’s perceptions of trust in the police. Research suggests that a
publicly perceived diverse police force enhances the public’s trust in law enforcement and
encourages more minority candidates to apply (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016). Generally, the Skyline Police Department will
benefit from police diversity by focusing on the KMO causes of performance gaps that are
central to uncovering the organizational barriers to attaining diversity.
Figure 1 depicts the interaction between the KMO influences on recruiting for diversity
within the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit. It demonstrates addressing the potential fundamental
48

causes that may contribute to attaining organizational and stakeholder goals toward gaining a
diverse workforce. Additionally, the figure also contains the essential elements of identifying
gaps, determining causes, and evaluating results that improve the organization’s overall
performance. The model outlines the relationships between the unit’s knowledge influences on
implementing recruitment strategies based on setting expectations and adjusting methods that
align with the organization’s goals. Moreover, the figure displays motivational influence focus
areas critical to addressing the organization’s desires to have a more engaging workforce that
recruits and markets the necessity of bringing in ethnically or racially diverse talent that aligns
with the demographic group’s communities they serve. Both knowledge and motivational
influences further examine the connections to the organizational context that helps the unit
achieve its goals through building a culture of trust, addressing and improving biased employee
screening practices, and more robust targeted marketing practices. Comprehensively, the
interaction between the three assumed influencers leads to an evaluation of the agency’s
capabilities in attracting more ethnic through utilizing gap analysis to evaluate their practices in
recruiting a workforce that mirrors the community it serves.
The figure further spotlights the recurring interactions between the assuming KMO
influences that function interdependently. The Skyline Police Department’s expertise and skill in
recruiting a diverse police force play a dynamic role in determining the individual and team
needs necessary to achieve performance goals. Moreover, Skyline Police Recruiting Unit
personnel must be motivated to recruit more police diversity. The task value and self-efficacy of
individuals and the team are significant factors in the unit’s perceivable ability to accomplish
tasks or inspire resistance toward reaching organizational goals and knowing how to address the
resistance (Vrugt & Oort, 2008). The lack of knowledge can considerably diminish team or
49

individual motivation and increase resistance within the organization (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Therefore, it is vital for knowledge and motivational influences to align to enable positive
impacts on the organization’s organizational models and settings. Strengthening the
organizational climate and organizational processes will empower Skyline police recruiting
personnel to apply operative knowledge and motivational influence and practices that derive
from a healthy mental structure standpoint. Overall, addressing these influences can lead to
productive behavior patterns toward achieving a diverse police applicant pool.

50

Figure 1
Conceptual Framework: Recruiting Diversity in the Skyline Police Department

51

Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to conduct a gap analysis to examine the root causes of the
organizational problem of recruiting more qualified ethnic minority police candidates in the
Skyline Police Department to present an agency that more closely reflects the racial-
demographical makeup of the community it serves. The literature presents the country’s
historical and current contexts that have affected integration efforts between ethnic minorities
and Whites in policing through instances of slavery, segregation, and discrimination. The
longstanding racially biased external influences of American society internally influence the
systematic and institutional practices of police agencies, which have been found to exclude and
hinder the attitudes and the perceptions of the police amongst minorities. The exclusion of
minorities from law enforcement has led to the commonly found underrepresentation of minority
police officers within several jurisdictions throughout the United States. In general, the Skyline
Police Recruiting Unit must effectively assess and analyze the KMO influences affecting them
from attaining ethnic police diversity using Clark and Estes’s (2008) conceptual framework.
Comprehensively, Chapter Three will present the study’s methodological approaches toward the
data collection of the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s observations, surveys, and interviews.

52

Chapter Three: Methods
This study focused on examining the Skyline police recruiting unit’s KMO needs to
increase the number of ethnic minority police applicants to increase organizational workforce
diversity. Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis served as the methodological approach to
performing a qualitative research study. According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), evaluation
studies represent one form of practical research common to social practice. The evaluation
studies involved systematic inquiry processes that collected data or evidence on the program’s
worth of value, process, or technique. Evaluation is a necessary component when organizations
attempt to close performance gaps (Clark & Estes, 2008). This chapter begins with a description
of the Skyline police recruiting unit personnel’s contribution to the study and research, the
design outline, and data collection. This chapter concludes with a data analysis discussion. The
questions that guided this study are the following:
1. What are the Skyline police recruiting unit’s knowledge and motivation related to
developing an action plan to attract more qualified ethnic minority applicants?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and the Skyline
police recruiting unit’s knowledge and motivation?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
The application of mixed-methods designs for this study included secondary data,
interviews, observations, and surveys from small group participants. Mixed-methods studies use
qualitative and quantitative methods (Creswell & Creswell, 2018; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
This study inductively explored and analyzed the KMO influences on recruiting for diversity.
53

Overall, mixed-methods techniques identify a comprehensive set of themes from the data
analysis to determine the research problem’s best understanding.
Participating Stakeholders
As mentioned, the Skyline Police Department Recruiting Unit is a subdivision of the law
enforcement agency that directly impacts attracting qualified candidates into new law
enforcement careers. The recruiting unit is responsible for guiding and testing candidates, from
civil service exams to conducting background checks. The unit is the appropriate stakeholder for
the study focus because the agency oversees the selection process that results in the appointment
of individuals with the skills, knowledge, and abilities to perform the duties of law enforcement
officers in the Skyline Police Department. The recruiting unit performs recruitment and hiring
functions for a police department that serves a community of 145,000 residents. The recruiting
staff consists of three sworn police officers. One of the department’s and recruiting unit’s
primary roles is to present a police force that ethnically reflects the citizens of the community it
serves.
I selected the Skyline Police recruiting unit as the study stakeholder through non-
probability convenience sampling methods. I used the mixed-methods research approach
throughout this study. A mixed-methods approach incorporates qualitative and quantitative
research into a single study through a convergent design to understand a research problem
(Johnson & Christensen, 2016). The mixed methods were necessary because they provide a more
substantial and more comprehensive research outcome in examining the dynamics of recruiting
police diversity. Mainly, the study used some exploratory sequential and quantitative data
sources. Exploratory sequential data initially starts collecting data through qualitative data and
analysis and then collects quantitative data (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The study aligned with
54

the critical/transformative paradigms of inquiry because it addresses power and marginalization
within law enforcement.
Interview Group Sampling Criteria and Rationale
Criterion 1
The participant must be an existing sworn officer of the Skyline Police recruiting staff.
The sampling criterion enabled me to focus on the recruiting experiences in a central local police
department. This criterion aligned directly with intentions to measure participants’ perspectives
on the recruiting unit’s progress in meeting their goals.
Criterion 2
Participants must be directly involved in regular planning and executing of police
applicant recruitment operations and strategies on behalf of the Skyline Police Department. The
criterion allowed participants to reflect on their knowledge, value, self-efficacy, and
organizational elements that play a role in their experiences and abilities to recruit a diverse
police force. The Skyline police recruiting unit provided the best opportunity to measure the
department’s recruiting police diversity capabilities.
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
The purposeful sampling technique served as the most suitable method for this study. The
non-probability purposeful sampling method enabled me, using careful judgment, to select
participants that would be good sources of data (Galvan & Galvan, 2017; Patton, 2002). This
sampling method resonated with the focus on the Skyline police recruiting unit personnel who
met the study’s specific criteria. This sampling procedure allowed me to recruit three participants
for interviews. The interviews examined the participant’s KMO influences on the problem. The
sampling method enabled me to identify common themes and patterns across the interviews
55

(Patton, 2002). Recruiting these three participants was pivotal because recruiters directly impact
building the department’s workforce. Generally, the proximity and influences of the recruiting
unit enabled them each to be credible and valid sources of information regarding recruiting
police diversity. My intent was not to generalize the data to a more extensive populace but to
further understand the Skyline police recruiting unit’s experiences in attaining ethnic and racial
police diversity within the police department’s hiring process. I identified personnel who meet
the selection criteria and willingly participated in interviews.
Document Analysis Strategy and Rationale
Document analysis served as a resource in evaluating how well the recruiting unit is
doing in presenting a police force that is racially and ethnically reflective of the population it
serves. Documents allow researchers to access information at a convenient time. Public
documents served as unobtrusive sources of information that saved time and the expense of
transcribing (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Data from the U.S. Census Bureau serves as an easy-to-
access public resource for statistical analysis of the nation’s population. I used the bureau’s
statistics to capture the ethnic and racial demographics in the city of Skyline. I compared the
demographics, by percentage, with the city of Skyline Civil Service Commission statistics on the
city’s police force’s ethnic and racial makeup.
The Skyline Civil Service Commission functions as a government agency responsible for
overseeing the working conditions of the city’s civil servants or police officers. The commission
works along with the police recruiting unit during the recruitment and hiring process. I used
commission data to gather the ethnic and racial composition of the police force. The research
initiative of comparing the census and Skyline civil service ethnic and racial demographics
served as the best sources for statistically determining how the Skyline police demographics
56

mirror the communities in its jurisdiction. The information determined the contrasting statistics
of the police and community by percentage rates.
Also, artifacts are physical and symbolic tools made and modified over time that may
play an arbitrating role in the enactment of organizational practices. Artifacts can serve
conceptual or practical purposes. Conceptual tools enable members of organizations to foresee
and share concepts, principles, frameworks, and theories. Practical tools serve to implement
practices, strategies, and resources toward tasks. Artifacts were an ideal source because they
helped analyze the conceptual and practical tools that Skyline police recruiting unit members
apply in their settings. Overall, this strategy enabled me to examine the tools or resources that the
recruiting unit use for their outreach and marketing practices in recruiting ethnic and racial police
diversity.
Document Analysis Criterion 1
The data must contain Skyline police and residential population ethnic and racial
demographic statistics by percentages. The data by percentage allowed me efficiency in
conducting a comparative statistical analysis that evaluates the Skyline police recruiting unit’s
effectiveness to recruit a police force that mirrors its community.
Document Analysis Criterion 2
The study utilized the most recent demographic data sources. Recent statistics
strengthened the validity of the gap analysis comparison.
Document Analysis Criterion 3
The gathering of tools for document analysis must only include the resources that the
Skyline police officers use in their outreach and marketing practices toward recruiting diversity.

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Data Collection and Instrumentation
One objective of the study was to understand the Skyline police recruiting unit’s
experience while cultivating a more ethnically and racially inclusive qualifying applicant pool of
police recruits. This study evaluated the KMO influences that affected the unit’s ability to
present a police force that is more ethnically and racially reflective of its community. The study
utilized interviews and document data analysis. The methods facilitated my intent in providing
research instrumentation that delivered detailed and comprehensive information that assisted
with identifying potential obstacles in the unit’s capability to achieve the performance goals and
propose recommendations for promoting more effective recruiting strategies toward attaining
more ethnic police diversity. Overall, mixed methods served to collect data and information to
answer the research questions.
Interviews
The general approach to interviews was semi-structured. The semi-structured interview
enabled respondents to provide more flexible, open responses, unlike the structured interview
approach. The questions allowed me to ask additional questions to explore the respondents’
answers (Patton 2002). A list of questions guided most of the interviews, allowing me to respond
to the situation at hand (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The interview protocol consisted of 30 open-
ended questions. The questions gauged the KMO influences as presented in Clark and Estes’s
(2008) framework relating to increasing diversity within the Skyline Police Department. In
particular, the interview questions were experience and behavioral questions, opinions and
values questions, feelings questions, knowledge questions, and sensory questions based on
Patton’s (2002) categories of questions. Primarily, these questions allowed for addressing the
general research questions.
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Collecting data using the interview protocol occurred when I asked Skyline police
recruiting unit staff to volunteer for interviews in January 2021. The interviews were conducted
in February 2022 in the Skyline police recruiting conference room. The setting allowed a closed-
door area that permitted the respondent privacy and enabled staff members to feel more
confident and open with responses.
The duration of the interviews was 60 minutes on average. Interviews took place in-
person, in two separate conference rooms, on Zoom. I distributed consent forms and gained
permission for the interview to be audio recorded. The recordings of the interviews were
transcribed through Atlas.ti. The participants’ demographic information was collected. Hand-
written field notes were taken during each interview to capture responses from interviewees.
According to Merriam and Tisdell (2015), field notes are essential for capturing non-verbal
communications and interpretations that cannot be detected in recordings. Overall, field notes
served as a backup for maintaining notes if the recording failed.
Data Collection
The objective of data collection is to examine the relationship between variables.
Correlation designs use comparative statistics to describe and measure the degree of association
between two or more variables or sets of scores (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). This study
employed correlational design research to determine the extent to which the Skyline police
recruiting unit presents a police force that ethnically and racially mirrors its community’s
demographic makeup. Comparing the ethnic and racial demographic composition of the police
personnel and the city was a useful indicator of any gap in approaching the goal of attaining
police diversity that is more reflective of the community.
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The quantitative data collection method extracted the ethnic and racial demographics of
Skyline’s populace of roughly 144,000 residents. The United States government’s numerical
records of census data in 2019 served as the primary data source for data collection. Data
Collection Method 2 sustained the racial and ethnic demographics of the 200 sworn-officer
police force of the Skyline Police Department in 2019. Human resources data from the civil
service commission was the source of quantitative data in Method 2. Quantitative data collection
transpired during the first phase of interviews. Overall, the data accumulation identified any
present or non-present differences in the ethnic and racial percentage gaps between sworn-police
officers and the general population of Skyline.
Data Analysis
The stakeholder group consisted of three sworn-police recruiting unit officers in the
Skyline Police Department, and each met the survey sample criteria. Before conducting the
interviews, I set a target for achieving a 100% response from the recruiting staff. During
interviews, I used audio recordings for each participant. I used a professional transcriber through
Atlas.ti. I deciphered individual participant responses to interview questions to document the
thoughts, conclusions, and concerns about the data to the study’s conceptual framework and
research questions. Once I completed the field interviews, I sorted through the coding of the
interview transcripts to identify trends, themes, and frequency of responses. I organized
responses around KMO influences. Subsequently, I highlighted the quotes of responders that
correlated to provide context on the unit’s experiences in recruiting ethnic police diversity.
Document analysis served as the second phase of data collection. I prepared for data analysis
through statistical charts and figures. I generated descriptions and themes of the data. The data
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description includes an interpretation of comparative municipal and department population
statistics.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Credibility and trustworthiness enabled me to uphold confidence in the truth and
interpretation of the study’s data. Comprehensively, professionals and field practitioners needed
to trust research results obtained in an ethical manner (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this study, I
maintained standards of credibility by abiding by institutional review board (IRB) guidelines
incorporating consent and agreements not to harm research participants. The research submitted
interview and document analysis protocols to IRB to ensure no ethical dilemmas occurred during
data collection procedures. Following IRB approval, the prospective participants received
emails. I used consent forms for all participants interviewed and document analysis collected.
Additionally, I used consent forms to obtain documents and artifacts of analysis from the
city’s HR department. Moreover, I used a pseudonym (Skyline) to protect the city’s identity and
the police department. I kept interviews, surveys, observational participant names, and answers
confidential. The participants did not receive compensation or incentives. There were no power
dynamics or coercion in the relationship dynamics between the interviewees and me that
significantly impacted the study. I earned the approval to collect data through a University of
Southern California IRB.
Triangulation of qualitative data increased the credibility and validity of the study’s
results. Data from interviews were compared and cross-checked through member checking.
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) determined member checking to be the idea of soliciting feedback
on preliminary or emerging interview findings to ensure the information was understood during
interviews and to validate the meaning of what participants said. Also, Merriam and Tisdell
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(2016) suggested strategies of consistency and transferability of interview questions for faster
and easier data analysis. In general, asking the same questions of respondents resulted in positive
measures of consistency and transferability of the results.
Validity and Reliability
Validity deals with how research matches reality (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). To increase
internal validity, I used interviews and document analysis to triangulate sources. Moreover, I
sought data supporting alternate explanations and considered positions of reflexivity by
explaining selection bias and assumptions regarding the research. Patton (2002) suggested the
successes and failures of interviews depend on the researcher’s ability to capture the person’s
actual words. During interviews, mechanically recorded verbatim field notes were used to ensure
the interviewees’ credibility and trustworthiness. Verbatim interview transcripts provided the
best database for analysis and reflexivity in preventing researcher bias (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016).
Ethics
The research serves police departments struggling to recruit a police force that mirrors
the ethnic demographics of their cities’ populations. The recruiting units and key leadership
around the country have a specific interest in identifying causal influences and implementing
best practices to help agencies better reflect police diversity from the research results because
they will present the contributing KMO influences on Skyline’s organizational climate and
culture. Furthermore, other agencies utilize similar methodological approaches to assessment and
implement or experiment with best practices for recruiting a diverse workforce. The
underrepresented population in the community benefits from the newfound operational practices
that motivate the more ethnic minorities to apply.
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I employed the mixed-methods research approach by integrating interviews and
document analysis to accumulate meaningful data from the recruiting unit staff. As an outsider of
the organization, I was not in a position of power or influence; however, I served as a volunteer
to the police agency and partnered with the recruiting unit staff to examine their outreach
initiatives toward ethnic or racial minority police candidates. I ensured being respectful,
nonjudgmental, and nonthreatening toward the stakeholders while examining and analyzing their
capabilities in recruiting diversity.
Before data collection, I sought approval through an IRB process to ensure the
participants’ protection, dignity, and welfare consistently throughout the study. I abided by
Glesne’s (2011) five basic principles of ethics, which ensure
• subjects have the necessary information to make conscious decisions about
participating;
• participants can withdraw, without consequences, at any point;
• the elimination of risk to participants;
• the benefits to the participants outweigh all possible risk; and
• to qualifying a researcher to conduct experiments.
I sought approval to collect through the IRB Office of Protection Research Subjects at the
University of Southern California before collecting data. Upon approval, I sent emails to the
prospective participants to gain their approval to participate in the study. At the beginning of
conducting interviews, I required participants to read and acknowledge the consent forms to
ensure each subject’s voluntary participation. The consent forms inform participants of their
option of dropping out of the study at any time, and it assured confidentiality and protection of
research data and information.
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At the beginning of data collection, I provided an information sheet for Skyline recruiting
unit staff for review. Upon reviewing the information sheet, the personnel acknowledged their
willingness or reservations to participate. Before the interviews, I gained the subjects’ consent to
participate in the study. Next, I asked their permission to audio record the interview. The
destruction of audio recordings took place after transcription. The transcription of interviews will
be held for a year until destruction. The participants received transcripts of the interview to
confirm the accuracy of the information.
The human instrument aspect of the researcher has shortcomings and biases that affect
the study. Therefore, it is essential to identify and eliminate biases relative to the conceptual
framework (Merriam & Tisdell, 2018). My judgment in selecting the Skyline police recruiting
unit through nonprobability aspects presented bias through the purposeful selection of the
stakeholder. Also, I have experience being part of an underrepresented ethnic and racial group in
society. Given this aspect, I constructed interview questions to enable the participants to
elaborate on their experiences and perspectives based on their personal and professional
backgrounds (Patton, 2002). My positionality to the stakeholders likely presented social
desirability bias elements during the data collection process. Respondent may have been more
reluctant to tell the truth about behaviors or provide opinions on recruiting that offer faltering or
negative responses to the questions (Robinson & Leonard, 2019).
Limitations and Delimitations
National laws and institutions presented limitations to conducting observations because
of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In general, I used interviews to uncover the participants’
feelings, behaviors, and worldviews toward recruiting for ethnic and racial diversity (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Collection of statistics ignores the qualitative aspects of the research. Considering
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the limitation, I used surveys, interviews, and observations to depict the KMO influences that
emerged from the conceptual framework. Overall, triangulation among the recruiting unit staff
enabled me to address limitations by collecting results that enriched the study’s validity and
reliability.

