By Michael Nam
Understandably, the Justice Department focused heavily on the racial disparity in its recent, and damning, investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. However, the report also details a glaring gender gap in the personnel makeup of the police force. In footnotes under a section titled “Ferguson’s Lack of a Diverse Police Force Further Undermines Community Trust,” the report points out the striking lack of women police officers.
“While the emphasis in Ferguson has been on racial diversity, FPD also, like many police agencies, has strikingly disparate gender diversity,” the report said. “In Ferguson, approximately 55% of residents are female, but FPD has only four female officers.”
