Davis v. Washington, Civ. A. No. 1086-70.

• Decision Date: 31 July 1972
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 1086-70.
• Citation: 348 F. Supp. 15
• Parties: Alfred E. DAVIS et al., Plaintiffs, v. Walter E. WASHINGTON et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

348 F. Supp. 15

Alfred E. DAVIS et al., Plaintiffs, v. Walter E. WASHINGTON et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 1086-70.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

July 31, 1972.

Richard Sobol, Richard T. Seymour, Washington, D. C., for plaintiffs.

William Sweitzer, Asst. U. S. Atty., Washington, D. C., for the United States.

John Salyer, Asst. Corporation Counsel, Washington, D. C., for District of Columbia.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GESELL, District Judge.

This is a class action brought by several black police officers and rejected black applicants for employment as police officers who generally allege that the Metropolitan Police Department discriminates against blacks in its recruiting and promotions in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.). Injunctions, damages and other affirmative relief are sought. There has been considerable informal discovery under arrangements approved by the Court at several pretrials. The recruiting aspects of the case are now before the Court on separate motions for summary judgment filed by plaintiffs and by both the federal and District of Columbia government defendants. The parties have supported their motions with statistical information not in dispute and affidavits. Detailed briefs in support of the respective positions were furnished.

In the District of Columbia, a police officer is accepted as a recruit and enters an intensive 17-week police academy training period if he meets acceptable character and physical standards, is a high school graduate or equivalent and receives a grade of at least 40 percent on Test 21. This Test is an examination that is used generally throughout the federal service. It was developed by the Civil Service Commission, not the Police Department, and is designed to test verbal ability, vocabulary, reading and comprehension.

The claims of discrimination in recruiting here advanced are directed solely to the Test. Plaintiffs do not allege an intentional discrimination or purposeful discriminatory acts. Rather they contend that the Test bears no relationship whatsoever to job performance, has a highly discriminatory impact in screening out black candidates and should be replaced.

Plaintiffs show that:

(a) The number of black police officers, while substantial, is not proportionate to the population mix of the city.

(b) A higher percentage of blacks fail the Test than whites.

(c) The Test has not been validated to establish its reliability for measuring subsequent job performance.

This showing, while minimal, will be accepted as sufficient to shift the burden of the inquiry to defendants and accordingly it must be determined whether the undisputed facts before the Court on these motions establish grounds for any remedies sought.

Police Chief Wilson took office August, 1969, and the recruiting of police officers has dramatically changed during his tenure. Since he took office, 44 percent of new recruits accepted for the police force have been black. Once an officer is recruited he is not washed out during the subsequent intensive training period at the academy but rather is given special assistance, where needed, to assure success. Thus this percentage reflects the number of black officers actually enrolled on the force. There is no legal requirement that a recruit be a resident of the District of Columbia. The urgent need to enroll additional officers has required recruiting beyond the confines of the District. Apart from one national effort, the recruiting effort has focused primarily on an area within a 50-mile radius of the center of the city. While there are no precise figures in the record, 44 percent black obviously closely approximates the population ratio for the eligible 20-29 age group in this wider area. A detailed survey of recruiting in the period January, 1970, to September, 1970, shows that more than 50 percent of officers recruited were black.

There is no proof that the Test is the only factor limiting black recruitment. Many blacks, numbering in the hundreds, passed the Test but for other reasons failed to report for duty, thus showing how small a part the Test per se results in failure to recruit more blacks.

There is undisputed positive proof that the Department has followed a vigorous, systematic and persistent affirmative effort to enroll black policemen. The relatively higher percentage of black test...