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Chapter Four: Results and Findings
This chapter will depict the qualitative and quantitative research findings and supporting
evidence within this study. The overall goal of this research study is to evaluate where the
Skyline Police Department stands on mirroring the community population it serves through its
recruitment efforts. The application of Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis framework
examines the potential KMO gaps impacting the Skyline police departments’ efforts in recruiting
ethnically diverse police candidates. The framework helps assess and potentially validate
assumed influences on the police agencies’ ability to recruit ethnically diverse candidates and
answer the research questions:
1. What are the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s knowledge and motivation related to
developing an action plan to attract more qualified ethnic minority applicants?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and the Skyline
Police Recruiting Unit’s knowledge and motivation?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
The purpose of this evaluation study was to explore the influences impacting the
recruiting unit’s ability to present a workforce that aligns more closely with the ethnic or racial
makeup of the population it serves. This chapter includes a review of the research, guiding
questions, instrumentation, and selecting the population for this study. As mentioned in Chapter
Three, the research utilized interviews and document analysis to gather data from the
participating stakeholders. The findings from the two data methods were coded into KMO gap
influences developed in Chapter Two. In addition, the results and data are categorically
presented and synthesized. In Chapter Five, the general findings are analyzed and summed for
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resolution development as recommendations to address the KMO influences and introduce a
consolidated implementation plan.
Participating Stakeholders
The Skyline recruiting unit’s role is pivotal to presenting a police force that is as
ethnically or racially diverse as the community it serves on a percentage of population basis. The
recruiting unit works to find applicants suitable for police work. In addition, the staff is
responsible for guiding candidates throughout the hiring process. The recruiting personnel in the
Skyline police department were the stakeholder group for this study. All of the sworn officers in
the recruiting unit staff met the stakeholder criteria, participated in interviews, and provided
internal population statistics for document analysis.
Each interviewee yielded a 100% response rate to 27 questions about recruiting police
diversity. Each interviewee was assigned a pseudonym selected from the top 10 most popular
first names over the last 100 years. Each participant made general comments in response to
interview questions. All of the interviewees are cited in the qualitative data analysis results. The
participants’ experience ranged from 6 months to 15 years working in the Skyline recruiting unit.
Additionally, the recruiting unit provides the internal police department population
statistics on the ethnic or racial background of all the agency’s officers. To further protect the
anonymity of the participants and the agency, I worked with the recruiting unit personnel to
redact identifiable information in the ethnic population statistics document. The city’s name was
also a pseudonym, and parts of identifying information of the census report were redacted. In
addition, the name and state in which police department operates were concealed. Overall, the
internal demographic police data were compared to the city population using census data to show
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how the law enforcement agency compares to the racial and ethnic makeup of the citizens within
its jurisdiction.
Skyline Police Department Ethnic Demographics
The basic demographic statistics were the document analysis captured from the recruiting
unit. As seen in Table 5, the department consisted of 265 officers as of January 2022. The table
also displays the sworn police officer workforce by position. The positional categories are
recruits, officers, sergeants, commanders, assistant chiefs, and chief. The officer position
accounts for 75.47% of the department’s workforce. The officer position accounts mainly for the
role of patrol officer, which is the primary unit the residents of Skyline engage with. Moreover,
the new police recruits for 2022 account for only 4.91% of the departments’ staff, and police
officers in the role of sergeants and above represent 19.25% of personnel. Table 5 shows a
general breakdown of the sworn-police officers and police recruits by position.

Table 5
Skyline Police Department Ethnic Demographics Total Numbers
Sworn police officer positions Total
Recruits 13
Officers 200
Sergeants 37
Commanders 11
Assistant chiefs 3
Chief 1
Total 265

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In addition, statistics (See Table 6) were collected from the recruiting department
exhibiting the racial or ethnic representation of the police officers. The representation of White
officers accounts for 72.83% of the police officers in the department. Secondly, the Hispanic
population represents the second racial or ethnic group at 16.6%. The Black people at the agency
represent 10.19% of the population, and the Asian population accounts for 0.38% of officers.

Table 6
Skyline Police Department Ethnic Demographics by Percentage
Race and ethnicity Percentage of police officer population
Black 10.19%
White 72.83%
Hispanic 16.6%
Asian 0.38%

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Citizen Population Demographics
I utilized the 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data to determine the ethnic or racial breakdown
of the population. The census data obtained serves as the most recent data for the residents of
Skyline. The racial or ethnic categories of Black, White, Hispanic, and Asian are primarily used
for the population for this study. The total population of citizens in the city will remain
concealed for this study to maintain anonymity to protect the city’s true identity of Skyline and
its police department. In addition, the raw population numbers of Skyline residents were not
reported. Instead, the ethnic or racial data will be presented primarily by percentage.
I use Black alone, Hispanic or Latino, White alone, and Asian alone percentages from the
2021 U.S. Census Bureau statistics for Skyline to differentiate from the two or more races
reporting method. The justification for utilizing the reporting is to directly focus on the citizens
who identify primarily as one ethnicity or race. The selection of the four ethnic or racial groups
for roughly 98% of the city population statistics. The White-alone population in Skyline is at
43%. The Hispanic population accounts for 32% of the total. Black city residents represent 21%,
and Asian people make up 2% of the population. Table 7 displays the demographic statistics of
the city’s population by percentage and Table 8 shows participant demographics.

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Table 7
City of Skyline Ethnic Population Statistics by Percentage
Citizen race or ethnicity Percentage of population
Black 21%
White 43%
Hispanic 32%
Asian 2%
Two or more races 2%

Table 8
Participants’ Demographics
Participant number Racial identity Years of experience
both sworn officer
Years of experience
police recruiting
1 White 23 Years 5 Years
2 Latinx 20 Years 14 Years
3 Latinx 22 Years 6 Months

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Three sworn police recruiting unit officers participated in the study. Convenience
sampling enabled me to interview each of them. COVID-19 constraints prevented conducting
interviews and observations in person. Interviews were scheduled in advance and performed
using Zoom. The participants identified themselves as White and Latinx. Most of the
respondents have over 20 years of experience as police officers, and several of those years were
spent in the field interacting and engaging with community members. The participants have all
served in leadership roles. The recruiting department consists of two sergeants and one captain.
The department has two sworn officers with over 5 years of experience in police recruitment.
The department added one more sworn police officer who had yet to serve a year in the
recruiting department. Participants were kept confidential, and interview conclusions were not
shared with anyone at the police department or among the study participants.
Data Validation
According to the data analysis, each of the KMO influences was validated, partially
validated, or not at all validated. Validated influences occurred when all three interviewees
concurred that the gap in the area was a significant need. An influence was considered partially
validated when one source of data showed agreement with two out of three. Moreover, the
influence was considered not validated when only one of three participants presented an outlier
response. Influences were not validated when the three participants presented differentiating
responses. For document analysis, validation of a gap was determined when there was a 10%
differential between the ethnic minority populations of the police department and the city’s
population and partially valid consisted of a 5% difference. Additionally, a 2% or smaller
difference between the populations resulted from no validation or insufficient data to determine a
gap.
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Results and Findings for Knowledge Influences
Clark and Estes’s (2008) framework provides a foundation for analyzing the assumed
influences on how the Skyline Police Department’s ethnic population correlates with the city’s
demographics. I explored the recruiting units’ declarative factual, conceptual, and procedural
knowledge influences. The findings from the interviews and document analysis are displayed
categorically by knowledge-based influence types. Each effect includes a general synthesis of
both data collection methods.
Declarative Factual Knowledge Influences
Clark and Estes (2008) depicted research-tested approaches to performance gaps caused
by a lack of knowledge and skill. Declarative factual knowledge has facts that are basic to
specific disciplines, contexts, and domains (Rueda, 2011). Based on the findings, it is evident
that a knowledge gap exists in the recruiting unit in knowing precisely how their department’s
racial or ethnic population compares to its city’s population. Police forces mirroring the
community they serve is a foundational context that the federal government suggests for local
police agencies (The U.S. Department of Justice & the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, 2016). A law enforcement agency’s ethnic and racial makeup is often
disproportionate to the population of citizens they serve (Guajardo, 2014; U.S. Department of
Justice & the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016; Wilson et al., 2015;
Wilson et al., 2016). The basic assumption was that the unit needed to know how reflective the
agency’s racial and ethnic relations are of the city’s demographics. The assumption brings police
department recruiting units awareness of where they are in racial or ethnically mirroring the law
enforcement agency’s community.
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Factual Declarative Knowledge Interview Findings
The Skyline Police Department’s lacks awareness of how the racial and ethnic
demographics statistics compare. To assess factual declarative knowledge, the interviews asked
how the agency measures its ethnic and racial composition against the population in its
jurisdiction. According to Participant 3, “As far as I am aware, there has not been a specific way
to measure how the ethnic and racial composition compares to our citizen population.” In
addition, Participant 1 mentioned, “For quantitative purposes, we do keep demographic
documentation on file that maps all of our current employees.” None of the employees
mentioned a specific process for comparing their department’s ethnic and racial demographic
data to its community’s population. However, the internal racial and ethnic demographic
statistics of the police department are regularly collected and updated when onboarding new
police officers.
The details of the ethnic or racial makeup of the recruiting unit are internally present;
however, the unit’s personnel have a general assumption of the ethnic and racial demographic
population gaps between the police workforce and the agency. Most of the interviewees agreed
that the ethnic or racial minority presence within the police department is low compared to
Skyline’s racial or ethnic minority population. According to Participant 1’s estimation,
Just offhand, the best estimate I can have is approximately a 30% differential between the
diverse makeup of the city and the diverse makeup of the department. Historically
speaking, police departments, in general, do not match the percent per citizen that they
serve, and our department is no different.
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In general, Skyline does not mention a formal process for tracking its progress in
mirroring the community it serves by using external information to assess where they stand on
police diversity as an agency.
Factual Declarative Knowledge Document Analysis Findings
The recruiting unit personnel provided internal statistics that reflect the ethnic or racial
demographics of the police department workforce. After receiving the department’s statistical
breakdown, I referenced the latest U.S. Census Bureau’s ethnic or racial statistics for the
residents of Skyline. I used both document analysis artifacts to compare to analyze how the
police department mirrors the community by percentage. Table 9 presents is the statistical
comparison of ethnic and racial demographic compensation between the police workforce and
the citizen population in their jurisdiction.

Table 9
Skyline Police Department and City of Skyline Ethnic Population Ethnic Statistical Comparison
by Percentage
Race and ethnicity Percentage of
population for police
department
Percentage of
population for citizen
population
Differences between
the citizen population
and the police
population
Black 21% 10.19% -10.81%
White 43% 72.83% +29.83%
Hispanic 32% 16.6% -15.4%
Asian 2% 0.38% -1.62%

