The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the city of South Bend, Indiana, accusing it of using discriminatory employment practices within the South Bend Police Department.
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The DOJ claims the police department’s selection process, including a written test and physical fitness test (PFT), disproportionately excludes black and female applicants. The agency argues that the tests are not related to the job, which violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The DOJ’s lawsuit claims the SBPD’s physical fitness test (PFT) discriminates against female applications/candidates and prevents them from advancing further in the hiring process.
According to the complaint, the PFT disproportionately excludes women from advancing in the police officer selection process. “From 2016 through August 2019, approximately 87.6 percent of male test-takers passed the PFT, while approximately 45.5 percent of female test-takers passed,” it states.
The DOJ also asserts that the department’s “use of the PFT…has not been job related or consistent with business necessity.”
The Justice Department also alleges that the written test that the SBPD uses disproportionately excludes black candidates who have consistently passed the test at lower rates than white applicants. “Approximately 84.1 percent of white test-takers passed the written test, while approximately 62.8 percent of African-American test-takers passed,” the complaint reads.
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As with female applicants, the DOJ argues that the written test “has not been job related or consistent with business necessity.” It suggests that the SBPD could have used alternative measures that would have resulted in a more equal selection process.
When it comes to excluding black Americans, the DOJ contends that sections on grammar, spelling, and spatial recognition could disqualify those who have not had access to higher-quality education or specific cultural knowledge. Since black Americans are more likely to have attended lower-quality schools (thanks to Democrats), they could be at a disadvantage compared to their peers.
The Justice Department points out that the test questions were not directly related to the tasks or skills required of a police officer. For example, the ability to memorize shapes or handle grammar questions does not reflect the day-to-day responsibilities of policing, such as decision-making in crisis situations or physical responses, according to the lawsuit.
For female applicants, the physical tests were allegedly an issue. The PFT required applicants to complete a series of physical activities. These include vertical jumps, sit-ups, a 300-meter run, push-ups, a 1.5-mile run, and a pistol trigger pull.
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These activities require a level of upper-body strength and endurance. These are areas where, on average, women would score lower than men because of biological differences in muscle composition and cardiovascular capacity.
Side note: Is it not interesting that the Biden administration understands biological differences between men and women when they are suing a local police department, but not when discussing trans-identified athletes in sports?
Oddly enough, the DOJ argues that the activities included in the PFT are not related to the job.
There are a few questions this lawsuit raises. For starters, it might be true that some of the questions on the written test might not be relevant to police work. But, it seems unlikely that there are enough of these questions to affect applicants. Why wouldn’t the Biden administration seek educational solutions that would better prepare black candidates to work as police officers or in other positions? Changing the standards would not fix the problem – indeed, it would probably make it even worse.
Moreover, the complaint does not explain exactly why the physical requirements placed on applicants are not related to the job. Police work requires a level of fitness to make sure officers can carry out their duties. Not being physically fit could result in dangerous situations for officers and members of the public.
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At first glance, this lawsuit appears to be little more than a way to compel SBPD to wokify its staff, which is about as goofy as it gets. It doesn’t address the root issue of the problem – especially when it comes to black applicants. But, this is par for the course for progressive Democrats.
What is also disturbing about this lawsuit is that the DOJ wasted time and taxpayer funds on trying to promote its version of DEI on a local police agency, when it could have spent those resources targeting corrupt police departments. The role of the federal government is to protect our rights, not make sure that law enforcement agencies are appropriately “woke.”