Brattle Consultants Analyze the Impact of 50-Year-Old Consent Decree on Police Diversity in Massachusetts in Pro Bono Report
Prepared for Lawyers for Civil Rights
In a new pro bono report, experts from The Brattle Group analyze the impact that a 50-year-old consent decree – stemming from a series of discrimination lawsuits in the 1970s – has had on police diversity in Massachusetts. The authors find that the consent decree, which has governed the hiring of entry-level police officers, has substantially increased the number of Black and Hispanic police officers in communities throughout the state.
An Analysis of Consent Decrees and Police Diversity in Massachusetts was prepared in conjunction with Lawyers for Civil Rights. Officers of color in a long-running litigation are represented on a pro bono basis by WilmerHale and Lawyers for Civil Rights. The Brattle report comes as the consent decree – which, over time, jurisdictions could petition to be released from as their police forces came to better reflect the communities they served – is set to be phased out at the end of 2024.
The authors discuss the risk of Massachusetts cities and towns “backsliding” on diversity when no longer subject to judicial oversight and list a number of initiatives communities have started to maintain or increase the diversity of public safety departments.
The full report is available below.
