WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — It's been years since the police exam has been offered in Westchester and the drought is coming to an end in a push for diversity.
As WCBS 880's Sean Adams reports, Westchester is looking to diversity the ranks of its police force amid the upcoming police exam, the county's first in five years.
In the eyes of Westchester County Executive George Latimer, the ranks of a police force should reflect the population that the officers serve: all people from all walks of life.
"We've seen certainly in the aftermath of the George Floyd death, the need to have a greater diverse police force, and we think that the more diverse our police force is, the better it can handle issues that deal with our diverse population," Latimer said. "And people have to have a certain skill set to be police officers, but we think that if they come from difference demographic backgrounds, then they are going to be better able to do the work that Westchester needs from them."
Westchester's next civil service police exam is in May.
The deadline to sign up is March 29.
Latimer is inviting people of all backgrounds to consider a career in law enforcement.
"The county was less diverse 50 years ago and 60 years ago so now as we see the greater diversity in our population every year we need to broaden our scope and if the police forces right now have very few people of color then we try to grow that," Latimer said.
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