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A comprehensive chart shows significant gaps between the city’s population and the
police department workforce representation. The Black population of Skyline represents 21%,
but only 10.19% of officers are Black. In addition, 32% of the Skyline population is Hispanic.
However, Hispanics account for only 16.6% of the police workforce. The Asian population in
Skyline accounts for 2% of the total population, but there is only one officer Asian officer in the
Skyline Police Department. The city’s White population is 43%, but they represent 72.38% of
the police department. Overall, the proportion of ethnic and racial minority groups in the police
department is approximately two times lower than the percentage they represent among the
population. The White population is overrepresented in the police department compared to the
general population.
Document analysis also revealed differences in percentage when comparing the police
force personnel to the city’s population. Black, Hispanic, and Asian groups have significant
negative differences when measuring how the police department mirrors its community. The
police department’s Black population difference is 10.81 percentage points lower than what its
citizens represent among the community. The Hispanic police population difference is 15.4
percentage points less than Hispanics account for in Skyline. Lastly, the rate of the Asian
population is 1.62 percentage points lower than the population it represents. Comprehensively,
the police department recruiting unit needs to precisely evaluate the configuration of Skyline
police personnel to the civilian population.
Summary of the Factual Declarative Knowledge Results
According to Rueda (2011), one must know or be familiar with the details or elements to
solve the problem efficiently. Each of the sworn police officers in the recruiting unit was
interviewed, and two-thirds of the interview participants estimated there were significant
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differences amongst both the citizen and police department ethnic and minority populations.
None of the interviewees mentioned a diversity gap evaluation process that examines the ethnic
or racial differences between the police agency and the citizen population. In addition, the
recruiting unit is not fully utilizing the resources available to them to evaluate the differences
between the police and the citizens when analyzing where they are with the community. The
collection of the ethnic or racial background of the police department personnel is standard when
in-processing officers to the police unit. The recruiting unit does not take advantage of the city
and census bureau statistics to evaluate the diversity gap between the officers in the department
and the city’s population.
In addition, the lack of declarative knowledge prohibits the agency from effectively
breaking down parts of the data to determine how the population statistics relate to one another.
Moreover, the non-use or non-comparison of the police department and citizen ethnic or racial
demographic statistics will also prevent the agency from making accurate judgments and
distinctions based on one formulated criteria to evaluate the diversity gaps between both
elements. In addition, when considering the document analysis data collection, there is an
existence of significant underrepresentation amongst the Black, Hispanic, and Asian residents of
Skyline in comparison to the racial and ethnic demographics the agency presents as a police
force. Addressing the diversity gap requires skyline police officers to evaluate and analyze the
internal and external data to determine where they are as a department when mirroring the
community’s diversity.
Conceptual Knowledge Influences
Conceptual knowledge can apply information associated with intangibles and abstract
elements in a particular area. Conceptual knowledge focuses on categories, classifications,
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principles, generalizations, theories, and models in an area of concentration (Rueda, 2011). The
purpose of the conceptual knowledge application is to determine the strategic principles of the
Skyline Recruiting Unit to strengthen relationships with its local minority-dominated population,
organizations, and institutions. The primary conceptual knowledge assumption is that the
recruiting unit needs to know the conceptual benefit of building and enhancing partnerships with
the dominant ethnic minority organizations and institutions in the community. Generally, the
research findings suggest some knowledge gaps and strengths in the recruiting unit’s conceptual
knowledge regarding building and enhancing relationships when recruiting racially and
ethnically diverse candidates.
Conceptual Knowledge Interview Findings
The interview questions helped to evaluate the Skyline Police Department’s
understanding of building partnerships and enhancing relationships with minority-dominated
organizations and institutions. The interview participants described the principles involved in
developing recruitment relationships. Each recruiting city’s communication is a key principle in
developing recruitment relationships. Participant 2 cited communication and engagement as 90%
of the job as a police recruiting officer. Moreover, Participant 1 said, “Communication is a
gradient to our recruitment efforts.” The data collected from each interviewee suggests that the
recruiting unit personnel conceptually understand the importance of effectively commuting to the
racial or ethnically diverse citizens.
In general, promoting collaborative relationships between police departments and their
citizens plays a vital role in recruiting racial or ethnic police diversity. An explicit agreement
directs engaging and starting conversations with the citizens. Each of the interviewees mentions
that initiating conversation amongst the community is a way to promote collaborative
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relationships among the community members. Participant 2 specifically cited speaking the truth
or being straightforward and authentic to build a collaborative relationship with community
members. Participant 3 spoke about the police-citizen academy as an event that strengthens
relationships between the community and organizations. The citizen police academy allows
citizens to experience what police officers do by attending classes, watching SWAT team
exercises, and driving a police car. Participant 1 mentioned, “I think understanding one another
and the knowledge of what is expected based on the understanding of a variety of ethnic or racial
demographics [and] understanding the wants and needs of different ethnic groups.” In summary,
each interviewee agreed that engaging community members and initiating conversations is a
positive way to promote collaboration between the police and the community. Moreover, each
Skyline Recruiting unit participant provides specific measures they envision when building
collaborative relationships with the citizens they serve.
Applying targeted strategies to strengthen relationships between the police and ethnic
minority groups is a critical building block in recruiting a diverse police force. Two of the three
interviewees mentioned the importance of community engagement groups to strengthen the
relationships between the ethnic minority populations and citizens. Participant 1 responded,
“Community engagement units in our neighborhood engagement team and our community
relations department will share information within the community.” In addition, each participant
alluded to the community’s role in the social relationship dynamics. Participant 1 cited an “us
versus them” point of view that many local, state, and national populations have on their
thoughts and willingness to build relationships and partnerships with police personnel.
Participant 1 mentioned that relationship building is the responsibility of both the police and the
citizens. Participant 3 alluded to some relationship-building hardships with ethnic or racial
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minority communities by saying they need to have the crucial conversation to bridge gaps and
increase the ability to recruit diverse applicants. Comprehensively, the interviewees conceptually
understand that building, establishing, and maintaining relationships with the ethnic or racial
communities in Skyline is crucial. Although they know the significance of building relationships
with diverse populations, they have difficulty building relationships beyond a common negative
point of view of the police amongst citizens.
Training and preparation are vital to police recruiting the ethnically diverse citizens of the
city. Two of the three interviewees view their training and experience as strong recruiters.
Participant 2 credits his training more on his experience of 14 years being in the recruiting unit
and over 20 years as a police officer. However, Participant 2 did not directly mention building
relationships with potential minority candidates when recruiting. Instead, Participant 2
commented,
In the words of someone with more experience than me at the time, they told me we are
never going to run short of young White males applying to be the police. To find
diversity, no one has ever told me we need to go hiring Black males, Black females,
Hispanic males, and Hispanic females. It’s about who wants the job.”
Participant 1 also credits his training as a police officer and recruiting agent. Participant 1 views
his recruiting objectives as putting the right people on an individual basis.
Moreover, Participant 3 views his training as a police recruiter as limited because he is
newly integrated into the unit. However, Participant 3 has a rich background serving in the
department since 2000 and serving as the commanding officer of the police recruiting unit. Even
though the officers credit their training and experience, there seems to be a conceptual
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knowledge gap that directly addresses their readiness to build relationships to recruit in
ethnically diverse populations.
Possessing the knowledge and training to develop and implement recruiting initiatives
that incorporate diversity is needed to recruit a diverse workforce successfully. Two interviewees
cite their formal training as a foundation. Both Participant 1 and Participant 2 specifically
acknowledge their experiences with the state licensing bureau and a recruitment school. In
addition, both officers cite the vast majority of their training to come from trial and error over the
years. Meanwhile, Participant 3 currently has limited experience with formal police recruitment
training. Currently, he educates himself through recruiting event observation and participation in
a commander’s group of police officers in various states and cities that command recruiting
units. There is a conceptual understanding of incorporating diversity into recruiting initiatives.
Launching recruiting initiatives that target potential racial or ethnic minority police candidates.
The police staff possesses formal and informal training in developing and implementing
ethnically diverse recruiting events that bring various candidates to event cites. However, the
officer lacks specific examples of developing recruitment events with minority-dominated
organizations and institutions in the community.
Summary of Conceptual Knowledge Results
The majority of the interviewees know the core principles of developing recruitment
relationships with the community. Each participant mentions communication and community
engagement as core principles. The interviews also show the knowledge to promote collaborative
relationships with the communities they serve during recruiting events. Each participant cited
various programs and experiences that have helped build more collaborative relationships with
the citizens. Conversely, when asked for minority-specific relationship-building and recruitment
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initiatives, the participants showed a consistent lack of expansion of conceptual knowledge. The
majority of the officers did not mention targeted strategic efforts to address the need to
strengthen relationships specifically. Furthermore, the participants did not mention particular
formal diversity training tactics used when police are recruiting. Overall, the assumed lack of
conceptual knowledge to build relationships and partnerships with racial and ethnic minorities in
the community is validated.
Procedural Knowledge Influences
Demonstrating a commitment and sensitivity to the importance of police diversity is a
critical skill for police recruiting unit officers to experience. Two interviewees demonstrates
commitment and sensitivity toward the importance of diversity. Participant 3 mentioned,
“Taking into account that our department does not reflect the proportions of the minorities that
we have in the community, I have to seek out racial or ethnic minority candidates to better reflect
the diversity within our police department.” In addition, Participant 3 also mentioned that he
goes out of his way to build relationships with racial or ethnically diverse populations.
Participant 1 noted,
Not everybody may get an opportunity to get access to the information and apply. I aim
to establish trust with all potential police candidates, but I like to highlight that I do to be
authentic and truthful with potential minority police candidates. If they are not interested,
I always ask why. They may often have some reservations about police diversity and
racism within and external from the police ranks. I will ensure to hear their concerns and
truthfully answer questions surrounding the conversation.
Participant 2 responded differently, and he commented that he does not concern himself with
seeking out just Black candidates. He said it is about getting the best candidate. Participant 2
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used a sports analogy to explain his views: “I was an athlete growing up, so diversity at this point
when you are trying to find the best athlete to come and play, no one ever asks what race they
are.” In general, most of the staff procedurally display and explain how they demonstrate a
commitment and sensitivity to their past police recruiting experiences in finding diverse
candidates.
Consistency in recruiting and implementing strategic planning around recruiting practices
related to diversity is much needed. The established threshold of 100% was achieved. Each
interviewee claimed that the recruiting unit is very consistent in implementing strategic planning
in its operations. Participant 2 indicated, “We are very consistent in everything we do around
diversity recruiting principles. Nonetheless, he mentioned, “I have yet to hear any type of
recruiting efforts that we have is needed to cater to these folks here.” Participant 1 agreed with
Participant 2 on the recruiting unit being mostly consistent in implementing strategic planning
around diversity-related community practices, but he mentioned, “The department is not always
consistent based on the department’s needs at the time because of their overall mission.”
Participant 3 also mentioned that the recruiting unit is very consistent in implementing strategic
diversity planning. He is meeting with the civil service director to examine how to address the
White to racial or ethnic minority failure gap. The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit mainly
demonstrates the procedural knowledge to increase diversity with their recruiting practices
strategically.
Summary of the Procedural Knowledge Results
Generally, the assumed procedural knowledge level around implementing recruitment
strategies to attract more minority police candidates was not validated. Mostly, all interviewees
appear to possess the knowledge and training experience necessary to apply diversity-enhancing
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efforts in their recurring initiatives. Participants 1 and 3 offered examples involving their
commitment to finding or informing more individuals from underserved communities about
police hiring opportunities. They elaborated through an approach through communication
techniques to connect with potential racial and ethnic police with the cognitive awareness of a
need to seek these candidates to help diversity their police officer ranks. Furthermore, each
participant believes the agency is very consistent with applying and arranging recruitment
practices that incorporate diversity. On the other hand, Participants 1 and 2 mainly discussed an
all-inclusive or “colorblind” approach when planning recruiting engagements instead of targeted
strategies to attract more candidates.
Results and Findings for Motivational Influences
Motivation is the type of influence that gets us going, keeps us moving, and enables us to
determine how much effort we spend on solving work-related problems (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Among Clark and Estes’s (2008) groundwork, the motivation influence element will explore the
participants’ levels of applying the active choice in pursuing more police candidates from racial
or ethnically diverse candidates. Moreover, the inclinations on how they value recruiting police
diversity as a unit and individually will be determined. In addition, the capacity to execute
behaviors toward attaining police diversity is evaluated. Interviews served as the primary source
of data to assess motivational influences. All motivational forces results will be categorically
presented.
Utility Value
Overall, the interview findings were that the interviewees obtained some task value
influences regarding the value of recruiting and displaying a diverse police force internally and
to the public. Utility value refers to the importance an individual attaches to a task. In general,
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the higher one values an activity, the more likely one is to pursue and enlist efforts to achieve a
goal. (Rueda, 2011). The purpose of the utility value assessment was to examine the
interviewees’ level of desire to achieve the presentation of an ethnically diverse police force that
mirrors its community population. The central motivational influence assumption is that the
recruiting unit needs to see the usefulness of attaining diversity in their law enforcement agency.
Utility Value Interview Findings
Understanding the importance and value of attaining a police force that mirrors the
community is vital for the recruiting unit. Participants 1 and 3 agreed that gaining police
diversity is incredibly important. Participant 3 stated, “It is absolutely useful, how do we relate to
a population that we do not reflect. When the community reflects, it makes it easier to engage
them. In agreement with Participant 3, Participant 1 mentioned, “I also think it is of vital
importance in the law enforcement community and the citizens we serve. Agencies around the
country need to be made up of the citizens of the community at face value.” Averse to the
comments above, Participant 2 said, “We are at the mercy of those who come in to apply. I have
never heard we were not going to be able to hire, we are not going to hire any White males
because we need more minorities.” Participant 3 did not mention anything specific about the
value of attaining diverse police candidates. In summary, most of the unit officers expressed
significant utility value components about achieving a police force that mirrors the community.
The recruiting agent’s perception of task value is critical for goal orientation. All of the
officers agreed that attaining and maintaining racial or ethnic diversity in the force is vital.
Participant 2 said that it is essential to mirror the community regardless of their race and color.
Moreover, he mentioned, “The United States is a melting pot, but recruiting candidates should
not be based on what they look like.” In addition, Participant 1 mentioned that mirroring the
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community needs to be the objective of the Skyline Police Department. He also said, “Ethnic
diversity keeps us together. We share the same needs, wants and desires.” Lastly, Participant 3
believes in the value of diversity as relating to the public member. Moreover, he said, “There
will be barriers in any situation but diversity through our hiring can make a difference.”
Comprehensively, the interviewees see the value in enhancing diversity in the department.
There is value in presenting a police force reflective of the community. Each participant
expressed the value of the police department reflecting the community. Participant 1 commented,
“The citizens want to be able to look at their police department and immediately know that the
police department is reflective of who they are appearance-wise.” Participant 3’s response
indicated that mirroring the community is relatively valuable. In addition, he talks about the
difficulty in attaining a police force that closely reflects the community. Participant 3 still views
reaching policing diversity as an achieving task; despite referencing its difficulty. Participant 2
responded that he could see added value in having a police department that reflects the citizens
they serve. He also restates that he sees the police department right now as reflective. In
summary, the interview results depict that each recruiting unit member considers the value of
presenting an ethnically diverse police force that aligns with the racial and ethnic demographic
makeup of the community it serves.
Summary of the Utility Value Results
All questions presented to the interviewees surrounding attainment value were answered.
The recruiting unit generally sees achieving diversity in the department as valuable. Two
participants see presenting a police force reflective of the community’s racial and ethnic
population. In addition, the participants who know the usefulness of a thoughtful feature present
benefits of having a racial or ethnically diverse police force in the community. Internally, each
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recruiting officer expresses that attaining and maintaining a racial or ethnically diverse police
force is valuable. Each officer communicates having diversity in the department as a need. In
conclusion, the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit mostly sees mirroring the community as a goal
that is important to attain and achieve.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy involves people’s judgments about their capabilities and ability to execute
tasks to achieve desired outcomes (Rueda, 2011). Individuals with greater belief and confidence
in themselves will possess a higher motivation to obtain an objective. Self-efficacy intends to
explore the recruiting unit’s ideas in their abilities to recruit a racial or ethnic diverse police force
that is reflective of the community population. The fundamental assumed self-efficacy influences
the unit needs to be confident that they can attract more technically qualified applicants through
their recruitment. Overall, the findings allude to the unit’s members possessing the self-efficacy
to attract more racial or ethnically diverse candidates to their applicant pool.
Self-Efficacy Interview Findings
Understanding the importance and value of attaining a police force that mirrors the
community is vital for the recruiting unit. Participants 1 and 2 agree that achieving police
diversity is incredibly important. Participant 3 states, “It is absolutely useful. How do we relate
to a population that we do not reflect. When the community reflects, it makes it easier to engage
them. In agreement with Participant 3, Participant 1 mentioned, “I also think it is of vital
importance in the law enforcement community and the citizens we serve. Agencies around the
country need to be made up of the citizens of the community at face value.” In contrast,
Participant 2 said, “We are at the mercy of those who come in to apply. I have never heard we
were not going to be able to hire, we are not going to hire any White males because we need
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more minorities.” Participant 2’s interview comments do not mention anything specific about the
value of attaining diverse police candidates. In summary, most of the unit officers expressed
significant utility value components about reaching a police force that mirrors the community.
Strong confidence in recruiting a racial or ethnically diversified police force is critical for
the recruiting unit when carrying out recruitment activities. All interviewees expressed
themselves to be very confident in engaging more minority police recruits to join their
department. Participant 2 is highly confident in engaging with more ethnic and racially diverse
minority police candidates. He credits his upbringing and his strong communication skills for his
capability to reach diverse minority populations for employment. Participant 1 also is very
confident in his capacity to recruit more ethnically diverse police candidates. He commented, “I
am also very confident in my ability to recognize issues that exist outside my scope and
perception. Participant 1’s statement alludes to his skills in recognizing differences. Participant 3
said that despite some limited experience, he is very confident and can attract a more diversified
candidate pool. He also credits his background and upbringing and said, “I grew up in a Hispanic
family. My ability to reach out to those minority populations and connect with them is strong. I
would at least help reduce any fears and build bridges that engage them in listening.” In general,
each interviewee has a strong sense of self-efficacy in recruiting more diverse police candidates.
Adaptability and responding to the challenges in recruiting minority police officers today
is very important for recruitment personnel. The interviewees strongly believe they can recruit
and adapt to challenges when recruiting racial or ethnic minority candidates. Participant 2 said,
“If you send me right now anywhere, then I am going to find somebody to communicate with to
get what I need to know out of them.” Participant 1 described the last 10 years as being a
difficult time to recruit candidates and that it takes a significant amount of thinking outside the
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box. However, he communicated that he is very adaptive and up to the challenge despite the
challenges. Participant 3 mentioned that he is very confident in adapting to the challenges and
that he is also confident in his staff attracting more minority candidates. Essentially, all the
interviewees have high self-efficacy in adjusting to challenges in attracting more diverse
candidates.
Summary of Self-Efficacy Results
The interviewees were all very confident in attracting more ethnic minority candidates.
Two of them directly referenced their experience in law enforcement and recruiting to effectively
gain the interest of minority candidates to apply. Also, all interviewees have the confidence to
adapt to dynamic challenges in recruiting minority candidates. Each candidate mentions some
forms of recruiting hardships over the past decade. However, the recruiting Unit is confident that
it can recruit more ethnic or racial minorities to become a demographically reflective
community. Principally, the assumed knowledge influence of not being confident in recruiting
and attracting more racial and ethnically diverse candidates cannot be validated.
Results and Findings for Organizational Influences
Cultural Model Findings
Two interviewees referenced transparency, truthfulness, and clarity as a primary strategy
to build trust with potential minority applicants and among the minority community. Participant
1 explained that “from the very first moment that I engage with any applicant or prospective
applicant, I let it be known immediately what my expectations are and the reasons for those
expectations.” Next, he explained he employs transparency to ensure he and the potential
applicant have a mutual understanding. Participant 2 also talked about being straightforward with
potential minority police candidates. Participant 2 stated,
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Blowing smoke up to a candidate is not going to get anything accomplished. I want to be
truthful and honest with them. I want to make sure they understand totally what comes
with the role they are applying for. I do that with them and all recruits that I build rapport
with.
Participant 3 talked about the use of collaborative events with the public to build trust while
speaking with community members. He spoke about “National Night Out,” which is an event
that intends to enhance relationships between the police and the community. He also mentioned
building relationships with minority leaders from organizations. All of the interviewees’
examples cite how they intend to build a culture of trust with members of the minority
population.
All of the interviewees view the role of trust as critical when aiming to speak to ethnic
and racial minorities about hiring opportunities. Participant 3 commented,
It plays a huge role, and it plays a large role in anything we do. The minority recruiting
unit candidates have to trust that not only we are going to do the right things and police
ourselves when it comes to diversity.
Participant 2 declared, “Honesty and respect is what it comes down to, and I, as a recruiter, have
to exemplify it at our first interaction with them, and we have to do it quickly.” Participant 3
agreed with the other two officers; however, he talked of the “national impact” on how many
minorities view the police makes them have to work harder to gain trust, especially from
members of the ethnically diverse minority populations. In general, all interviewees understand
how the cultural dynamic of trust plays a factor in their ability to build trust and connect with
ethnic minority members of the community.
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Summary of Cultural Model Influence Findings
Two recruiting unit officers identified trust and potential challenges. They know the
importance of building a culture of trust among the recruiting staff members. Participant 1
specifically discussed engagement strategies on how he builds trust. Participant 3 discussed the
collaborative events he uses to build trust among the minority communities. All staff members
alluded to the role trust has in relationship building and attracting potential police candidates in
ethnically diverse minority communities. They all understood that having trust is foundational to
their success. In general, the assumption that the recruiting unit needs to identify potential
challenges and build trust with ethnic minority communicates cannot be validated.
Cultural Settings Influences on Police Hiring Process
Two out of the three interviewees do not cite internal departmental barriers that prohibit
many minority candidates from entering the workforce. Participant 1 asserted, “The departmental
barriers are non-intrinsic departmental issues. Instead, there are issues with the perception of this
department. Our general orders and our policies are completely objective.” Participant 2 also
does not believe there are any departmental barriers in the hiring process. He believes the
barriers are external, and it is about how “People were raised.” Adversely, Participant 3 sees the
civil service exam as a departmental barrier. He elaborated,
I would say the language, especially for minorities, is the Hispanic community. They may
have grown up in a household where English is the second language. English being a
second language can be a barrier when taking our required civil service exam.
The interviewees generally believe minorities face no departmental barriers during the hiring
process.
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Two of the three interviewees elaborated on the difficulties in attracting minority police
candidates over the past 5 years. Participant 1 stated,
The last 5 years? The last 10 years have been very tumultuous and difficult in attracting
minorities to apply to be police officers. I believe it is based on perception and opinion
and not based on statistical facts. One issue I have overwhelmingly is with social media
news sources and information dissemination from sources that are highly negative in
police incidents but rarely feature the stories of officers in a positive light.
Participant 2 elaborated,
The importance of stuff in people’s lives is different here in the past 5 years. We have a
negative reputation amongst many citizens, including ethnic minority populations. We
cannot sell the role of a police officer as desirable amongst many people today. Many
people do not want to put up with what is going on within law enforcement within our
country today.
Participant 3 claimed to have seen an increase of minority police officers over the past 5 years at
the department. The recruiting unit has had difficulty attracting ethnic minority candidates over
the past 5 years.
Participant 1 and Participant 3 believe the civil service exam does exclude ethnic
minority applicants from the hiring pool. Participant 1 mentioned,
The civil service exam does affect excluding minorities, especially minorities who are not
speaking English. What I have seen statistically is that individuals who have English as a
second language or learned another language primarily struggle with the civil service
exam used in our department.
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Participant 3 said, “The test is written through the civil service exam board, and it may
need some restructuring, especially for on-primary English speaking applicants. It is something I
am meeting with the board about this week.” Conflictingly, Participant 2 said, “Everyone’s test
is the same and what it comes down to is one’s need to put more time and effort in to score
higher instead of being scored due to laziness at the time.” However, despite Participant 2’s
views, the interviewees mainly declared that the civil service exam excludes minority candidates
from the hiring process.
Entirely, each interviewee does not believe the background check portion of the hiring
process excludes minority applicants. According to Participant 1, “The background checks that
we conduct have an equal exclusion rate because background checks are not biased. Once
through the background check, the minimum qualifications should have been met.” Participant 2
said, “We do everyone the same way. The instruments like a polygraph used in the background
check do not recognize ethnicities. All of the questions are generalized.” Participant 3 stated, “I
do not think the background check focuses on minorities. We have a standard of what we are
looking at, which does not pertain to race. Essentially, each officer affirms that the civil service
exam is not excluding ethnic minority applicants in the hiring process.
Summary of Cultural Settings Influences on Police Hiring Process Results
The recruiting unit generally does not believe multiple significant departmental barriers
prevent recruiting a larger ethnic minority pool. Two of the three interview participants cited the
negative beliefs about the police as an external barrier. However, in the recruiting process, two
candidates mentioned that the civil service exam could be a barrier for ethnic minority candidates
whose first language is not English. They also mentioned the development of the civil service
exam being in the control of the Skyline Police Department civil service board and not within the
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department’s control. Furthermore, two recruiting unit staff members cited the civil service exam
as exclusionary to some ethnic minority candidates. However, all three interviewees did not view
the background process as exclusionary to ethnic minorities. In conclusion, the interviewees’
assumed need to assess common barriers to recruiting ethnic minorities is validated.
Cultural Settings Community Relationship Building
Each of the recruiting unit members proposed methods to reach out to diverse groups and
ethnic minority communities about hiring. Participant 2 indicated his outgoing communication
and his openness to initiate conversations with every type of ethnic group. He mentioned he
enjoys attending speaking events, and he said that he participates and speaks at many local
schools. Participant 3 talked about the venues used to reach a broader audience to recruit for
diversity. He said, “We use billboards, and social media is a big one. Sometimes we use minority
radio forced stations to advise on.” Participant 1 stated, “Just talking with people. People do
show interest in the law enforcement community and ask questions, and they inevitably lead
toward are you interested in having a career in law enforcement.” Although they mentioned
methods for reaching out to diverse groups, only Participant 3 directly addressed reaching out to
minorities.
One of the officers directly provided police recruiting initiatives that they were a part of
to recruit people from minority diversified backgrounds. Participant 1 recounted his experience
by saying, “The most recent program that we were a part of where it was a Juneteenth
celebration. It is typically a massive celebration that African Americans attend. This year we
were able to put out a recruiting booth and engage with many people that attended the event.”
Participant 3 said that he does not have the experience of attending a recruiting event planned to
target community engagement with Black community members. He planned to attend the events
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in the future. Participant 2 mentioned “striking up a conversation with any and every one” when
answering interview questions. Comprehensively, most of the recruiting unit staff did not
mention attending a recruiting event that is central to ethnically diverse people or partnerships.
Regarding the successes and failures of current recruitment method efforts in attracting
police candidates, all recruiting unit members mentioned that an “after-action review” is
executed after recruiting events. Participant 1 mentioned, “We develop a report to analyze the
recruiting events and determine what works best and what does not.” Participant 2 said, “We
keep track of everything we do.” Participant 3 elaborated on going over ways to improve
recruitment hiring events. In addition, two participants described the number of ethnic minorities
applying to their police agency as low. Overall, the department is assessing the effectiveness of
recruitment events, and despite the evaluation, department leaders mostly do not believe they are
attracting many applicants.
Document Analysis Cultural Settings Community Relationship Building
The documents included data from electronic sources showing Skyline Police
Department’s outreach marketing practices on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and
brochures. They also included print marketing materials, brochures, and posters that promote job
hiring opportunities. The data revealed that the Facebook advertisement for hiring opportunities
includes a very inclusive photo from August 2020 that shows ten officers, half of whom come
from ethnic minority communities. The photo received roughly 8,900 emoji reactions, 381
comments, and 2,100 shares on the social media platform. The image was used three times in
2020 to attract police candidates. However, the latest post occurred in February of 2022, and the
photo used on Facebook does not include any Black officers. The department has a presence on
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Instagram and Twitter, but there is virtually no job hiring opportunity advertisement on either
platform. The department has no presence on Tik Tok for recruiting purposes.
Generally, the document analysis on the print marketing materials shows somewhat of a
connection between diversity and inclusion efforts. Moreover, there is a blend of ethnically
diverse police officers on their primary police recruiting marketing posters when setting up
recruiting tables at events like job fairs and schools. However, the print marketing brochure,
targeted toward drawing more female applicants, does not have a Black female police officer.
Summary of Cultural Settings Community Relationship Building
Two-thirds of the recruiting unit officers presented their techniques on reaching out to
ethnically diverse police or community organizations to strengthen their minority applicant
recruiting base. However, only one officer directly explained their role in a minority targeted
recruitment event. The department has an evaluation process to assess the success or failures of
the recruitment events. The process helps them determine recruitment events to continue and
discontinue going forward. Comprehensively, the recruiting unit members do not believe they
are attracting many ethnic minority applicants. The document analysis revealed that the unit
relies on one central media platform to display hiring opportunity advertisements. In addition,
the latest multimedia point on Facebook does not contain an image of a Black police officer.
However, past social media posts and print marketing materials show some visible representation
of these officers. The interview and document analysis findings validate the cultural settings
community relationship assumptions.
As the United States’ city populations become more diverse, presenting police forces that
mirror the community becomes more pivotal. There are three areas to address for future research
that are fundamental to recruiting a police workforce that is more ethnically reflective of its
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community. More research examining the role and influence of the hiring practices of police
agencies is needed to reveal the disproportionate hiring practices that affect the progress of
ethnic minority applicants hired. Disproportionate hiring requirements like civil service exam
candidate ranking should be further examined and connected to the inequitable education
opportunities and lower quality schools that many ethnic minorities disproportionately attend. In
addition, more work on targeted recruiting practices and building effective partnerships that lead
to recruitment pipelines need to be examined and analyzed to present more data on the
effectiveness of targeted recruitment practices. However, the U.S. Department of Justice and the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shared the recommendation for targeted
recruitment efforts from a researched-based perspective. More context from research findings
needs to be distributed throughout law enforcement agencies to share some best practices for
increasing diversity. In addition, research to examine ethnic diversity scorecards at the state and
federal levels should be a proposed method to ensure accountability in providing diverse police
workforces to the general public. The diversity metric in the scorecard will likely motivate
leaders to put in action plans to address the problem.
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Chapter Five: Recommendations
This study examined the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit KMO influences affecting
recruiting for racial and ethnic police diversity. Chapters One, Two, and Three presented the
problem-of-practice, comprehensive literature studies addressing minority historical and current
ethnic police hiring practices, and an explanatory mixed-methods approach to data collection.
Data collection presented in Chapter Four consists of interviews with the Skyline Police
Department personnel, statistical breakdowns of racial or ethnic data of the city’s population and
the police agency, and document analysis of the recruiting unit’s multimedia marketing and
social media, brochures, and posters used during recruitment events. Comprehensively, the
previous chapters guide the study toward refreshing and further reviewing the study’s findings.
Chapter Five addresses the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s agents who recruit, train, and
maintain the best prospective police officers. The recruiting officers have the most impact on
advancing racial and ethnic diversity among their police ranks (Guajardo, 2014; Wilson et al.,
2015). The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission suggest that law enforcement agencies present a workforce that mirrors
the racial and ethnic demographics of the communities they serve. In this chapter, I pinpoints
seven KMO influences discovered through data analysis and literature review to validate the
study.
Recommendations for Practice
The recommendations address recruiting for diversity by identifying gaps in the KMO
influences. Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis framework is an effective tool for reviewing
where the recruiting unit is at presenting a workforce that is racially reflective of its citizen
population. Additionally, the gap analysis framework is well-suited to providing a clear and
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adequate process that aids the unit in facilitating the organization by evaluating and integrating
change factors that lead to supporting police diversity recruitment. The department must assess
the KMO support to attain and sustain its development into a more diverse workforce and
establish clear and precise performance goals on the needs of the recruiting unit to achieve
desired outcomes for advancement.
The interviews and document analysis revealed that the department has an opportunity to
become more diverse and more closely mirror its community. Throughout the chapter, the tables
provide context-specific recommendations for each influence, including citations for each of the
principles, establishing clear and precise performance goals on the needs of the recruiting unit to
achieve desired outcomes for advancement. Considering that Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap
analysis framework is the foundation for this study, Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2016) new
world model is used as a coherent framework for implementing change. The recommendations
are organized by KMO results throughout this chapter.
Knowledge Recommendations
The knowledge types in this study were the factual, conceptual, and procedural constructs
of influences (Krathwohl, 2002). The factual knowledge dimension refers to the essential
element to be acquainted with a discipline when solving an organizational problem. Conceptual
knowledge is derived from the interrelationships among the fundamental factors in a structure
that empowers them to function together (Krathwohl, 2002). Procedural knowledge is knowing
how to perform certain activities (Krathwohl, 2002; Mayer, 2011). Each of these knowledge
dimensions affects the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s ability to recruit a diverse workforce that
mirrors its city’s population. Generally, there is a high likelihood of these influences being
validated. Table 10 highlights the recommendations for mitigating the knowledge inefficiencies
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based on literature and performance solutions proposed by Clark and Estes (2008). The
presentation of recommendations is also applicable to highly probable results.

