Any day on a Southern California freeway reveals evident cultural differences among drivers, but the case is not so much with the California Highway Patrol.
Administrators in Sacramento admit to he department has fallen behind in minority recruitment. While some roadblocks include the fact that recruits have to attend a 27-week training academy in the state capitol, the Department is trying to change the face of the officers on the highways.
"The CHP has big recruitment efforts right now, especially in LA County," said CHP Recruitment Officer Kerri Rivas, who works out of the CHP Southern Division Office in Glendale.
As a seven-year veteran of the CHP, she's twice a minority — a Latina and a female, one of only 6 percent of females on the force.
"We are going everywhere to try to get as many recruits as possible," Rivas said. "That can be community churches, that could be local colleges, high schools, anything and everything we can do to get people to apply."
On the heels of nationwide outcry over racial tensions between police departments and the communities they serve — including Los Angeles — Rivas says the CHP push is a tough one because of how tough the application process is.
"A lot of applicants who apply don't always make it," she said.
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Case in point: the latest group of applicants in LA County.
At least 1,381 people have applied to take the first step to becoming a CHP officer — the Physical Assessment Test — on Jan. 24. Of those, 832 are Latino, 282 are White, 147 are African American and 65 are Asian, according to the CHP.
Rivas said 75 percent are likely to move on to the Jan. 25 written test, and then 35 percent of those will move on to the 27-week academy in Sacramento, if they pass a background check.
But the move to seek out more minorities appears to be a welcomed announcement for many in communities around LA. Members of the Black Lives Matter group spoke outside LA Police Headquarters downtown Friday saying they've seen the changing cultural landscape within the LAPD and LA County Sheriff's Departments and hope to see the same for the CHP, while adding they believe changing the faces of officers is one step — changing the culture of the entire department is another.
CHP officials said the department continues to seek recruits. For more information on how to sign up, call the CHP Southern Division office at 818-240-8200.
The CHP is also planning to hold a "Women in Law Enforcement Program" on February 28th.
