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(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) \u2014 To address the lack of diversity in law enforcement, Lincoln University, in Jefferson City, Missouri, has opened the first police academy at a historically Black college or university (HBCU).<\/p>\n
Today, 71.5% of U.S. police officers are white and police departments are struggling to recruit new officers and retain veterans, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.<\/p>\n
Retirements nationwide are up 45% in policing, resignations have risen 18% and recruitment is down 5%, according to the Police Executive Research Forum.<\/p>\n
For law enforcement to better reflect America\u2019s diversity, Lincoln University started the new policing program in January of 2021, graduating its first group of recruits six months later.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaw enforcement agencies across the nation have been pulling their hair out trying to figure out a way to recruit more minorities. And this has never been tried,\u201d Gary Hill, the co-founder and principal instructor of the program, told ABC News. \u201cI would love to see where we can go from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The majority of Lincoln\u2019s first class are college students. The nine recruits spent 32 hours a week in firearm training and physical conditioning courses. The recruits consist of two Black women, four Black men and three white men.<\/p>\n
Hill hopes the success of this academy could change the fate of policing and inspire other HBCUs to follow suit.<\/p>\n
College sophomore Ti Aja Fairlee, 21, is the youngest in the class and told \u201cNightline\u201d she never saw Black women represented among the ranks in law enforcement as a child.<\/p>\n
Black women are among the most underrepresented groups in police, making up just 2.7% of the force nationally, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am kind of proud of myself actually that I can be the face and the voice for girls like me,\u201d Fairlee said. \u201cYes, you can do this. Don\u2019t let the race thing stop you from anything. The race thing already pushed us back enough. We\u2019ve just got to push forward and do what we want to do, like, don\u2019t let nobody stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fairlee, however, said there\u2019s a lot of pressure in being one of a few.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where a lot of my doubts came from because I\u2019m like, \u2018Can I be a good police officer? I don\u2019t know nobody to look up to,’\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to be my own role model, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyrese Davis, 22, said the message was clear in Baltimore where he grew up: Don\u2019t become a cop if you\u2019re Black or a person of color.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s the first in his family to go to college and pays for tuition and the police academy by working the night shift at a local book factory.<\/p>\n
Investing in recruits like Fairlee and Davis is central to Hill\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you all have to do is be the change that you want to see,\u201d Hill said. \u201cYou have to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hill, a 26-year veteran in of law enforcement, also heads up Lincoln University\u2019s police department, where he oversees 22 officers while still taking time to patrol the campus himself.<\/p>\n
But close to the chief\u2019s heart is the belief that higher education in police leadership makes for competent and diverse leaders. Hill holds a master\u2019s in administration of criminal justice agencies and is currently working toward a doctorate in criminal justice with an emphasis on homeland security.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m able to see things from different perspectives because of my education,\u201d he said, \u201cand so a lot of us chiefs and sheriffs, and other administrators, see the value in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hill said he\u2019s inspired by African American Civil War soldiers who pooled their money to help create HBCUs in the 1800s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look back and I say, \u2018you know, if they could do it back in 1866, we can do it now,’\u201d Hill said. \u201cLincoln University is probably one of the most diverse schools in the country. Our population is half Black and half white. And what better place to have an academy or to start one but here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eight members of the inaugural class now work in law enforcement. Lincoln University\u2019s program has also broadened its reach, opening a second training site in St. Louis, Missouri, with 25 recruits currently enrolled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will measure success in three years to see how many of those recruits are still in law enforcement, and the things that they\u2019ve experienced, and how they feel about law enforcement after those three years,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n
Watch the full story on \u201cNightline\u201d TONIGHT at 12:35 a.m. ET on ABC.<\/strong><\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n