Table 10
Summary of Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed knowledge
influence: Cause,
need, or asset*
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
needs to know how
reflective the
agency’s racial and
ethnic composition
is of the
demographic
makeup of the
citizen population
in the city of
Skyline. (Factual
knowledge)
V Y Information learned
meaningfully and
connected with
prior knowledge is
stored more quickly
and remembered
more accurately
because it is
elaborated with
prior learning
(Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006).
Provide Skyline
Police
Recruiting Unit
with statistical
data and
information on
the agency’s
racial and
ethnic
composition in
relation to the
demographic
makeup of the
citizen
population in
the City of
Skyline

How individuals
organize knowledge
influences how they
learn and apply
what they know
(Schraw &
McCrudden, 2006).

Provide the
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
with tasks that
promote
selecting,
organizing, and
integrating
statistical data
to assess their
current and
future progress
at providing an
100

Assumed knowledge
influence: Cause,
need, or asset*
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
ethnically
reflective
police
workforce with
reference to the
Skyline citizen
population

Self-regulatory
strategies, including
goal setting,
enhance learning
and performance
(Dembo & Eaton,
2000).
Provide the
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
strategies on
how to monitor
their learning,
methods, and
performance
toward meeting
the objective of
attaining a
more ethnically
reflective
police
workforce.

The Skyline Police
Recruitment Unit
needs to know the
conceptual benefit
of building and
enhancing
partnerships and
relationships with
the dominant ethnic
minority
organizations and
institutions in the
community.
(Conceptual
knowledge)
HP Y Increasing germane
cognitive load by
engaging the learner
in meaningful
learning and
schema
construction
facilitates effective
learning (Kirshner
et al., 2006).
Provide the
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
informational
graphs
evidencing the
conceptual
belief of
building and
enhancing
partnerships
and
relationships
with the
dominant
ethnic minority
101

Assumed knowledge
influence: Cause,
need, or asset*
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
organizations
and institutions.

