Minority populations not well represented within the department

Attrition in the San Diego Police Department is dwindling it's diversity.

Current racial break downs show the SDPD has 9 percent fewer Hispanic and 8 percent fewer Asian officers than it did just for years ago.

Recruiting efforts are still going strong, according to department sources, and the department wants to create an ethnically diverse workplace.  For now, however, those efforts are falling short.

If you look at the citywide demographics, less than 50 percent of San Diego residents are Caucasian- but Caucasian officers make up nearly 60 percent of the police force.

Studies have shown that when a department has an officer population that closely mirrors patrol area demographics, trust and community relations are improved.

A spokesperson for the department said a lot of this was tied to the economic slowdown.  Cuts had to be made and at one point, recruiting efforts had stalled completely.

Once the hiring freeze was lifted, the new challenge involved other local departments cherry-picking SDPD officers and bringing them into their own ranks.

The recruitment plan

The San Diego Police Department said they've bolstered their recruitment efforts and have even started to run pre-movie commercials at Mission Valley and Mira Mesa movie theaters.

They've reportedly started to attend community gatherings and are reaching out to local leaders to help spread the word about job opportunities.

Recruiting minorities is a top priority, they said, and they'll do whatever it takes to diversify the force.

Recent numbers show that since the beginning of last year, about half of the police recruits who are in the academy are minorities or women- but that's not to say everyone makes it through to the end.

The commitment to diversify needs to be long-term, they said, and there is no quick fix.