Black, Hispanic, and Asian troopers now total only 267, or 6.5 percent of the force. At the same time, Pennsylvania's nonwhite population has grown to 18 percent.
State legislators, civil-rights advocates, and the state police are all unhappy about that disparity.
"Our administration wants to reflect the diversity of the community," said Lt. Col. Kenneth F. Hill. "It's an advantage for us to do that."
Hill said six troopers were now assigned as full-time recruiters - some previously had been part-time - and three or four more recruiters would be added in the fall.
No one is predicting an easy time increasing diversity, and not just because court oversight ended.
Most troopers live and work in rural areas, a posting that may be unattractive to black candidates from Philadelphia, said the city NAACP's president, J. Whyatt Mondesire. Successful applicants also have to live at the academy in Hershey for six months, while local police allow officers to live at home during training.
"There is a lot less interest in law enforcement careers now," Mondesire said. "Maybe the danger, or the finances. Certainly people who have the wherewithal to pass the credit check and background check are the kind of people who get snapped up by private industry."
Bob Stewart, a retired police chief now with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, said police departments throughout the nation often revert to old hiring patterns when a court ends oversight.
"I generally say I don't think it's particularly malevolent, but, during the period of time they are under a consent decree . . . the organization is willing to put more resources to make those goals."
It's hard for anyone to become a state trooper in Pennsylvania.