Self-regulatory
strategies, including
goal setting,
enhance learning
and performance
(Dembo & Eaton,
2000).
Provide the
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
with methods to
manage their
learning
strategies to
evaluate social
environments.

Modeling to-be-
learned strategies or
behaviors improves
self-efficacy,
learning, and
performance
(Denler et al.,
2006).
Provide
information to
help the
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
members learn
and acquire
new behaviors
through
demonstration
and modeling
to effectively
build
community
relationships
and
partnerships.

The Skyline
Recruiting Unit
needs to show
recruiting agents
how to implement
recruiting initiatives
and strategies that
attract more
minority police
V Y Use training when
employees need
demonstration,
guided practice, and
feedback to perfect
a new procedure
(Clark & Estes,
2008).
Provide the
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
personnel job
aids on steps to
implement
recruiting
initiatives and
strategies that
attract more
102

Assumed knowledge
influence: Cause,
need, or asset*
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and citation Context-specific
recommendation
candidates.
(Procedural)
minority police
candidates.

Targeting training and
instruction between
the individual’s
independent
performance level
and their level of
assisted
performance
promotes optimal
learning (Scott &
Palincsar, 2006).
Provide ethnic
minority
targeted
training and
best practices to
the Skyline
Police
Recruiting Unit
to help
personnel gain
more qualified
racial minority
recruits and
applicants
seeking law
enforcement
employment.

Factual Knowledge
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit should know how racially and ethnically reflective
the police department is of the city’s population. Understanding and assessing the diversity gaps
between the police department and the civilian population will start the agency on a pathway to
success. The police department needs specific details and elements of the diversity gap. The
recruiting unit needs to be provided with statistical data and information on the agency’s racial
and ethnic composition in relation to the demographic makeup of the citizen population in the
city (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). According to Mayer (2011), factual knowledge is discrete,
isolated content elements or bits of information. Currently, the department tracks the agency’s
103

internal racial demographic statistics, yet, the agency does not know the depth of the
disproportionate representation of its workforce and the civilian population.
Ambrose et al. (2010) detailed that organizations should set goals, monitor performance,
and evaluate progress towards achieving goals. Interview findings and document analysis
determined that the recruiting unit does not operate a formal process to evaluate and assess their
progress toward mirroring the community they serve. Setting and better organizing and
establishing police diversity workforce goals and monitoring progress will help. The unit needs
to provide strategies on how to monitor their learning, methods, and performance toward
meeting the objective of attaining a more ethnically reflective police workforce (Dembo &
Eaton, 2000). The recommendation to close this factual knowledge gap aims to blend newly
sought-after racial and ethnic statistical data with internal police statistics. Accomplishing this
will enable the unit to follow recommendations toward achieving diversity.
Once the relevance of the goal is distinguished from the construct of the importance,
individuals need to be prepared to organize knowledge references they learned and apply what
they know (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). Interview findings revealed that the staff does not
gather information systematically to enable them to use what they need to learn about the scope
of how the ethnic dynamics of the workforce compare to the city’s population. The recruiting
unit needs to be provided with methods to help them manage their learning strategies to evaluate
social environments. Executing the learning strategy will enable the unit’s members to
effectively summarize results in the future.
Conceptual Knowledge
The Skyline Police Recruitment Unit should know and exercise the conceptual benefit of
building and enhancing partnerships and relationships with mostly minority organizations and
104

institutions. To enhance understanding, conceptual knowledge blends to connect to larger
constructs, such as categories, classifications, principles, models, theories, and structures
(Krathwohl, 2002). The interview findings revealed that the unit has not established any
significant relationships with minority-centric organizations in the city. The unit should be
provided with concept maps evidencing the conceptual belief of building and enhancing
partnerships and relationships with the dominant ethnic minority organizations and institutions
(Anguinis & Kraiger, 2009). Establishing relationships with the minority-centric public,
community institutions, and organizations is essential for attaining more police candidates.
Diversity in organizations presents a competitive advantage through problem-solving and
decision-making (Angeline, 2011; Prieto et al., 2009).
The Skyline Police Department values diversity, but interviews and document analysis
revealed a high probability of an adopted colorblind approach to the recruitment process and
activities. Sonn (1992) suggested that ethnic minorities are least likely to be hired under the
name of a colorblind approach or policy. Education and training are essential because they will
help staff members acquire conceptual, theoretical, and strategic knowledge on building more
relationships from a multicultural perspective. Moreover, having influential leaders who
demonstrate a commitment to valuing and promoting diversity in an organizational culture
bolsters equity, and inclusion serves as an asset (Angeline, 2011; Prieto et al., 2009). Police more
diverse agencies are generally proven to have higher general public perceptions amongst their
residents (Wilson et al., 2016). Enhancing partnerships and relationships with ethnic
communities and organizations is vital for building more pipelines for potential police
candidates.
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Furthermore, the leadership engagement will facilitate knowledge transfer through
training and modeling to-be-learned strategies among the recruiting unit personnel. Providing
information to help the unit members learn and acquire new behaviors through demonstration
and modeling to build community relationships and partnerships will help the organization
succeed (Denler et al., 2006). In addition, utilizing self-regulatory strategies to set goals will
enhance relations with ethnically diverse communities. The recruiting unit needs to be provided
with methods to manage learning strategies to evaluate social environments (Dembo & Eaton,
2000). Overall, the recommendations will create a shared conceptual understanding of how to
build relationships and partnerships to attain a diverse workforce deliberately.
Procedural Knowledge
The recruiting unit needs to show recruiting agents how to implement recruiting
initiatives and strategies that attract more minority police candidates. Interview findings suggest
no targeted minority recruiting events aimed to increase racial or ethnic representation in the
police agency. The sociocultural theory states that targeted training and instruction between the
individual’s independent performance level and their level of assisted performance promotes
optimal learning (Scott & Palincsar, 2006). Clark and Estes proclaimed that the efficient and
effective development of new skills requires training that includes: holistic demonstrations,
observed practice opportunities, and feedback. The corrective feedback must be given to
reinforce knowledge (Shute, 2008). Job aids must present the steps to implement recruiting
initiatives and strategies that attract more minority police candidates (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Showing and modeling strategies effectively lead to helping organizational members acquire
new actions because the training will involve observations, practice, and feedback. The
recruiting unit should consider using a consultant to demonstrate and guide practice and provide
106

timely and applicable feedback to teach recruiting agents how to employ more ethnically
targeted activities that attract more qualified candidates.
Learning through observation serves as a core approach to social cognitive theory. The
success of observational learning behavior or skills relies on the four interrelated actions
involving attention, retention, production, and motivation. Live demonstration by an experienced
professional is applicable to inspiring behavior and building mastery (Denler et al., 2009). The
conception of the Skyline Police recruiting unit’s planning and practice is vital for recruiting
agents to experience during training because it is conducive to the social aspect of learning and
involves the learner’s transition to their environment (Comas-Quinn, 2011). The unit personnel
need ethnic minority targeted training and best practices to the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit to
help personnel gain more qualified racial minority recruits and applicants seeking law
enforcement employment. This is especially important for recruiting units to adjust their activity
focus. Overall, the recommendations intend to build connections through targeted-based
recruiting to help increase the number of qualifying ethnic minority candidates.
Motivation Recommendations
The motivational influences in Table 11 show a finalized list of assumed motivational
factors and their probability of validation on the vital motivational influences presented to
achieve the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s goal. Both literature reviews and motivational
theory support these findings. The motivation performance gap contains three critical aspects of
our work and private lives: active choice, persistence, and mental effort (Clark & Estes, 2008).
The motivational variables include self-efficacy, attributions, values, and goals. Motivation
improves when organizations and individuals confront their beliefs about cultural and personal
differences. Motivation is a critical factor because it points to the thoughts the recruiting unit
107

members have that can impact recruiting police diversity (Rueda, 2011). Clark and Estes (2008)
cited four factors for increasing motivation: personal and team confidence, addressing
organizational and environmental barriers, individual and team values for performance goals,
and emotional climate in their work environment. Accordingly, the recruiting unit personnel
needs to apply efforts toward increasing their motivation. Subsequently, the research focuses on
the task value and self-efficacy motivational influences for the unit in this study. Findings
suggest the assumed influences were not validated but highly probable. The mitigating strategies
for the gaps are presented in Table 11.

Table 11
Summary of Motivation Influences and Recommendations
Assumed knowledge
influence: Cause,
need, or asset*
Validated
Yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and
citation
Context-specific
recommendation
The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
needs to see the
usefulness of
attaining police
diversity in their
law enforcement
agency. (Utility
value)
V Y Higher
expectations for
success and
perceptions of
confidence can
positively
influence
learning and
motivation
(Eccles, 2006)
The Skyline
Recruiting Unit
needs to see the
usefulness of
real-world
rationale for
obtaining police
diversity in their
law enforcement
agency that is
relevant, useful,
and connected to
their interesting

Rationales that
include a
discussion of the
importance and
utility value of
All of the
interviewed
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
Officers value
108

Assumed knowledge
influence: Cause,
need, or asset*
Validated
Yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and
citation
Context-specific
recommendation
the work or
learning can help
learners develop
positive values
(Eccles, 2006;
Pintrich, 2003).
diversity, yet, it is
important for
police department
leadership to
have data on the
usefulness of
presenting a
workforce that
more closely
reflects the
community.

Learning and
motivation are
enhanced if the
learner values the
task (Eccles,
2006)
Collaborate with a
local recruiting
unit municipality
that is Finds
useful their
Continuing
efforts in
attaining and
maintaining
police diversity
The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
needs the
confidence that they
can attract more
ethnic minority
candidates through
their recruiting.
(Self-efficacy)
N N Learning and
motivation are
enhanced when
learners have
expectancies for
success (Pajares,
2006)
The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
needs to have
confidence in
making
productive goals
for themselves
that are
challenging yet
achievable and
inspire self-
evaluation to
attract more
ethnic minority
candidates
through their
recruiting.

109

Assumed knowledge
influence: Cause,
need, or asset*
Validated
Yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
Yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and
citation
Context-specific
recommendation
Feedback and
modeling
increase self-
efficacy (Pajares,
2006).
Provide the Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit with goal-
directed practice
and frequent,
accurate,
credible, targeted,
and private
feedback on
progress in
learning how to
attract more
ethnically diverse
police candidates.

Providing Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit timely
feedback to close
the gap on
attracting more
ethnic minority
qualified police
candidates.

Utility Value
Rationales, including a discussion on the value of the work and learning that can help
Skyline Police Department personnel further develop positive attitudes, are vital to increasing
diversity (Eccles, 2006; Pintrich, 2003). Interviewees did not include much elaboration on
leadership communicating the importance of building a more reflective workforce. The unit may
not value the task of recruiting a more diverse candidate pool based on the disengagement to
address and assess the problem from leadership. The unit needs to be shown the usefulness, with
110

real-world rationale, for obtaining police diversity in their law enforcement agency that is
relevant, useful, and connected to their interest. In addition, failure to attain a more diverse
police force that mirrors the community may seem unlikely to the officers. According to Eccles
(2006), if failure seems likely, some will not try. Overall, the recruiters value diversity; however,
they may not necessarily always value the task based on possible fears of a likelihood of being
able to mirror the community more closely based on population percentage points.
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit can enhance its targeted recruitment efforts by
collaborating with a local recruiting unit municipality that successfully attracts qualified
candidates and maintains police diversity (Eccles, 2006). Comprehensively, although the recruits
are highly motivated individuals, some potential roads can decrease motivation. Getting
leadership more engaged and benchmarking successful recruiting units will likely strengthen the
agents’ motivation to increase diversity. Additionally, Eccles (2006) suggested that learning and
motivation increase self-efficacy.
Self-Efficacy
Bandura (1970) described self-efficacy as a self-regulatory task involving self-confidence
in completing a task. The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit needs to be confident that it can attract
more ethnic minority candidates through its recruiting. Pajares (2006) claimed that learners with
high self-efficacy are likely to have high expectancy for success in completing tasks and an
increased sense of motivation to conduct duties. All of the Skyline police recruiting agents
interviewed seem to have high self-efficacy in recruiting more ethnically diverse candidates. Yet,
the unit does not seem to have clear goals that challenge, aspire, and evaluate the recruiting
agents’ progress toward diversity. In general, the unit needs goal-directed practices and frequent,
accurate, credible, targeted, and private feedback on progress in learning how to attract more
111

ethnically diverse candidates. Possessing and integrating feedback will develop a foundation for
recruiting agents. In addition, self-efficacy establishes a foundation from which a student
structures visions and expectancies for future success; it provides a compass to guide students to
higher levels of learning and motivation (Pajares, 2006).
Research has found that focused feedback enhances self-efficacy (Pajares, 2006). In
addition, leaders often influence a group’s collective efficacy beliefs to facilitate the group’s
progress through goal attainment, generating feedback, and creating social cohesion amongst
group members (Borgogni et al., 2011). Moreover, the Skyline police leaders need to provide
timely feedback that educates recruiting unit members on how to navigate through seeking
candidates considering the external perceptions of the police (Pajares, 2006). In addition, hands-
on, task-specific training, performance discussions, and feedback are key methods for increasing
self-efficacy. Therefore, the recruiting unit’s relationships and partnerships to strengthen
initiatives with ethnic minority organizations and citizens will create opportunities to build self-
efficacy toward mitigating barriers concerning motivation and persistence.
Organizational Influence Recommendations
Organizational culture filters and affects all attempts to improve performance and
success; performance advancement will build upon considering specific organizational culture.
Inadequate materials and processes lead to organizational gaps and affect performance even
when strong knowledge and motivational influences are present (Clark & Estes, 2008). Cultural
models and settings serve as the two main contractors in organizational theory (Rueda, 2011).
Cultural models are the internal and unseen values of the organization. Culture settings are the
visibly seen outcomes influenced by cultural models (Hirabayashi, 2005). In general, the
alignment of organizational culture and performance solutions will be decided within the
112

successful change processes for the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit. This study’s results suggest
the unit’s most compelling needs are at the organizational level. Table 12 outlines the cultural
models and settings as they influence the stakeholder goal. In addition, the table administers
theoretical guiding principles to inform applicable recommendations. The suggested
recommendations include placing high value on community engagement strategies, engaging
leadership, benchmarking, crafting a more equitable hiring process, and establishing goals
toward targeted recruitment initiatives.

Table 12
Summary of Organizational Influences and Recommendations
Assumed knowledge
influence: cause,
need, or asset
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and
citation
Context-specific
recommendation
The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
needs to identify
any potential
challenges and
build a culture of
trust with ethnically
and racially diverse
communities
(Cultural model)
V Y People are more
productive when
goal setting and
benchmarking
are essential to
evaluating
progress and
driving
organizational
performance in
Accountability
(Dowd, 2005;
Levy & Ronco,
2012).

Provide the Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit engagement
strategies and
initiatives that
help enhance the
minority
community’s
perceptions of the
police in the city
of Skyline.
Effective leaders
are aware of the
power of
influence and its
impact on the
change process
Provide Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit vision on
addressing
communication
engagement
113

Assumed knowledge
influence: cause,
need, or asset
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and
citation
Context-specific
recommendation
within an
organization
(Conger, Jay,
1991; Denning,
2005; Lewis,
2011; Fix &
Sias, 2006).

hardships with
citizens.
Effective leaders
know how to use
effective
communication
during the time
of organizational
change
(Hattaway &
Henson, 2013).
Providing Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit task specific
training that
include
interactive media
and
benchmarking to
strengthen
community
engagement skills
that lead to
inspiring trust of
citizens in the
community.

The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
needs to assess the
common ethnic
minority police
barriers in the
recruitment and
hiring process of
potential police
candidates (Cultural
setting)
HP Y Understanding the
meaning of
equity, diversity
and access in
your
organizational
context enhances
the capacity to
improve
organizational
climate and
outcomes
(Darling-
Hammond, 2007;
Lim et al., 2013).

Provide The
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit a
more equitable
hiring process for
police candidates.
114

Assumed knowledge
influence: cause,
need, or asset
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and
citation
Context-specific
recommendation
Leaders are more
accountable
when
accountability is
framed both
internally and
externally, and
takes many
forms; including
bureaucratic
accountability,
professional
accountability,
and market
accountability
(Hentschke &
Wohlstetter,
2004)
Provide Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit a list of the
common ethnic
minority police
barriers in the
recruitment and
hiring process of
potential police
candidates
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
needs enhanced
strategies in
targeting minority
based community
groups in the
underrepresented
settings to create
more pipelines for
potential ethnic
minority police
candidates (Cultural
setting)
HP Y People are more
productive when
goal setting and
benchmarking
are essential to
evaluating
progress and
driving
organizational
performance in
Accountability
(Dowd, 2005;
Levy & Ronco,
2012).

