Report 2021-105 Recommendation 43 Responses

Report 2021-105: Law Enforcement Departments Have Not Adequately Guarded Against Biased Conduct (Release Date: April 2022)

Recommendation #43 To: San Jose Police Department

To improve its ability to recruit qualified applicants who reflect the diversity of its communities, by October 2022, San José Police should have a process for regularly monitoring data on the diversity of its current personnel, its new hires, and to the extent possible, its applicant pool. It should use these data to evaluate the success of its recruitment efforts and identify needed areas of improvement.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2023

The recruiting system we currently use does ask their gender on the general profile. It is a voluntary field and they can chose they do not want to provide that information. The recruitment unit is able to see this question as part of the recruitment. There is a separate diversity section in their general profile that asks about race/gender/ethnicity/disabilities. this section is also optional for the candidate. The recruiting unit are not able to see this information. This information only appears on the hiring documentation when we are processing the hire. The department uses NEOGOV. Once an academy class starts, the Recruiting Unit asks the recruit officers to take an optional survey asking diversity questions. All the questions are optional and recruits can opt to not answer any of the questions.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

As noted previously, San Jose Police analyzes data for current staff, but not for applicants. We will consider this recommendation fully implemented when San Jose Police analyzes the diversity of applicants and uses that analysis to inform his recruitment strategies.

1-Year Agency Response

Updated Response-The recruiting system we currently use does ask their gender on the general profile. It is a voluntary field and they can chose they do not want to provide that information. The recruitment unit is able to see this question as part of the recruitment. There is a separate diversity section in their general profile that asks about race/gender/ethnicity/disabilities. this section is also optional for the candidate. The recruiting unit are not able to see this information. this information only appears on the hiring documentation when we are processing the hire. In July, we will no longer use the current recruitment software and City-wide we will use NEOGOV. it is an assumption the process of asking the diversity questions will be the same with NEOGOV.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented

San Jose Police evaluates data on the diversity of new hires and current personnel, but does not analyze diversity of applicants.

6-Month Agency Response

On August 18, 2022, the Recruiting Unit presented the Police Department Recruitment and Hiring Activity Annual Report. In this report, the Department detailed its efforts to boost applications and hiring of women, veterans, and a diverse applicant pool. These include recruiting at diversity-specific community events, colleges rated high in racial diversity, career and job fairs, military events, maintaining an online presence, and utilizing a recruiting website.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented

San Jose Police provided its annual report, which describes an analysis of the diversity of its new hires and current personnel. However, the report does not contain an analysis of applicant diversity, which is an important tool for evaluating the success of its efforts to recruit an applicant pool that reflects the diversity of its community.

60-Day Agency Response

A public-facing webpage showing the statistics of Department members' voluntary self-disclosed ethnic identification is in development. This information will be able to be dissected by rank and gender, including those in the Police Academy. Applicant pool data will not be posted to the website due to the constant influx and disqualification or withdrawal of candidates.

When first applying to the Department, candidates are not asked to voluntarily disclose their gender or ethnicity. Upon meeting the minimum qualifications, and after having completed the written and oral assessments, candidates are provided the Personal History Questionnaire. This is the first time candidates are asked to voluntarily provide their gender and ethnicity. Neither gender, nor ethnicity disclosures by candidates are required, and the ethnicity inquiry has the option of "decline to state." Therefore, there is a possibility a candidate may complete the entire application and hiring process without choosing to disclose their gender and ethnicity. Once hired and upon entering the Police

Academy, candidates' have the opportunity to voluntary self-disclose their genders and ethnic information again, which is collected by Human Resources.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

We stand by our recommendation that San Jose Police collect and analyze demographic information of applicants, which is a key best practice for assessing the effectiveness of its recruitment efforts.

All Recommendations in 2021-105

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.