A nearly half-a-century-old consent decree that prioritizes the hiring of Black and Hispanic candidates in Massachusetts police and fire departments is set to be ruled upon in federal court on Wednesday afternoon.
The consent decree was originally installed during the 1970s after several lawsuits alleged that Boston police and fire departments discriminated against Black and Hispanic candidates while hiring incoming officers, according to court documents.
The decree, which has been revised over recent years, states that city and town officials must follow hiring ratios intended to prioritize Black and Latino entry-level candidates. These set diverse ratios — or “parity goals” as stated in court records — vary by municipality and are based on population demographics.
“The consent decrees in this case have been enormously beneficial in undoing past discrimination by diversifying Massachusetts’s police and fire departments,” court documents read. “All but a few departments in the Commonwealth have achieved the parity goal set forth in the decrees and are no longer subject to the decrees as a result.”
There are only seven Massachusetts municipalities still bound to the consent decree: Springfield, Holyoke, Worcester, Randolph, Lawrence, Chelsea and Brockton.
The Massachusetts Human Resource Division asked the federal court to slowly phase out the consent decree by the end of 2024.
“It is time for the consent decrees to end, at the proposed termination dates, so that all municipalities in Massachusetts may resume hiring entry-level police officers and firefighters in accordance with state law,” according to a report obtained by NEPM.
Attorney General Maura Healey argued that municipalities still under the consent decree have made significant progress in diversifying their fire and police departments, the report stated.
Court documents show that between 2016 and 2021, all but one department under the consent decree have improved in their hiring of entry-level Black and Hispanic employees — Black and Latino hiring in the Lawrence Fire Department took a slight 3% decline.
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said diverse entry-level hiring for the city’s police and fire departments has risen over the years with the residency requirement. The Mayor said the city’s police officers and firefighters are “reflective” of the people who reside in Springfield.
Judge Patti. B. Saris is set to make a ruling on whether to keep the consent decree in place on Wednesday afternoon, according to court documents.
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