Provide Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit personnel
specific goals and
strategies in
targeting
minority-based
community
groups.
Effective leaders
are aware of the
organization’s
and its
community’s
historical and
socio-cultural
Provide Skyline
Police Recruiting
Unit internal
communiques on
the historical and
socio-cultural
dynamics of
minority
115

Assumed knowledge
influence: cause,
need, or asset
Validated
yes, high
probability,
or no
(V, HP, N)
Priority
yes, no
(Y, N)
Principle and
citation
Context-specific
recommendation
context (Chavez
et al., 2008).
communities to
effectively plan
their targeted
recruiting
strategies.

Cultural Models
The results suggested the officers believe there is currently much mistrust between the
police and the general public. Building a culture of trust with ethnic or racially diverse
community members is critical to overall positive or negative perceptions of the police (U.S.
Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016, p. 18). Citizen
trust in the police will encourage more minority applicants to apply. Each recruiting unit member
references high-profile police shootings and negative media coverage as the primary source of
the mistrust between the police agency and the general public. Schein (2004) conveyed that
organizational identity is essential for organizational growth. The police agency can make strong
and positive impressions on citizens, regardless of high-profile shootings and media influence
that occur elsewhere.
Moreover, Clark and Estes (2008) emphasize the importance of organizational
messaging, policies, and procedures that align with the goals and values to succeed. Although
these factors serve as barriers to increasing trust in police, the recruiting unit can set goals to
focus on the influence of building positive community relations with ethnic minority citizens
116

within their jurisdiction. Overall, the research findings validate both cultural models and set
research assumptions.
Sophisticated leadership communications can inspire organizations to adapt toward
change. The recruiting unit’s leadership needs to deploy direct and effective communication
efforts toward the importance of strengthening the community’s perceptions of trust in the
police. These change efforts should be communicated regularly and often through leadership
(Clark & Estes, 2008). The leaders can influence change and impact the change processes in the
organization (Clark & Estes, 2008). They are the skillful craftsmen of their organization’s
mission toward diversity. Further emphasizing their vision for addressing communication
engagement hardships with the community will have an inspirational effect on all members of
the recruiting unit. In general, they are providing task-specific training that includes interactive
media and benchmarking to train unit members to strengthen community engagement skills that
lead to inspiring the community’s trust.
Cultural Setting 1
The recruiting unit needs to develop a plan for addressing the internal and external factors
that serve as common barriers for racial or ethnic minority police recruits. An anti-racism
perspective ensures that workplace environments are fair and equitable for everyone; thus,
organizational assessments for managing diversity and improving the unit members’ cultural
competency must focus on racism and biases (Trenerry & Paradies, 2012). Accountability brings
responsibility, and leadership that is made accountable should aim to hold others responsible for
supporting a vision that will help obtain organizational goals of recruiting more ethnic minorities
(Lim et al., 2013).
117

Interview data show that the department’s hiring process is focused on equality and not
equity. Cultural settings are mirrored in the policies and rules that are part of an organization.
The hiring process is outlined by the City of Skyline Civil Service Commission, which oversees
hiring steps and administering civil service exams. Furthermore, research indicates barriers in the
exam from multiple municipal law enforcement agencies (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016). Generally, the recruiting unit can propose a
barrier analysis of the recruitment and hiring process to determine where minorities face
obstacles.
Cultural Setting 2
Rueda (2011) highlighted that individuals’ and groups’ performance goals are met when
organizational practices and policies are influential. Setting goals is pivotal to self-regulatory
actions that promote learning and performance (Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Denler et al., 2006). A
lack of systematic approach to goal setting in the recruiting unit was a validated barrier to
recruiting more racial police diversity. The interview and document analysis findings suggest the
recruiting unit takes a colorblind approach. The unit members need to assess and develop
recommendations to create more targeted and effective recruitment initiatives. Proactive and
targeted community outreach will encourage people from ethnic minority populations to seek
and consider careers in law enforcement (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, 2016; Wilson et al., 2016). The department should benchmark
municipal police agencies that adopt and constantly employ more recruitment targeted
approaches toward potential ethnic minority candidates. The notion of benchmarking involves
using standards or references where other objects or actions can be measured, compared, or
judged (Bogue & Hall, 2003).
118

Leadership needs to ensure each recruiting initiative is vetted toward building
relationships and pipelines for ethnic minorities. Moreover, leadership needs to ensure the
recruiting unit members are educated about the historical and socio-cultural dynamics of
minority communities to plan targeted recruiting initiatives effectively. Leadership can introduce
training that prepares unit members to understand cultural competencies in their recruitment pre-
planning initiatives. Officers with training and education will be prepared to conduct minority-
centric recruitment events when engaging in the community meet and greets, events, and
programming at religious and educational institutions (U.S. Department of Justice & U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, 2016). Comprehensively, leadership developing short-
term, mid-term, and long-term goals and plans to invest in every individual hired will be pivotal
toward retaining a diverse police force.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
The four-level new world model serves as the model that guides the integrated
implementation and evaluation plan (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The model is framed
upon the influential research of Kirkpatrick (1998). The four levels of the new world model
consist of training in reverse order results (4), behaviors (3), learning (2), and reaction (1). The
new world model is presented in reverse order because it helps the discovery of leading
indicators and ensures accountability for intended outcomes. In the following sections, Level 4
(results) refers to how participants achieve targeted outcomes as a result of training. The
principal indicators and measures are then defined. Level 3 (behaviors) observes the critical
behaviors to apply what they have learned during training when they are back on the job. Level 2
(learning) determines the degree to which participants’ learning occurs through gaining
knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence, and commitment based on their engagement in training.
119

Level 1 (reaction) measures the degree to which participants find training favorable, engaging,
and relevant to their job (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The framework’s evaluation plan
helps the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit focus initially on the overall desired result of increasing
the number of ethnic minorities in its workforce. The organization can then design a program
that helps all key personnel take responsibility and achieve goals.
Organizational Purpose, Needs, and Expectations
The mission of the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit is to oversee an efficient, effective, and
fair selection process, which results in the appointment of those select individuals who possess
the skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a law enforcement officer.
The vision of the recruiting unit is to present a more ethnically diverse workforce that closely
mirrors the city’s demographics. The organizational goal for the unit is to develop a strategic
plan to identify, measure, and improve representation. This study evaluated the Skyline Police
Department’s organizational performance related to how its internal workforce reflects the racial
demographics of the citizen population within its jurisdiction.
The organizational goal directly relates to the problem or practice and the recruiting
unit’s mission to increase and sustain ethnic diversity. This goal will be achieved when
percentages of each ethnic group in the police department directly align with the city’s racial
composition. The unit’s specific objective is to increase the number of qualified minority
applicants through more effective initiatives by 60% by September 2024.
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Table 13 shows Level 4 Results and Leading Indicators, which include external and
internal summative or formative metrics and methods that could be used to evaluate the
120

recruiting unit. Implementing internal recommendations and achieving outcomes will enable the
unit to have a greater chance of achieving the outcomes.

Table 13
External and Internal Outcomes
Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
External outcomes
Increased ethnic minority
police candidates
applying to the law
enforcement agency
Rising year-over-year increases
of ethnic or racial police
candidates applying to
become police officers with
the city of Skyline by 60% by
2025
Monitor the year-over-year
statistics to gather ethnic
minority police application
statistics.
Improvement in the
number of qualified
ethnic minority
candidates offered
sworn-officer positions
Increased year-over-year
increases in the amount of
minority police applicants
being accepted for sworn-
officer police roles by 60% by
2025

Progress toward ensuring
minority police retention
improves from officers who
have served with the Skyline
Police Department beyond
Police Academy training
Monitor year-over-year results
of ethnic minority police
applicants that are offered
sworn-police officer trainee
positions with the agency.

Review the retention statistics of
the minority sworn-officer
police personnel.
Enhanced awareness of
job opportunities for
ethnic minority
citizens
More racially-ethnically
potential police candidates.
Reached through minority
dominated organizations and
institutions
Conduct preplanning and after-
action reviews on an
increased number of minority
centric recruitment events.
Increased positive
perceptions of the
police from the
community
Increases in survey report data
that measure the citizen
attitudes and perceptions of
the police
Gather and compare survey data
results on the perceptions and
beliefs the citizens of Skyline
have on its police force.
Internal outcomes
Increased racial or ethnic
minority representation
Greater year-over-year numbers
of racial or ethnic sworn-
Review and compare year-over-
year numbers of increasing
police officer representation
121

Outcome Metric(s) Method(s)
with the police
department

police officers in the police
agency
Advancement toward the
internal police
workforce mirroring
the racial ethnic
demographics of the
minority community
members
Closer year-over-year
percentage concentrations of
racial or ethnic minority
sworn-officer police personnel
group; relative to the general
police population at the
department.

Analyze year-over-year data on
decreasing percentage gap
point reduction between
police and citizen ethnic
population representation.
Enhanced targeted
recruitment strategies
toward ethnically
diverse populations
More racially-ethnically targeted
recruiting initiatives with
minority dominated
organizations and institutions
per quarter
Set goals to administer an
increased number of minority
targeted recruitment events to
employ each quarter.
More recruitment
pipelines streaming
from relationship
building with ethnic
minority dominated
organizations and
institutions.
Increased communication and
more established partnerships
with ethnic minority majority
establishments in the city
Set goals toward establishing
and monitoring an enhanced
number of partnerships built
with ethnic or racial minority
organizations and institutions.
Eliminate barriers in the
hiring process that
disproportionately
affect minority
applicants from being
employed.
Work with the city of Skyline
Civil Service Commission to
decrease barriers that persists
in the hiring process.
Analyze results and evaluate the
police hiring process to
identify and eliminate
potential disproportionate
barriers that significantly
impact the ethnic minority
police candidates

The summative external outcomes and metrics presented serve as the critical arbiter of
recruiting more ethnic police diversity. The necessary external outcomes for the Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit include increasing the job awareness of the sworn-police officer position
amongst minority members of the community and using partnerships and community
engagement to positively influence the perceptions of the police from the citizens of Skyline.
Tracking year-over-year progress in assessing the increase in minority applicants and sworn-
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police officer candidates provides an opportunity to detect the general effectiveness of the
recommendations. Furthermore, annually tracking the statistical data of the applicants establishes
a successful metric for determining police to citizen representation gaps by percentage points.
Internal outcomes and metrics present more formative metrics toward improving ethnic
diversity in the workforce. Analyzing and reviewing the internal minority police representation,
year-over-year, in the police department is a systematic way to evaluate progress. The primary
outcome of interest is based on the ability of the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit to attract more to
set goals toward recruiting police diversity, attaining more qualified applicants, and retaining the
ethnic minority workforce. Setting goals to plan and execute targeted recruitment events and
building partnerships with minority community members will create an opportunity to establish
more recruitment pipelines. In addition, goals to improve the community outreach efforts and
survey data will track the increasing ethnic community’s perception of the Skyline Police
Department. Overall, successfully employing these methods will rely heavily on the behaviors
that indicate potential recruiting unit member engagement.
Level 3: Behavior
Level 3 of the new world Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) focuses
on behaviors, particularly the behaviors of the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit adapting to the
training and operational requirements of obtaining police diversity. The three elements that are
fundamental to Level 3: (a) the critical behaviors required to meet desired outcomes; (b) the
drivers that monitor and reinforce critical behaviors; (c) the organizational support and culture
mechanisms to sustain desired behaviors (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Table 14 shows the
metrics, methods, and timing for evaluating each applicable critical behavior toward recruiting
diversity.
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Table 14
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for Evaluation
Critical behavior Metrics
Methods
Timing
Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
cultivates the skill
sets and mindsets of
the to engage in an
authentic inquiry on
where they stand
with presenting a
workforce that is
reflective of the
community.
The number and
frequency of
assessing and
comparing the
racial demographic
population between
the police agency
and the citizens

The numerical
precision and
accuracy results of
experimental
outcomes

The application of use
of data collected
Skyline Police
Recruitment Unit data
collection

Skyline Police
Recruitment Unit
quantitative
assessment

Skyline Police
Recruitment Unit data
collection

Skyline Police
Leadership will
propose goals that the
Chief of Police
reviews.

Data collection is
collected annually

Quantitative Data
assessed annually

Data collection is
collected annually

Annually setting
goals and re-
evaluating them
quarterly
Set goals in attracting
and attaining more
ethnic police
candidates to apply
and get more hired
as sworn-police
officers.
Number of new DEI
recruitment
performance goals
set.

Number of goals that
align to
competencies

Number of DEI
recruitment related
SMART goals
Skyline Police
Leadership will
propose goals that the
Chief of Police
reviews

Skyline Police
Leadership will
propose goals that are
reviewed by the Chief
of Police.

The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit
Leadership will
propose goals the
Annually

Every quarter with
feedback
assessment

Every mid quarter
with feedback
assessment
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Critical behavior Metrics
Methods
Timing
Chief of Police
reviews to determine
how SMART they
are.

Required Drivers
Critical behaviors need to coexist to influence the achievement of the essential outcomes.
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit members will need a supportive climate that explicitly
supports the critical behaviors through recognition, monitoring, rewarding, and encouragement
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The influence of the knowledge-related solutions, such as
training, education, information, and organizational solutions supporting the recruitment and
retention of more ethnically diverse police candidates include meeting structures and data
assessments. The reassuring drivers have motivational-related solutions such as utility value and
self-efficacy, the modeling of strategies, and targeted and valuable feedback. The rewarding
drivers will include the appropriate implementations of organizational influences. The
organizational solutions create a foundation of accountability and data-driven decision-making.
Table 15 outlines the monitoring, reinforcement, and encouragement drivers necessary for
Skyline Police Recruiting Unit members to implement police diversity recruitment strategies in
their day-to-day activities that support the critical behaviors. Table 15 discusses the reinforcing,
encouraging, and monitoring drivers.

