[BurlyShirley]

Police Dept. Drops Swim Test to Recruit Minorities

Thursday, May 06, 2004

NORTH MIAMI — In an attempt to recruit minority officers, the police department in North Miami, Fla., has dropped swimming as a required skill because it says not enough potential black applicants know how to swim well enough to pass the test.



The city's population is 60 percent Haitian and city officials say removing the swimming requirement wasn't done to be politically correct, but to fill 14 vacant slots.

"The bottom line is I need police officers," said North Miami Police Chief Gwendolyn Boyd-Savage (search). "When I look at the qualifications to become a good police officer ... a person's ability to swim or not to swim does not make them a good police officer or a bad police officer."

But Miami Dade County (search), which includes North Miami, has hundreds of miles of canals, lakes and beaches. In nearby Broward County (search), the top cop said deputy candidates are required to swim, regardless of the color of their skin.

Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne (search) said if his deputies weren't prepared to swim he wouldn't "send them in harm's way and endanger their lives."

For 25 years Lee Pitts has trained police and military officers how to swim and he doesn't think race has any relation to swim.

"The basic instructions to learn to swim are patience and desire, whether you're Haitian, Asian or African-American," Pitts said.




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[BostonBullit]

this is total BS....if you're going to be a police officer in an area with that many bodies of water then you should have to know how to swim. what the hell happens to grandma when she gets confused and careens into the canal (it IS Florida) and they send the dude that can't swim to the scene? "just wait there ma'am...help is on the way...I promise!!"

when I was at Ft Knox for a bit and we were doing the "water safety" portion of training only a small percentage of the black cadets there could swim...struck me as odd...

 

[Slugman]

Wait...the 60% hatiain community can't find any that swim??? There is a bad joke in there somewhere.

But sreiously folks, how amny lawsuits do you think will result from this one? A police officer in an area with so many canals & a shore line is going into the water to save someone eventually...

 

[BurlyShirley]

Here's my initial thought.

Car goes off road, lands in canal, creek, lake...whatever.

Occupants are struggling to get out of the vehicle as its sinking.

Officer stands on shore and watches because he cant swim. Potential officer who can swim was not hired because of race quotas.

Affirmative action leads to drowning death of family.

 

[LordOpie]

that's bogus. Ok, remove swimming from qualifying, but teach ALL officers and emergency personnel not only HOW to swim, but teach them the dangers and techniques on how to save a life in those various canals.

I was born and raised in Miami and too often heard of drownings, whether kids or car accidents or whatever. Those canals have all sorts of plants that will wrap around your feet and kill anyone who panics and/or lacks the skills needed to survive.

Affirmative Action is getting stupid... like the cop who's killed two disabled teenagers -- one was blind, the other retarded -- in a three year span here in Denver... the guy got the job not cuz he was qualified, but cuz they needed someone of his minority.

PS: NEVER EVER call a Haitian a "black person". They associate "black" with Africian and get pissed at the association. Hey, no worries, everyone likes to be identified with who they are; however, I'm surprised the article called 'em "black".

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

Living in the area mentioned, actually just a few miles north, this is very disturbing.
1) There are lakes and canals EVERYWHERE, not to mention that like every other freaking house has a pool. Oh ya and that little thing called the ATLANTIC OCEAN.
2) I am not trying to dis the Police, there are quite a few very qualified officers around, but COME ON. Its not that hard to become a cop now.

 

[Silver]

Is knowing how to swim a skill a police officer may need? I'd say yes, especially with what LO and Mtb_Rob are saying about the area.

It's incredibly stupid to remove the swimming test...what next, removing the driving test for women officers?

:devil:

 

[BostonBullit]

Originally posted by LordOpie
PS: NEVER EVER call a Haitian a "black person". They associate "black" with Africian and get pissed at the association. Hey, no worries, everyone likes to be identified with who they are; however, I'm surprised the article called 'em "black".

out of curiousity do they prefer to be referred to using the technically incorrect but politically in vogue "african american"? I had a buddy in HS that freaked out when you called him african american cause he was from Barbados...he preferred to be called "black" because (in his words) "I'm black ain't I?"

