Bee Editorial
Police Department hiring done in fair manner
Williamsville, Sweet Home and Amherst are some of the most diversified school districts in Western New York, bringing together a melting pot of races, ethnicities and religions.

But when it comes to employees of the town of Amherst, the same, according to Council Member Dan Ward, can't be said. Ward has been pushing the Town Board to address the situation. It was taken to another level when the U.S. Department of Justice decided to investigate the Police Department's hiring process.

There is one statistic in this whole ordeal that stands out: two of three black applicants have been hired in recent years, according to Chief John Moslow. How can the department hire someone who doesn't apply?

Is it the Police Department's duty to actively seek minority applicants? That is the type of question that should be addressed during the meeting between the police chief and assistant chief and the Justice Department.

Moslow said he welcomes questions and has some of his own, including the hiring policy that requires a resident to live in Amherst four months prior to testing. By imposing that requirement the pool of candidates is made even smaller.

The number of minorities in the town compared to non-Hispanic whites is not close. The statistics used by Ward were from 2000 and stated that the town's population was 3.9 percent black, 1.4 percent Hispanic and 5.2 percent Asian/Pacific Islander.

The population is dominated by white residents, as is the same for the other Western New York suburbs.

That doesn't make the hiring policy within the town unfair. We welcome your views on the subject and ask you to vote on the page five poll question: Are town hiring practices fair? Additional comments can also be sent via the link provided at www.amherstbee.com.

We can't understand how the Police Department could be considered unfair when it has hired two of three minority applicants. We will follow up on the meeting being held today to see what the Department of Justice finds through its investigation.

Residents have not been in contact with The Bee to voice any concerns with the town's policy, but that doesn't mean there aren't any.

The town has a "diversity policy" but has not shown it much attention until recently. Is the employment issue a problem that has been kept quiet, or is it just the lack of applicants?

We stand by the chief's views that the Police Department practices a fair policy when hiring.