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Table 15
Required Drivers to Support Critical Behaviors
Methods Timing Critical behaviors supported
Reinforcing
Job aids from research-based
proven practices and
community engagement
initiatives that detail best
practices used to recruit and
build stronger partnerships
with more ethnically diverse
members of the community
Ongoing 2
Job aids on steps to
implement recruiting
initiatives and strategies that
attract more minority police
candidates
Ongoing 2
Executing strategies that help
monitor recruitment unit
members learning, methods,
and performance toward
meeting the objective of
attaining a more ethnically
reflective police workforce
Ongoing 1, 2
Using concept maps
evidencing the conceptual
belief of building and
enhancing partnerships and
relationships with the
dominant ethnic minority
organizations and institutions
Ongoing 2
Using targeted training and
best practices to the Skyline
Police Recruiting Unit to help
personnel gain more qualified
racial minority recruits and
applicants seeking law
enforcement employment
Ongoing 1, 2
Provide the Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit with methods
to manage their learning
strategies to evaluate social
environments
Ongoing 1
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Methods Timing Critical behaviors supported
Learning and acquiring new
behaviors through
demonstration and modeling
to effectively build
community relationships and
partnerships.
Ongoing 1, 2
Being provided statistical data
and information on the
agency’s racial and ethnic
composition in relation to the
demographic makeup of the
citizen population in the City
of Skyline
Ongoing 1
Selecting, organizing, and
integrating statistical data to
assess their current and future
progress at providing an
ethnically reflective police
workforce with reference to
the Skyline citizen population
Ongoing 1
Leaders will initiate meetings
that emphasize allocating
resources, identifying goals,
clarifying objectives, and
coaching toward attaining a
more ethnically diverse
workforce
Bi Weekly 1, 2
Promoting selecting,
organizing, and integrating
statistical data to assess their
current and future progress at
providing an ethnically
reflective police workforce
with reference to the Skyline
citizen population
Bi quarterly 1
Encouraging
Show the usefulness of
presenting a workforce that
more closely reflects the
community
Ongoing 1
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Methods Timing Critical behaviors supported
Goal directed practice and
frequent, accurate, credible,
targeted and private
feedback on progress in
learning how to attract
more ethnically diverse
police candidates.
Ongoing 1, 2
Frequent, specific, and timely
feedback that aligns to
competencies and includes
procedural advice
Ongoing 1, 2
Viewing data on the
usefulness of real-world
rationale, for obtaining
police diversity in their law
enforcement agency that is
relevant, useful, and
connected to their
interesting.
Ongoing 1
Presentations involving
evidence-based research on
the benefits of police
diversity and mirroring the
community.
Ongoing 2
Collaborate with a local
recruiting unit municipality
that finds useful their
continuing efforts in
attaining and maintaining
police diversity.
Quarterly 1, 2
Make productive goals for
themselves that are
challenging yet achievable
and inspire self-evaluation
to attract more ethnic
minority candidates
through recruiting efforts.
Quarterly 1, 2
Monitoring
Provide internal
communication on the
historical and socio-cultural
dynamics of minority
communities to effectively
plan their targeted
recruiting strategies.
Ongoing 1
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Methods Timing Critical behaviors supported
Monitor unit task specific
training that include
interactive media and
benchmarking to strengthen
community engagement
skills that lead to inspiring
trust of citizens.
Ongoing 1, 2
Benchmarking successful
racially diverse municipal
police departments
Ongoing 2
Deploy initiatives that help
enhance the minority
community’s perceptions of
the police in the city.
Monthly 2
Observe minority targeted
police recruitment efforts.
Monthly 1
Set and pursue specific goals
and strategies in targeting
minority-based community
groups.
Monthly 2
Establish and evaluate
progress toward progress
on the implementation and
sustainment of the
recruiting unit’s action plan
toward attaining more
police diversity.
Bi quarterly 1, 2
Regularly held meetings and
communication to assess
progress toward recruiting
police diversity initiatives
Bi quarterly 1, 2
Collect and compare data to
see what extent the Skyline
Police Recruiting Unit
demonstrate a police force
that is reflective of the
city’s population.
Annually 1
Adopt a more equitable hiring
process for police
candidates.
Annually 1
Provide a list of the common
ethnic minority police
barriers in the recruitment
and hiring process of
potential police candidates.
Quarterly 1
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Methods Timing Critical behaviors supported

Public acknowledgment when
employees meet action plan
goals
Ongoing 1, 2

Organizational Support
Assimilating and sustaining organizational support for recruiting police diversity is
imperative for achieving more sought-after outcomes that involve presenting a more reflective
workforce of the community population. Level 3 drivers can help the recruiting unit achieve its
organizational goals. When drivers are not expected, the potential for the Level 3 outcomes is
diminished. The preceding critical recruiting unit behaviors are displayed in Table 15, and the
required drivers are predicated on the implementation of recommendations. In general, two key
elements are needed for continuous implementation of the concepts outlined for Level 3,
including assessing how the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit mirrors the community’s population
and setting goals to attract more police candidates.
Level 2: Learning
Learning goals are the degree to which an individual gains knowledge and skills, attitude,
confidence, and commitment from training (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The following
learning goals will address the Level 3 critical behaviors to support the Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit’s focus on behavior changes along the way to achieving leading internal indicators at Level
4 to align the organization’s goals. Generally, the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit personnel will
be able to
1. Analyze and summarize the results of how the Skyline Police Workforce reflects the
community population (factual).
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2. Apply knowledge on practices of setting goals and providing feedback (procedural).
3. Apply knowledge in planning ethnically targeted recruiting unit initiatives
(procedural).
4. Value the importance of the police workforce mirroring its community population
(value).
5. Confidently engage in building partnerships with ethnic minority-dominated
organizations to build recruitment pipelines (self-efficacy).
6. Advocate to remove barriers in the hiring process that disproportionately affect
minority police candidates (cultural setting).
7. Monitor progress towards recruiting and attaining police diversity and make
adjustments when necessary (cultural setting).
8. Engage constructively with municipal police departments who have successfully
attained community reflective police diversity (conceptual knowledge).
9. Value the importance the internal benefits of having a more reflective police force
(cultural model).
10. Commit toward an action plan that leads to recruiting a more reflective police officer
workforce (self-efficacy).
Program
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit professional program is a comprehensive plan that
supports staff members in achieving the stated learning goals. Implementing training,
information, education, and job aids will be part of an effective program that enables the
researcher to achieve the learning objectives presented in the KMO inquiry regarding recruiting
and sustaining an ethnically reflective police agency (Clark & Estes, 2008). In addition, the
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program images the police recruitment staff in developing realization and gratitude for the
benefits of achieving more ethnic diversity in the department. Furthermore, the Skyline police
recruiting members will employ communication techniques to set goals and provide effective
feedback loops designed to support them individually and collectively.
Throughout the process, the members of the recruiting unit will be educated on the
importance of presenting a diverse police force that mirrors its community population. Moreover,
the members will be educated and informed on the historical and current dynamics of the ethnic
minority diversity gap that has occurred since the beginning of time. Evidence-based practices to
launch targeted recruitment efforts will be offered to the department. Education will occur
throughout the year as more evidence-based research and techniques are presented to the staff.
The training program will be conducted ongoing from year to year. The recruiting
members will be trained to collect and assess the year-over-year results that compare the
agency’s and the community’s ethnic diversity by percentage points. The recruiting staff will use
the data to set goals to address percentage gaps based on the results gathered. Leaders will be
presented with the data, review the proposed plans, and make recommendations to give the final
approval to proceed with the decided goals and objectives. Additionally, personnel will collect
and analyze the year-over-year progress in the number of ethnic minority applicants they gain.
To support learning further, leaders and instructional coaches will observe recruitment activities
and provide ongoing feedback and coaching conversations to evaluate progress as the
recruitment unit carries out its action plan. The leadership team will assess the unit members’
progress in establishing partnerships with ethnic minority organizations and institutions. In
addition, leadership will identify the establishment of recruitment pipelines and conduct a
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quarterly assessment of where they are at, benchmarking an agency that successfully presents a
reflective diverse police force.
Components of Learning
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) presented five essential components of Level 2
learning: knowledge, skills, confidence, attitude, and commitment. In evaluating the learning
elements, the researcher concentrates on clear, concise, and application of the information
provided. As Skyline Police Recruiting Unit officers attempt to implement diversity-centered
learning strategies into their daily operations, they need to feel they have the appropriate
knowledge. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the extent to which they learned procedural and
declarative knowledge. Table 16 outlines these methods for evaluation of these components, as
well as the timing.

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Table 16
Components of Learning for the Program
Methods or activities Timing
Declarative knowledge: “I know it.”
Knowledge checks by leadership or facilitator
during planning session
At times during planning session as members
brainstorm ideas and solutions

Checks for understanding in follow-up calls
and meetings
During the implementation phases of the action
plan

Procedural skills: “I can do it right now.”
Observations of student application or targeted
recruitment strategies and marketing

Throughout observation notes and reports
Demonstration of individual job aid usage Throughout observation notes and reports
Demonstration of team’s use of job aids
successfully
Throughout observation notes and reports
Attitude: “I believe this is worthwhile.”
Individual discussions on the value of them
being asked to do on the job
During coaching and feedback sessions with
instructional coaches and supervisors

Participant comments about the value of
meetings and how they have progressed
During the planning meeting

After action review feedback sessions that
involve opportunities for reflective
comments
After recruitment events
Confidence: “I think I can do it on the job.”
Observations on how recruiting unit staff use
the preplan targeted recruitment events

Before recruitment events
Observations on how recruitment unit staff are
pre-planning community engagement and
partnership building initiatives

Before community engagement meetings
Conduct discussions following practice and
feedback
After recruitment events
Commitment: “I will do it on the job.”
Creation of individual and team goals Quarterly after the planning meeting
Create and execute a team action plan After planning meeting
Discussions about how the plan will help them
in their roles
During planning meeting

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Level 1: Reaction
Satisfaction, engagement, and relevance are critical to the program’s success (Clark &
Estes, 2008; Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). High levels of each component are a strong
predictor of the advancement of the program. Level 1 reactions involve the extent to which
participants find training favorable, engaging, and relevant to their roles (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016). The Level 1 evaluations inhibit the degree of simplicity and immediacy,
whether formative or summative; the collection and assessment of transfer throughout the
program enable the organization to allocate resources and direct strategy to more pivotal levels
of evaluation (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The Skyline Police Department has a formal
quarterly feedback process that creates a two-way feedback loop concerning Level 1 perceptions
on recruiting unit activities and initiatives launched toward recruiting more ethnic minorities.
Table 17 indicates the methods or tools and timing for the satisfaction, engagement, and
relevance in the measuring actions of the recruiting police diversity training program. All
variables presented will determine how participants will react to learning events:

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Table 17
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program.
Methods or activity Timing
Engagement
Agreement on key initiatives Ongoing during meetings
Completion of tasks and goals Ongoing
Quality and frequency of goal setting During the beginning of the quarter
Leadership observation of unit activities Ongoing during recruitment and partnership
building activities
Relevance
Unit or team meeting discussions Bi-weekly
Live brief pulse-survey with unit personnel Every 6 months
Quarterly evaluation of program At the beginning and close of each quarter
Customer satisfaction
Annual evaluation At the conclusion of each year
Unit or team meeting discussions Ongoing during team meetings

Evaluation Tools
Evaluation instruments produce perceptions of relevance and satisfaction with training
Level 1 and Skyline recruiting unit member reflections when reaching targeted goals or
outcomes at Level 4. Questionnaires will be administered at the close of each quarter. The
analysis will seek feedback from the participants across all four levels to evaluate program
improvement, learning transfer, and demonstration of value aspects relevant to the training.
Immediately Following the Plan Implementation
Level 1 reaction and Level 2 learning data will be collected at the beginning and close of
each quarter after the plan implementation meeting (See Appendix A). The Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit Leadership, in the form of brief questions, will check the initial reaction after the
quarterly meeting. The participants will be able to answer questions that revolve around both
Level 1 and Level 2 understanding of the relevance of the training immediately after the close of
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each quarter. Level 2 data will involve the recruiting unit engaging in conversations with all the
participants to check for insight about their roles in implementing the plan and speak on how
they will collaboratively achieve team goals. The unit’s leadership will require participants to
lead conversations during planning phases to build confidence that they can achieve the desired
results. The unit leadership will conduct coaching and feedback sessions that will involve
individual discussions about the tasks they are required to complete and how they have
progressed to gauge the participants’ attitude toward the recruiting diversity initiatives. In
addition, leadership will hold meetings during implementation phases to ensure unit members
know the mission and required tasks to be accomplished. The leadership will conduct an after-
action-reviews during recruiting events to assess the team’s attitude toward implementing the
action plan. In addition, recruitment leadership will observe unit members carrying out
procedures toward community engagement and conduct targeted ethnic minority recruiting
events to assess procedural knowledge. The leadership will determine the overall progress of
Level 1 and 2 factors and decide on any additional planning meetings to be scheduled.
Delayed for a Period After the Plan Implementation
Evaluating training effectiveness requires time for the effects of training to show. The
delay in evaluation to enable results to manifest often produces more insightful findings
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Brief-pulse surveys will be given to participants
approximately 6 months after the strategic planning session using the blended survey evaluation
approach (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) to assess Level 3 and 4 outcomes (see Appendix B).
The instrument will confirm whether the recruiting unit is progressing toward its goals (Level 4)
and that they began exhibiting new behaviors (Level 3). The survey will also examine unit
members’ increases in knowledge, skills, confidence, and commitment (Level 2) and determine
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if planning sessions were impactful. Lastly, the members will be asked about the effectiveness of
the new strategic plan toward achieving the organizational goals. The recruiting leadership will
evaluate progress against goals and decide whether to initiate a new strategic planning session.
Data Analysis and Reporting
The Level 4 goals for the implementation plan to recruit more minority applicants into
the department consist of increases in minority applicants and police officer trainees hires, the
establishment of ethnic minority recruitment events, stronger partnerships, and increased positive
perceptions from Skyline community members. After identifying all Level 4 goals, the
department will need to measure and track all fundamentals of the plan to determine how the
agency is increasing the number of qualifying minority applicants. Table 18 is presented to track
the historical data on ethnic minority recruitment.

Table 18
Historical Ethnic Minority Recruitment Data
Ethnicity Candidates offered position
before training
Candidates offered position
after training
Black 2 6
Hispanic 3 4
Asian 0 1

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Summary
The Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s organizational goal is a strategic implementation
plan for increasing ethnic minority representation in the department. The new world Kirkpatrick
model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) is the framework used for this assessment. The model
centers around creating the suggested solutions, developing implementation plans, and an
overarching guide to evaluating the program. The model starts with the desired results to ensure
that all the recruiting unit staff members achieve the same goal. Then, the model helps personnel
identify and monitor critical behaviors and required drivers once they begin to implement the
program or strategic plan. This component is known as behavior. Generally, operational
execution and monitoring are strong indicators of success for any key actions (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016).
In general, the process for formal goal setting in the recruiting unit will be new to all staff
members. Assisting the recruiting unit officers will address learning gaps in the identifiable areas
to accomplish their organizational goals. The Level 2 learning element of the new world
Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) aims to measure the extent to which
participants cultivate additional knowledge, enhanced skills, attitudes, and boosted confidence
and commitment to attain their goals. Lastly, Level 1 reaction measures engagement, relevance,
and overall satisfaction. Although Level 1 serves as a less critical level than the other levels, the
component remains essential to the plan to make sure staff is actively committed and focused on
achieving organizational goals.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach
This evaluation study contains two methodological approaches that were blended in
investigating and recommending solutions to the problem of practice. Clark and Estes’s (2008)
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gap analytical framework informed the organization of literature in Chapter Two, the interview
protocol in Chapter Three, the analysis of data in Chapter Four, and the inquiry of researched-
aligned recommended solutions in Chapter Five. Moreover, the new world Kirkpatrick model
(Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) provided a framework for analyzing factors affecting the
Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s ability to recruit more ethnic minorities. The model proposed a
methodological framework for transforming recommendations into implementation and an
evaluation training program. In general, the explanatory mixed-methods approach and the
document analysis offered unique viewpoints to the unit’s marketing practices to compare the
ethnic diversity of the police workforce to the residential population they serve. Significant
findings support compelling cases for researched-based change in the recruiting unit.
Holistically, all methodological frameworks contain strengths and weaknesses. The
seamless alignment with Clark and Estes’s (2008) KMO gap analysis framework and the law
enforcement recruiting unit organization context serves as strength. The theories of learning and
motivation provide insight into the knowledge and motivational influences that introduce the
awareness of an ethnic diversity gap and the persistence and efforts of the recruiting staff to
enhance police diversity. The organizational component of KMO helps assess how accountable
an organization is to its mission and the influence of models and settings on attaining the
organizational goal. Conversely, the weakness of the framework is a singular stakeholder
approach. The Skyline recruiting unit helps guide candidates through the hiring process; some
adjacent organizational stakeholders significantly influence the hiring process. Despite the
weakness, Clark and Estes’s framework serves as a strong framework for the Skyline Police
Recruiting Unit.
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The new world Kirkpatrick model’s (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) strength resides in
its connectedness toward transitioning the results into recommendations. The design effectively
addresses the KMO influences for the stakeholder group of focus. In addition, the backward
planning of the model moves toward clear and evaluative steps toward recruiting for diversity. In
addition, the evaluation program works well for the stakeholder as it provides leaders insight into
the organization’s overall training plan. The elements measuring the participants’ buy-in, level of
competency, attitude, and knowledge will be instrumental in helping leaders determine the next
steps for the organization. The model’s weakness is the consequences it can bring to an
organization. The model requires someone in leadership to be determined to solve the issues
organically. The organizational factors at Level 3 require a significant amount of effort in time
and fiscal resources. The leader must have a deep understanding of the root causes of the
organization’s problem. Overall, Skyline recruiting leaders may find difficulty fitting in the
implementation plan in addition to being responsible for several other duties.
Limitations and Delimitations
The potential limitations and delimitations of the study were first introduced in Chapter
Three, following the design of the study methodology. The addition of data analysis and
recommendations for solutions allows for an extensive conversation about the limitations and
delimitations of the findings and an implementation plan that can be presented. In analyzing the
limitations, the study would contain enhanced viewpoints with context from other key
stakeholders. The addition of stakeholders would increase interview participants to provide a
perspective from their positionality in the evaluation of recruiting police diversity. The second
limitation of the study is the addressed items related to personnel motivation. The motivational
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questions allow interview respondents to promote a colorblind approach, enabling police officers
to ignore the problem and differences of underrepresented races in the police agency.
Alternatively, the design of the study offers multiple limitations. The ability to narrow the
study and create depth in the research interviews and document analysis that supported literature
are significant. The triangulation of interview data provided an overall understanding of the
problem. Secondly, although I served an outsider role, the recruiting unit staff likely viewed me
as an insider. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) noted that challenges to collecting data can be
enhanced with strong feelings concerning outsider beliefs among participants. Yet, the
commonality and connection were built before ordering data-enabled participants to share
struggles with recruiting diverse populations. In addition, the perspective of the study from the
entire recruiting unit staff was vital to the study’s success.
Future Research
As the U.S. population becomes more diverse, presenting police forces that mirror the
community becomes more pivotal. There are three areas to address for future research that are
fundamental to recruiting a police workforce that is more ethnically reflective of its community.
More research examining the role and influence of hiring practices is needed to reveal the
disproportionate hiring practices that affect the progress of ethnic minority hires.
Disproportionate hiring requirements like civil service exam candidate ranking should be further
examined and connected to the inequitable education opportunities and lower quality schools that
many ethnic minorities disproportionately attend. In addition, more work on targeted recruiting
practices and building effective partnerships that lead to recruitment pipelines need to be
examined and analyzed to present more data on the effectiveness of targeted recruitment
practices. However, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
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Commission recommended targeted recruitment efforts from a researched-based perspective.
More context from research findings needs to be distributed throughout law enforcement
agencies to share best practices toward recruiting for diversity. In addition, research to examine
ethnic diversity scorecards at the state and federal levels should be a proposed method to ensure
accountability in providing diverse police workforces to the general public. The scorecard’s
diversity metric will likely motivate leaders to activate plans to address the problem.
Conclusion
This study examined the KMO influences on recruiting for the Skyline Police
Department. The intent of the study was to provide direction for increasing the number of
qualified minority applicants through more effective recruitment initiatives by 60% by Spring
2024. The study’s design, methodology, data analysis, and recommendations drove the research
questions. Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analytical framework shaped the literature review, which
identified seven influence assumptions. Each result was influenced and validated through
qualitative and quantitative research. The tools allowed for determining gaps in knowledge and
organizational influences.
The results revealed that the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit was motivated to increase
diversity. In addition, staff members had confidence in their ability to recruit diverse candidates.
The staff members also had strong procedural knowledge and believed the cultural models and
setting of the surrounding task of recruiting police diversity were fair. However, they were
unsure about the ethnic diversity gaps are with them and the community. The staff mostly is
unaware of their colorblind approaches toward diversity which can likely impact recruiting
ethnic minority candidates. Document analysis showed that the unit is not maximizing its social
media platforms. Overall, there were multiple areas of growth opportunities identified.
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The implications of the findings allow for proposing an action plan to address
improvement areas that will enable the unit to attract more qualified ethnic minority personnel to
its workforce. The recommendations for the Skyline Police Department are to understand the
statistical diversity gaps between the police and citizens by percentage points, build partnerships
and enhance relationships with ethnic minority community members, conduct targeted ethnic
minority recruitment events, and acknowledge and identify common barriers in the current hiring
process. Implementing these recommendations will allow the recruiting unit to achieve the vision
of displaying a police workforce that mirrors its community’s population.
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Appendix A: Level 1 and Level 2 Immediate Evaluation Instrument
Methods or activities Item/survey question
Declarative knowledge (I know it)
Knowledge about the ethnic diversity gap