 

[LordOpie]

Originally posted by Silver
Is knowing how to swim a skill a police officer may need? I'd say yes, especially with what LO and Mtb_Rob are saying about the area.

It's incredibly stupid to remove the swimming test...what next, removing the driving test for women officers?

:devil:

yes, cops need to know the skills to survive and help the people in whatever environment they would likely find themselves in. The cops in the mountains here have mountaineering skills, like using a map and compass.

Women cops will just get assigned to the malls :devil:

Originally posted by BostonBullit
out of curiousity do they prefer to be referred to using the technically incorrect but politically in vogue "african american"? I had a buddy in HS that freaked out when you called him african american cause he was from Barbados...he preferred to be called "black" because (in his words) "I'm black ain't I?"

I actually didn't know any Haitians in FL personally, so I can't speak for them. My Aunt's side of her family is Cuban -- I miss her food! -- and Florida is a pretty segrated place.

Anywho, I sat on a murder trial of two African-American kids who killed a Haitian-American kid and heard testimony about all sorts of stuff, including how proud the H-As are of their community and they prefer to becalled H-A, yada yada.

Very very sad trial... the two AA kids killed teh HA kid -- who was a good student and avoided the gangs -- just cuz he was HA

 

[$tinkle]

Originally posted by Silver
...what next, removing the driving test for women officers?

:devil:

damn, you beat me to it.

 

[Damn True]

Originally posted by Slugman
Wait...the 60% hatiain community can't find any that swim??? There is a bad joke in there somewhere.

But sreiously folks, how amny lawsuits do you think will result from this one? A police officer in an area with so many canals & a shore line is going into the water to save someone eventually...

Hatians don't need to know how to swim. They just have to build a craft sound enough to get them outside Haiti's 12 mile limit. Then the USCG picks 'em up.

 

[911]

Originally posted by BurlySurly

Officer stands on shore and watches because he cant swim. Potential officer who can swim was not hired because of race quotas.

"City officials say removing the swimming requirement wasn't done to be politically correct, but to fill 14 vacant slots."

Doesn't look like this is about race quotas but rather a shortage of officers. Anyway, maybe they should just include basic swim lessons as part of officer training, at least until they can get enough qualified people to fill vacant positions.

 

[$tinkle]

Originally posted by Damn True
Hatians don't need to know how to swim. They just have to build a craft sound enough to get them outside Haiti's 12 mile limit. Then the USCG picks 'em up.

(OT): so does wet foot/dry foot only apply to cuba?

 

[Slugman]

Originally posted by Damn True
Hatians don't need to know how to swim. They just have to build a craft sound enough to get them outside Haiti's 12 mile limit. Then the USCG picks 'em up.

and then they drop them back off in Haiti... wet foot/ Dry foot only applies to Cuban refugees.

 

[Spud]

Agreed if it’s been determined that the cops need a swim test before they hit the streets, that is the standard. No waiver, you need qualified people in the job.

Now, is this waiver for pre-academy recruits or for certified graduates joining the force? That doesn’t seem clear from the story. Seems in that region swimming/lifesaving skills should be included in their academy training. LEO’s have to be firearms qualified to patrol, that is a skill learned and certified at the academy – they don’t test untrained recruits for firearms skills.

It’s not clear to me at what stage of recruitment the swim test was given.

 

[stevew]

Originally posted by LordOpie

Affirmative Action is getting stupid... like the cop who's killed two disabled teenagers -- one was blind, the other retarded -- in a three year span here in Denver... the guy got the job not cuz he was qualified, but cuz they needed someone of his minority.

Wasn't Officer Turney white? Maybe I am thinking of someone else?

 

[ummbikes]

All partisan poilitcs aside, fer Chriss sakes lets get good people holding the guns.

Bush still sucks.