A new radio story on the lack of police diversity features commentary and analysis from Social Explorer's Andrew Beveridge.  In "Not Just Ferguson, Many NJ Towns Have Mostly White Police," WNYC reporter Sarah Gonzalez examined the gap between residents and their local police.

Police Departments in New Jersey are struggling to hire women and minorities, leaving many towns with a high number of minority residents being policed by mostly white officers.

In the story, Beveridge argues that law enforcement could be more diverse, and he cites analysis for the recent New York Times article on the lack of diversity in small city police departments around the nation. 

But Andrew Beveridge, a sociology professor at Queens College, says the argument that people of color aren't applying, or that they just haven’t been the best for the job, is a cop out.

“It undercuts the legitimacy of the force not to be diverse,” Beveridge said.

He analyzed police data for the New York Times and found that police departments across the country are significantly whiter than the communities they’re policing.

In New Jersey, several towns have a police force that is 90 to 99 percent white.

In North Bergen, whites make up about 20 percent of the population and 80 percent of the police.

“If something bad happens, you’re in a situation where it is the whites shooting the blacks or the Latinos,” Beveridge said.

It’s an issue highlighted by the recent deaths of young, black men in Ferguson and Staten Island.

Beveridge says some police departments are actively trying to diversify, while others across the country have failed to notice the need for diversifying.

It makes sense that growing communities, like Asians and Hispanics, will slowly start to become more represented in police departments. But he questions the dearth of black officers.

“Being a police officer is a pretty good job,” Beveridge said. “If there are no blacks or Latinos in the police force it means that a decent opportunity has not been afforded to them.”

Listen to the full story above or here on the WNYC website.