I can summarize the ethnic diversity gap
within the police department accurately
from inquiry collected.
Procedural skills (I can do it right now)
Ability to execute learnings from training,
education, and inquiry

I can apply the necessary skills toward
performing ethnically targeted police
recruitment events that attract more racially
diverse police candidates.
I can apply skills necessary toward building
community partnerships that may lead to
establishing ethnic minority recruitment
pipelines.
Attitude (I believe this is worthwhile)
Measure police recruiting unit members
perceptions on training, education, and
tasks on recruiting police diversity
evaluation plan.

I see value in the recruiting diversity training
and research provided to ensure our
workforce mirrors the community citizens
ethnic population.
I see the value of presenting an ethnically
diverse police force from evidence-based
conducted research.
I believe the recruiting police diversity
organizational goals are attainable.
Confidence (I think I can do it on the job)
Assess confidence of the police recruiting unit
members in applying new knowledge
learned.

I feel more confident that I can master ways
on how to attract more police candidates to
the agency
I feel more confident that I can establish
strong community partnerships with
dominant ethnic minority citizens to
establish police recruitment pipelines
I feel confident I can significantly attribute to
the organization goals in recruiting police
diversity
Commitment (I will do it on the job)
Level of commitment from police recruiting
unit members on executing evaluation plan

I am committed toward applying the skills
and habits necessary taught on the
approach of recruiting police diversity.
Engagement
Interest in evaluation plan from the police
recruitment unit members

This training consistently held my interest.
I am constantly learning and growing from
administered recruitment training and
partnership building initiatives.
157

Methods or activities Item/survey question
Relevance
Gaining the perception of relevance for the
evaluation plan

The training and education provided is
relevant toward recruiting diverse police
candidates.
Customer satisfaction
Inquiring about the satisfaction level of the
evaluation program
I enjoyed the training and inquiry-based
approach toward recruiting police diversity.
Declarative knowledge (I know it)
Knowledge about the ethnic diversity gap

I can summarize the ethnic diversity gap
within the police department accurately
from inquiry collected.
Procedural skills (I can do it right now)
Ability to execute learnings from training,
education, and inquiry

I can apply the necessary skills toward
performing ethnically targeted police
recruitment events that attract more racially
diverse police candidates.
I can apply skills necessary toward building
community partnerships that may lead to
establishing ethnic minority recruitment
pipelines.
Attitude (I believe this is worthwhile)
Measure police recruiting unit members
perceptions on training, education, and
tasks on recruiting police diversity
evaluation plan.

I see value in the recruiting diversity training
and research provided to ensure our
workforce mirrors the community citizens
ethnic population.
I see the value of presenting an ethnically
diverse police force from evidence-based
conducted research.
I believe the recruiting police diversity
organizational goals are attainable.
Confidence (I think I can do it on the job)
Assess confidence of the police recruiting unit
members in applying new knowledge
learned.

I feel more confident that I can master ways
on how to attract more police candidates to
the agency.
I feel more confident that I can establish
strong community partnerships with
dominant ethnic minority citizens to
establish police recruitment pipelines.
I feel confident I can significantly attribute to
the organization goals in recruiting police
diversity.
Commitment (I will do it on the job)
Level of commitment from police recruiting
unit members on executing evaluation plan

I am committed toward applying the skills
and habits necessary taught on the
approach of recruiting police diversity.
158

Methods or activities Item/survey question
Engagement
Interest in evaluation plan from the police
recruitment unit members

This training consistently held my interest

I am constantly learning and growing from
administered recruitment training and
partnership building initiatives
Relevance
Gaining the perception of relevance for the
evaluation plan

The training and education provided is
relevant toward recruiting diverse police
candidates.
Customer satisfaction
Inquiring about the satisfaction level of the
evaluation program
I enjoyed the training and inquiry-based
approach toward recruiting police diversity.

Note. Questions used a 5-point Likert scale (not at all, barely, somewhat, quite a bit, certainly).
159

Appendix B: Delayed Evaluation Instrument (180 Days)
Instructions: For the following questions, please use the following scale: 0 = strongly
disagree 10 = strongly agree. Please circle the appropriate rating to indicate the degree to which
you agree with each statement.
Rating Item
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The training improved my ability to
recruit more ethnic minority police
candidates

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The training improved my ability to
build stronger relationships and
police recruitment pipelines with
minority dominated community
organizations and partnerships

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I am able to recruit more diverse
police candidates after training

I recruited _______ qualified ethnic
minority recruits over the past 6
months

I have established relationships and
partnerships with _____ minority-
dominated organizations that may
create police recruitment pipelines
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I use job aids every time before
planned police recruiting events to
implement initiatives and strategies
that attract more minority police
candidates

What job aid(s) do you use the most?

Please list:

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
160

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I contribute to closing the minority
police recruitment gap as the
organization has intended

What would help you recruit more
qualified ethnic minority police
candidates?

Please list:
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

161

Appendix C: Interview Protocol
Instructions: Draft a minimum of 12 interview questions. Include an introduction to the
interview, conclusion to the interview, and any transition language that you think might be
needed before and after questions.
Research Questions
1. To what extent is the Skyline Police Department mirroring the community they
serve?
2. Is the Skyline Police Department meeting their goal in attracting qualified minority
applicants?
3. What does the Skyline Police Department do to recruit minorities directly?
Respondent Type
Respondent 1: Larry is a current police officer who has a year of experience with police
recruiting operations. Larry has been with the same department for six years.
Respondent 2: Michael has 5 years of experience with police recruiting. Michael has
served with four police departments within his 23-year career.
Introduction to the Interview (Start Audio Recorder)
Hello, welcome and thank you for your participation in the interview! My name is Chris
Robins and I will be conducting your interview today. The interview will take approximately 60
minutes. I will be audio recording the interview session. Please be assured that any comments
you share will remain confidential, as my objective today will involve experiences and opinions
about the perceptions of police diversity and police agencies mirroring the communities they
serve. There will be a total of 30 general questions I will not contribute to this discussion but, I
may ask some follow up questions to provide more clarification if necessary. I want you to feel
162

comfortable and I invite you to share your thoughts, views, and experiences freely. During the
interview I will be taking hand-written notes, if you do not want to be recorded you are well
within your rights to say so.
Ask: Do you agree to participate in this interview?
Ask: Do you agree to be recorded during this interview?
Hand the consent form: Please review the form thoroughly and sign. You may choose not
to respond to any question and your participation in the interview is voluntary and you can end
the interview at any time.
Start Interview
1. Please explain your role in the organization?
2. How long have you served in your role for your organization?
3. Describe your understanding of diversity? (K)
4. In what ways does the Skyline Recruiting Unit measure how its ethnic and racial
composition compares to its citizen population? (K)
5. To what extent do you believe that the population percentage of minorities in your
law enforcement agency currently mirrors the population percentage of citizens who
reside in the city? (K)
6. Please explain to me the principles involved in developing recruitment relationships
within the community? (K)
7. What measures work best to promote a collaborative relationship between police
departments and the communities they serve? (K)
8. What are the best strategies to strengthen the relationship between the police and
minorities? (K)
163

9. How has your police recruitment training prepared you for building relationships to
recruit in ethnically diverse populations? (K)
10. What training and experience do you have in developing and implementing recruiting
initiatives that incorporate ethnic diversity? (K)
11. What training and experience do you have in developing and implementing recruiting
initiatives that incorporate ethnic diversity? (K)
12. In what ways have you demonstrated commitment and sensitivity to the importance
of diversity in your previous police recruitment experiences? (K)
13. How consistent is the recruiting unit in implementing strategic planning around
recruiting practices related to diversity? (K)
14. How useful do you feel it is to attain an ethnical demographic police force that
mirrors the community it serves? (M)
15. How valuable do you feel it is to attain or maintain ethnic police diversity within the
Skyline Police Department? (M)
16. How valuable is it to present a police force that is demographically reflective to the
community? (M)
17. What are some causes for the success or failure to attain more police diversity? (M)
18. How confident do you feel, being a member of the recruiting and personnel unit, in
your ability to recruit or attract qualified ethnic minority police candidates? (M)
19. Can you discuss your confidence level in adapting to challenges in the recruitment of
minority recruits? (M)
20. What strategies do the Recruiting Unit use to build trust within minority
communities? (O)
164

21. What role does trust play when recruiting ethnic and racial minorities? (O)
22. What departmental barriers do you feel ethnic minority candidates face that could
keep them from entering a law enforcement career? (O)
23. Over the past five years, describe the recruiting unit’s difficulty in attracting ethnic
minority candidates? (O)
24. How much impact do civil service exams have on excluding ethnic minority
applicants from the hiring pool? (O)
25. How much impact do background checks have on excluding ethnic minority
candidates from the hiring process? (O)
26. How do you reach out to diverse groups or ethnic minority communities about police
hiring opportunities? (O)
27. What programs or police recruiting initiatives have you been part of to recruit
candidates from diverse ethnic populations, and specifically, what was your role in
those efforts? (O)
28. Is the agency capturing and evaluating the success and/or effective contemporary
recruitment methods efforts in attracting minority police candidates? If so, how? (O)
29. How would you describe the number of ethnic minority police candidates applying
for a sworn-officer position within your law enforcement agency? (O)
30. How would you describe the number of ethnic minority police candidates applying
for a sworn-officer position within your law enforcement agency? (O)
Ask: Are there any additional comments you would like to add to this interview?

165

Say: This concludes our interview. I want to thank you for taking your time out to
provide feedback. If necessary, I would like to reach back out to you if there is any further clarity
needed. If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Stops recording.

166

Appendix D: Document Analysis Protocol
Instructions: The data collection strategy of documents and artifacts will serve as a
primary research area during the study. During the process, the researcher will collect public or
private information about the city of Skyline’s racial and ethnic of both its citizens and its police
department. This initial collection strategy serves to obtain documents relative to determining
how the Skyline Police Department mirrors the community it serves. The following collection
strategy will involve collecting and analyzing data and tools that the Skyline Police Officers use
to recruit police diversity within their recruiting operations and practices. The gathering of
documents and analyzing recruitment will help determine the recruiting unit’s specific artifacts
and strategies in recruiting racial or ethnic police diversity. The documents obtained will be
organized through the study’s knowledge and organizational influences.
Document Analysis Criteria
Document Analysis Criterion 1: The Data collected must contain Skyline police and
residential population ethnic and racial demographic statistics by percentages. The data by
percentage will allow the researcher to conduct a comparative statistical analysis that evaluates
the Skyline Police Recruiting Unit’s effectiveness to recruit a police force that mirrors its citizen
population.
Document Analysis Criterion 2: The study must utilize the most recent demographic data
sources. Recent statistics strengthen the validity of the gap analysis comparison.
Document Analysis Criterion 3: The gathering of tools for document analysis must only
include the Skyline Police Officers’ resources within their outreach and marketing practices
toward recruiting diversity.

167

Documentation and Artifact Storage
The document analysis will include public organizational records from the Census
Bureau, City of Skyline Police Department Recruiting Unit, and the Skyline Civil Service
Commission. Much of the statistical data and information will be public and obtained through
Federal and city websites, news articles, brochures, and informational documents. If necessary,
information not accessible online will be sought through the Skyline Police Department and
Civil Service Commission. The Skyline Civil Service Commission and Recruiting Staff’s
physical documentation will be securely stored within password-protected computers, and
physical instruments of outreach and marketing material will be filed and locked within a
secured filing cabinet.

Table D1
Document Analysis Collecting
Organizational influences Documentation gathered for study
Declarative knowledge (factual) influence Skyline City Racial and Ethnic Population
Statistics (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Skyline Police Department Personnel Racial
and Ethnic Population Statistics (Source:
City of Skyline Civil Service Commission)
Task value Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Mission and
Diversity and Inclusion Statement and
Policies
Cultural settings Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Mission and
Outreach Strategy (Sources: Skyline
Website, Social Media Outreach and Staff)
Skyline Police Recruiting Unit Marketing
Material (Source Skyline Police Recruiting
Unit Staff, Website, and Facebook)

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This research aimed to examine the knowledge, motivation, and organizational root causes in recruiting more ethnic minority police diversity in the Skyline Police Department that more closely mirrors the racial population statistics of its municipal community. Clark and Estes’s gap analysis provided a conceptual framework and methodology for this research study. The use of exploratory and quantitative data analysis examines the current ethnic recruitment gap and the dynamics that affect the problem of recruiting police diversity. Results from interviews and data analysis verified four influences on the problem of practice in factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, utility value, and cultural model. The verified influences and highly probable influences were considered in selecting evidence-based solutions and the construction of an implementation and evaluation plan using the new world Kirkpatrick model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The proposed program in Chapter 5 informs and supports the recruiting staff’s learning goals toward recruiting a more ethnically diverse police workforce.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Robins, Christopher (author)

Core Title Recruiting police diversity

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 05/18/2023

Defense Date 05/11/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag criminology,diversity,Law enforcement,OAI-PMH Harvest,Police,recruiting

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Donato, Adrian (committee chair), Foulk, Susanne (committee member), Jennifer Phillips, Jennifer (committee member)

Creator Email robinsc@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113134143

Unique identifier UC113134143

Identifier etd-RobinsChri-11870.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-RobinsChri-11870

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Robins, Christopher

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230522-usctheses-batch-1047 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

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