February 1981 - San Francisco Police Officers Association

SAN FRANCISCO POLICEMAN - Page 20 February 1981THE LONG-RANGE EFFECTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONby L. Davis Almand Secretary to Commander D'ArcyThe recent Affirmative Action Plan that was circulatedthroughout the Department illustrates a currentphenomenon in our society that may be all for thebetter, yet could create more evilthan it is supposed tocorrect.I don't like to quote cliches, but I believe that the oldsaying, "The proof is in the .pudding," will revealwhether or not the Affirmative Action program is ofbenefit to society as a whole.In the past few years we have seen a tremendouslowering of police entrance standards, to-the pointwhere people who are scarcely fit to be janitors or hashhousewaitresses are permitted lo become police officers.And the Government actually wants these peopleto be promoted to positions of authority within theDepartment.Allowing incompetent people to have authority overthose who are competent creates extremely serious problemsof morale, and eventually brings about thedownfall of the entire organization.Because of the government-enforced favoritism of incompetence,police department will be seriouslyhampered in their efforts to combat crime. In addition,the remaining officers who are competent will have tocarry a double burden, while less productive officersreceive the same salary for doing inferior work.COME & SEE OUR BEAUTIFUL DINING ROOMLittle Joe's Pizza RestaurantPIZZAWIDE SELECTION OF ITALIAN DINNERS5006 MISSION ST.CITY WIDE DELIVERY - AT ITALY333-3684 SAN FRANCISCOJoe's #25999 Mission, Daly CityNeedless to say, the situation will be highly discouragingto those who are dedicated to maintaining professionalstandards.Lowering of personnel standards, and the subsequentlowering of service quality and efficiency, will hithardest at the people who need protection the most: i.e.the women and the elderly. Evidently this fact has notoccurred to the bureaucrats who run the Affirmative.Action program.This is not to say that all women and minorities areincompetent, for every group contains superior,mediocre, and inferior people. Women and minoritiesof competence and ability deserve every chance for promotionand advancement, but to deliberately favor incompetentpeople, simply because they belong to a certaingroup, is unfair to everyone.As a result of the Affirmative Action program, wehave a situation where competent white males are beingprevented from achieving their full potential while lesscompetent females and minorities are placed in positionsfor which they are not qualified and where they donot belong.It has been my observation that when females areplaced in positions of authority they have a tendency tofavor females and frustrate competent males. It will beinteresting to see what kind of personnel reports femalesergeants write about their male subordinates, andASSOCIATEDLIMOUSINE CO.1398 BRYANTSAN FRANCISCO 94103563-1000what methods they use to keep them from getting promotions.During the next ten years very close watch should bekept on the crime rates of the cities that have a largeproportion of females and minorities on their policestaffs, to see whether or not such people do function effectivelyin law enforcement. (Although I suspect such ascrutiny would be declared "discriminatory" - theGovernment's favorite way of hiding unpleasanttruths.)I also believe that the Soviet Union is fully aware ofthe weakness and inefficiency created by the program,and they are merely waiting for the process to affect thestrength and morale of the armed forces before beginninganother huge military operation, and operation wewill not be able to counteract because of the poor qualityof armed forces personnel. The invasion ofAfganistan was merely a test step for what is to come.The foregoing is, of course, a matter of personal conjecture.I could be wrong. For the sake of the futurewelfare of our country, I hope that I am.The opinion printed here does not necessarily representthe position of the San Francisco Police Officers'Association. Our policy has been, and continues to be,to printas broad a representation of opinions as spaceallows. This policy includes articles by both police officersand non-police officers. EditorO SOLE MIODelicious Italian DinnersPizza To Go2031 CHESTNUTSAN FRANCISCO931-9008EDWARD JUNG ALLEN CHUNGTOWN & COUNTRYLIQUOR - DELICATESSEN - MARKET600 POST STREETSAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109776-4067OPEN DAILY 10 A.M.-12 A.M.Tehran - IranHamburg - GermanyDAME BROS., INC.IMPORTERS OF PERSIAN RUGSRetail - Wholesale - Trade - Appraisal - Cleaning - RepairJavad Banie wishes the S.F. 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(415) 355-9620Michel and Catherine BlanchardLø CastøIT.3235 Sacramento San Francisco 921-7115