Answer to Question 1
Until the mid-1980s nearly all of those promoted were white males. Many police departments at this time adopted dual promotion lists, or separate promotional instruments for white male officers and all other officers. These lists helped women and minorities be promoted, often for the first time, but it negatively affected their levels of integration with the other police officers. These lists generated tension in police departments. The white male and female officers felt resentment toward officers of racial minorities, feeling that they received advancement only because of a court-mandated policy rather than merit. Alternatively, black officers felt that the promotional exams were culturally biased and that was why black officers received lower exam scores. The cultural bias of promotional exams continues to be a contentious issue.
Answer to Question 2
Affirmative action policies required that police departments do more than simply create equal opportunities for everyone. They mandated that the police department take extra steps to hire minorities. Many affirmative action policies established quotas for minorities, or a specified number of jobs that a department was required to fill with minorities. The purpose of affirmative action was to ensure that individuals who previously had been excluded from particular types of employment would have access to these jobs. Law enforcement agencies that did not comply with affirmative action policies could face civil suits from the parties being excluded, and they could also face a loss of funding from major grant bodies if their hiring and promotional policies were deemed unlawful. Affirmative action policies are controversial, because despite the positive motivation behind themequal opportunity in the workplacethey also bring of charges of reverse discrimination