DEIA

[TGS]

Good stuff. On a related Federal topic I cannot convince certain friends that the Army has not quit combat training for wokeness training etc. I'm like, I've got weekly updates from Airborne Infantry (my squad leader laddie) and they are crushing it in the field or on the ranges every week for month after month over the last six anyway. PT that would pop your heart. Ranges that aren't to qual but go out with a pallet of ammo to shoot/move/emplace/shoot/move; day and night under NVGs. Squad/Platoon/Company manuevers, patrols, chaining one FRAGO after another for days. And my audience has no current line on Soldiers mind you, just old grumpy former guys.

Sounds familiar.

One correction I should make: we were recently approved to hire through a fellowship program. While DEIA is a stated goal of this, the fellowship is not exclusively for ethnic minorities. From our larger department that my agency is a component of, about 75% of individuals currently serving that were hired through longstanding fellowship programs are from minorities.

With that said, in my current assignment I have a direct role in the detection and investigation of insider threats. The vast majority of issues we see from the fellowships programs is that they're recruiting exceptionally talented individuals, literally the exact opposite of what everyone fears with diversity hiring by lowering the standards. The problems we see with this is that fellows tend to display higher rates of narcissistic personality disorder, and tend to violate laws and department regulations at a higher rate than personnel hired through the traditional accession pipelines...this is a character trait that transcends ethnic background, so when you sift through the bullshit it's really more of a NPD concern by hiring geniuses which applies equally to all demographics, not a concern about unqualified individuals that can barely write a report and still have gang connections onboarding through lowered standards in the name of diversity.

For a comedic example, see the movie "Real Genius", a docudrama about exceptionally talented fellows with anti-social disorders and NPD that sabotage a project in order to undermine national security for their own interests.

[blues]

It's fine, everything's fine.

Only the most qualified, best and brightest are being promoted and / or recruited. It should be obvious to everyone that nobody moves up or obtains a position without having earned it.

A cursory look at law enforcement at the local, state and federal level over the past few decades should be very reassuring to anyone who has any doubts about this.



(There may be a touch of sarcasm in the above comments.)

[TGS]

I wrote my observations based on specific and substantive knowledge on the current day, specifically mentioned DEIA initiative by the USG.

If this is just a "yell at the clouds" thread, I'm out.

[JCN]

I wrote my observations based on specific and substantive knowledge on the current day, specifically mentioned DEIA initiative by the USG.

If this is just a "yell at the clouds" thread, I'm out.

I am very glad you contributed to this thread FWIW.

Just like everything, DEI can be done poorly or done well. And there are inevitably challenges like the genius / narcissistic things you pointed out that require addressing.

But committing to make it better sure beats yelling at clouds.

[blues]

I wrote my observations based on specific and substantive knowledge on the current day, specifically mentioned DEIA initiative by the USG.

If this is just a "yell at the clouds" thread, I'm out.

At your agency. Whether that is applied universally in the same manner or not...is unknown.


(Not related to LE so I won't go further here, but take a look at the questions being raised about potential practices and algorithm adjustments at the IRS / Treasury being raised in the news over the last few days, and subject to current FOIA requests. I hope they are completely baseless...I really do.)

[rob_s]

Just like everything, DEI can be done poorly or done well.

this is certain, at least in my industry (commercial construction).

All we hear about is the "labor shortage" in construction, which applies to both the trade/field as well as supervision/management. yet people just want to keep going back to the same job fairs, at the same 3 colleges, and expect to get new hires fresh out of school.

"Keep doing the same old things, get the same old results" isn't even true anymore.

one thing that construction and LE seem to have in common is a public image problem. If I can find a black woman that wants to work when the white guy won't, but I have to look a little harder to find her, I'll take her.

Early in my career I did government jobs with MWBE requirements. THAT is DE&I done wrong!

[PearTree]

I read the attached article, and nothing stuck out as out of the ordinary? Am I missing something here? This has been pretty common practice in my AO in the law enforcement world and even more so in the corporate environment. Nothing mentioned in the article has anything to do with hiring standards unless my reading comprehension skills are even worse than I thought.

[Clusterfrack]

Just like everything, DEI can be done poorly or done well.

I'm not sure I agree. From my experience, DEI is unnecessary, misguided, and counterproductive.

[JCN]

I'm not sure I agree. From my experience, DEI is unnecessary, misguided, and counterproductive.

So you're saying that you've seen it done poorly.

We went through this at work and some really interesting and important things came from it. The best parts were hiring external consultants that didn't just spin the admin spiel. They weren't afraid to call admin on BS when they were using DEI incorrectly to push their agenda. So it was great to have it not be a power trip tool from execs to force their way. We all learned some and got a little better for it.

[Tensaw]

Couple of thoughts. The moment you start considering DIE criteria in the hiring / promotion process, you are, by definition, no longer making these decisions based on competency alone. That doesn't seem like the smartest path. You want your airline pilot or heart surgeon to have been put there based on something other than qualifications? Also, the people pushing this DIE stuff again, by definition, assume that certain groups of people are unqualified to obtain positions based on competency and must be boosted by DIE criteria. I think I would be insulted were I in one of those groups. Let me sink or swim based on merit. To that point, one of the brightest, most promising hires we had at the place I recently retired from is in a group that benefits from this DIE business. He doesn't need that kind of "help". He showed up ready to work and is going to do just fine without DIE.

As an aside, Jocko just did a podcast on the life of Booker T. Washington. Holy hell, what a freakin' gangster!! He (Booker T., not Jocko) must be rolling in his grave over this nonsense.