The New York City Police Department has seen a drop in Black patrol officers since 2008, even as the department has sought to increase the number of Black, Asian, and Hispanic officers in leadership within recent years. As of 2008, Black officers made up 18 percent of patrol officers, a number which has slipped to just 15.5 percent in 2020. White officers comprise 43.4 percent of patrol officers. Officers who rank above captain remain overwhelmingly white at 75.2 percent, despite small demographic shifts in recent years. By contrast, the city itself is just 32.5 percent “non-Hispanic white,” according to data from the Census. Two of the three top NYPD officers— Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and Chief of Department Terence Monahan—are white. First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker, the third, is Black.
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