By Evan Belanger
The Decatur Daily
ATHENS, Ala. — The city’s only black councilman is pushing for more diversity in its police and fire departments, both of which are dominated by white males.
District 3 Councilman Frank Travis said he is not criticizing the departments or their leadership, but the community as a whole has done a poor job of recruiting diverse candidates for the two departments.
“You can’t hire people who don’t apply for a job,” he said.
Travis said he plans to work with church groups and civic organizations such as the NAACP to encourage a more diverse group of young people to consider careers with the city’s police and fire departments.
He said last week that police Chief Floyd Johnson has done a good job working to break down barriers between police and minority groups, but more diversity in the department would be helpful.
“There’s a little bias toward police from a cultural perspective. People say, ‘When I was growing up, I didn’t like police officers, and I don’t want to be one,’ ” Travis said. “But we have a diverse community, and it’s so much better when you can relate to all of the people that you have to deal with on a regular basis.”
Travis questioned both Johnson and Fire Chief Bryan Thornton about the diversity of their departments during budget hearings last month.
Thornton reported that of 40 firefighters, two were black. He said they had no female or Latino firefighters.
“It’s just that we don’t have that many apply,” he said.
Of 48 full-time officers at the Police Department, Travis said four are black and two are female. The department also has two black females, two white females and one white male working dispatch and administration, he said.
Johnson said he thought Travis was on the right path in trying to educate the community about police and fire jobs, but the Police Department would not pursue a “magic number” through a quota system.
“I always try to hire the best person for the city, the best person for the job without getting involved, per se, in race factors,” he said. “I try to be fair to everyone.”
Ranking diversity in the department as very important, Johnson has overseen his own community relations programs, spending grant money to have patrol officers distribute toys and Popsicles to children in the city of 25,000 residents.
The Police Department also maintains a presence at high school job fairs, he said, encouraging students who want to go into law enforcement to start preparing early.
“We’re up and down with our minority applicants,” Johnson said. “Sometimes, we get several at a time. Sometimes, we don’t get any.”
Travis may be following in his predecessor’s footsteps in his push for more diversity in the departments. Johnson said he had lengthy conversations with former Councilman Jimmy Gill on the subject when he was in office.
Gill died in office in March after his second battle with cancer. Travis ran unopposed for Gill’s seat on the council.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Athens’ population is about 73 percent white, 18 percent black, and 9 percent Latino.
Copyright 2016 The Decatur Daily