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a mayor and council. The Department of Public Safety administers the police, fire, permits and inspections and civil defense divisions.

4

Crime statistics for 1980 show that there were 38 murders, 213 rapes, 1,053 robberies, 679 aggravated assaults, 5,351 burglaries, 15,138 larcenies and 958 motor vehicle thefts reported to the police.5

The Uniform Code Statistics for Omaha show that the proportions of crimes committed by whites and blacks were essentially the same in most categories of crime. Blacks were somewhat more likely than whites to be arrested for murder, rape, robbery and burglary. The proportions of white persons arrested for death by negligence, theft, motor vehicle theft and in most other categories of crime were larger than were the proportions of black persons arrested for those crimes (as a proportion of all arrested). Overall, about 63 percent of arrested persons were white, about 35 percent were black and most of the rest were American Indian or Alaskan Natives. No separate figures were provided by the Omaha Police Division for Hispanic arrested persons.

Table 2-1 shows the size of the police forces in 16 cities that are similar in size or crime rate to Omaha or that are in the central region. Omaha has the third lowest ratio of population to police force. It has the seventh highest ratio of officers to crime index. This means it has somewhat fewer officers per 1,000 inhabitants than most cities and a somewhat higher number of crimes are reported for each officer.

The size of the department has been a source of controversy. The city council provided funds for an additional 17 officers for the 1981 fiscal year.7 Bernie Simon, president of the Omaha city council, told staff the authorized maximum strength for the division would be 588 in Fiscal Year 1982.8 George Ernce, president of the police union, maintains that most authorities recommend two officers per 1,000 population. If that

recommendation were followed in Omaha, he said, the police division would have 600 officers.9

Table 2-1

Ratio of Size of Police Force to Population and Crime in Selected Cities

Police

No. of Offcrs. 1980 Crime Crime Index
Force Population Per 1,000
No. of Offcrs

Index Total

[blocks in formation]

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service; FBI; Bureau

of the Census.

The police division is divided into a uniform field bureau, criminal

investigation bureau, technical services bureau, inspectional services bureau, administrative services bureau and community services bureau. All are headed by deputy chiefs except the community services bureau which was headed by a 10

police-community relations coordinator. This position was eliminated in late 1981 and the duties assigned to a deputy chief.11 The three main

operational bureaus --uniform field bureau, criminal investigation bureau and technical services bureau--operate in three shifts.

12

The uniform bureau is divided into north and south sectors and each sector

is divided into sergeant areas and patrol districts.13 They split a third

area between them.

The criminal investigation bureau includes a crime against persons section, a crime against property section and a general administration section each of which is headed by a captain. Under them are lieutenants or sergeants heading units with specific functions such as homicide/assault, robbery/sex, burglary, auto theft, general administration and regional investigations. The technical services unit includes a records section headed by a civilian, a detention section and criminalistics section each headed by a lieutenant. The community services bureau is divided into a community relations section that includes a human relations unit, a public information unit, and a program development unit; and, the youth aid section that includes only the safety education unit.15

14

Notes

1. David R. DiMartino, "Omaha Area Demographic Change 1970-1980," Review of Applied Urban Research, Vol. IX, No. 6; July, 1981.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Omaha Police Manual, Vol. I, Pre. 4-0, p. 2, 25, May 1974 and 39, Dec.

1977.

5. Data supplied by the Omaha Police Division, on file at CSRO.

6. Data supplied by Omaha Police Division, on file at CSRO.

7. Omaha World-Herald, Apr. 3, 1981.

8. Bernie Simon, interview in Omaha, Dec. 11, 1981.

9. George Ernce, interview in Omaha, Dec. 10, 1981.

10. Omaha Police Manual, Vol. I, Adm. 2-1, p. 1, March 1977. 11. Omaha Star, Dec. 31, 1981.

12. Omaha Police Manual, Vol. I, Adm.

2-1, p. 1, March 1977.

13. Omaha Police Manual, Vol. I, Adm. 2-2-6, p. 1, (Rev.) Oct. 1976.

14. Omaha Police Manual, Vol. I, Adm. 2-1, p. 1, March 1977.

15. Ibid.

CHAPTER 3

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYMENT EFFORTS OF THE OMAHA POLICE DIVISION

The Advisory Committee chose to review affirmative action efforts by the police division, both because they are legally mandated and because they are closely connected to police performance. As mentioned elsewhere in this study, many persons interviewed during the course of the review believe that more minority officers in the police division would improve police-community relations. Professor Gerald E. Caiden of the University of Southern California has summarized the argument for greater affirmative action efforts:

The unrepresentative nature of the police profession, its white masculinity, has definitely shaped the nature of policing in the United States and led to the persistence of questionable police styles. Had the police been more representative from early on, they probably would have been less prone to violence and aggressive behavior, more effective in delivering police services, more responsive to communal needs, more humane and understanding, less discriminatory, much closer to the public they serve and much less set in their ways. Patrolwomen, for instance, would have aroused less antagonism, stimulated less fear and provoked less violence.1

"to

The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals (NACCJSG), in its review of police standards, put the matter another way: police a minority community with only white police officers can be misinterpreted as an attempt to maintain an unpopular status quo rather than to maintain the civil peace. Clearly the image of an army of occupation is one that the police must avoid."2 The NACCJSG concluded that the way to correct this is to create a police force which mirrors the ethnic composition of the population it serves. 3

Equal opportunity efforts are also required by Federal, State, and local regulations. Under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as amended, discrimination in employment by local governments is prohibited.4 Law enforcement agencies that benefit from Federal general revenue sharing funds (as the city of Omaha does) are subject to review by the Office of Revenue Sharing to ensure that there is no discrimination in employment.5

Nebraska's Fair Employment Practices Act provides the possibility of awards of

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