Aprell May Munford – masslive.com
HOLYOKE — After 53 years, Holyoke’s fire and police departments no longer have to follow a federal rule that aimed to boost the ranks of officers of color.
The court order said that the fire and police departments that were still under federal control could stop using the policy by Dec. 31, 2024.
Both departments were among the last five of more than 100 communities, including Springfield until 2022, in the state that were ordered to follow hiring ratios to prioritize Black and Hispanic candidates under the 1972 federal decree.
Holyoke Police Chief Brian Keenan said about 51% of Holyoke’s patrol officers are Hispanic, Black or Asian, while 49% are white non-Hispanic.
U.S. census data from 2023 shows 51.6% of Holyoke’s residents are Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% identify as black and about 0.8% identify as Asian.
“The Holyoke Police Department has taken strides to ensure our officers closely mirror the demographics of the city we serve. We did not request to be removed from the federal consent decree, instead our successful hiring practices have led to this overnight no longer being necessary. This will have no impact on our recruitment moving forward as we anticipate our diversity levels will continue to grow,” Keenan said.
The decision to release the departments from the decree was announced in two letters sent on Jan. 21, to Holyoke Mayor Joshua A. Garcia and Fire Commissioner Jeffrey A. Trask.
“Our condition really has been committed to building a department that looks like Holyoke,” said Trask. “Not only do we feel happy after the decree has been lifted. We are also happy to move forward to continue to build those principles.”
The state’s Human Resources Division has given certificates to the Holyoke Fire and Police Departments based on rules from the court cases Castro v. Beecher in 1972 and NAACP Inc. v. Beecher.
The court created the consent decree because of inequities not only in the fire and police departments, but in departments in general, George Mettui, the chair of the fire commission, told The Republican.
The decree required departments to follow a one-to-one hiring policy. For each white person hired, the department also had to hire a minority until the number of whites and minorities hired was equal, Mettui said.
Although the court order said that fire and police departments still under federal control could stop using the policy by Dec. 31, 2024, Mettui said the Holyoke Fire Department reached its goal much earlier.
“Holyoke has been striving to do that for quite some time and our department has a great diversity in it,” he said.
Prior to the decree being lifted, it required the Civil Service Commission established certain slots, Mettui said.
“If you have a certification, for example, maybe the first slot and the third slot would be filled by a minority,” he said.
“(Now) it’ll be whoever scores the highest on their exam and any other information they provide the Civil Service,” he said.
Normally, the department receives a list of applicants from the Commission and must follow that list.
“If the department needs to hire three people, it might get a list with 10 or 12 people on it. The list has applicants in order, and we have to comply with civil service by hiring the first three on the list unless there is a really good reason to bypass the applicant,” Mettui said.
There are several reasons why a candidate might be skipped on the list, such as lying on their application or having a police record. However, whether it’s before or after the consent decree, if a candidate is skipped, the department must provide a good reason and explain it fully to the commission, Mettui said.
“The Fire Department, in particular, have followed the consent decree to the fullest. We abided by it. I felt good about the consent decree and, I’m sure we will go on hiring the best possible applicants after consent decree is over,” he said.
The commission has implemented a couple new hiring practices that went into effect in November, said fire Chief Dale Glenn.
“The best factor to be utilized though, is the firefighter exam and recruitment process. We receive flyers regarding the exam and administer them out to the community,” Glenn said.
The exam is posted on the fire department’s Facebook page, Glenn said.
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Posted: Mar 5, 2025
Slug: MLV-HOLYOKE-POLICE-AND-FIRE-DEPARTMENTS-EXIT-1970S-DIVERSITY
Aprell May Munford
masslive.com
(TNS)
HOLYOKE — After 53 years, Holyoke’s fire and police departments no longer have to follow a federal rule that aimed to boost the ranks of officers of color.
The court order said that the fire and police departments that were still under federal control could stop using the policy by Dec. 31, 2024.
Both departments were among the last five of more than 100 communities, including Springfield until 2022, in the state that were ordered to follow hiring ratios to prioritize Black and Hispanic candidates under the 1972 federal decree.
Holyoke Police Chief Brian Keenan said about 51% of Holyoke’s patrol officers are Hispanic, Black or Asian, while 49% are white non-Hispanic.
U.S. census data from 2023 shows 51.6% of Holyoke’s residents are Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% identify as black and about 0.8% identify as Asian.
“The Holyoke Police Department has taken strides to ensure our officers closely mirror the demographics of the city we serve. We did not request to be removed from the federal consent decree, instead our successful hiring practices have led to this overnight no longer being necessary. This will have no impact on our recruitment moving forward as we anticipate our diversity levels will continue to grow,” Keenan said.
The decision to release the departments from the decree was announced in two letters sent on Jan. 21, to Holyoke Mayor Joshua A. Garcia and Fire Commissioner Jeffrey A. Trask.
“Our condition really has been committed to building a department that looks like Holyoke,” said Trask. “Not only do we feel happy after the decree has been lifted. We are also happy to move forward to continue to build those principles.”
The state’s Human Resources Division has given certificates to the Holyoke Fire and Police Departments based on rules from the court cases Castro v. Beecher in 1972 and NAACP Inc. v. Beecher.
The court created the consent decree because of inequities not only in the fire and police departments, but in departments in general, George Mettui, the chair of the fire commission, told The Republican.
The decree required departments to follow a one-to-one hiring policy. For each white person hired, the department also had to hire a minority until the number of whites and minorities hired was equal, Mettui said.
Although the court order said that fire and police departments still under federal control could stop using the policy by Dec. 31, 2024, Mettui said the Holyoke Fire Department reached its goal much earlier.
“Holyoke has been striving to do that for quite some time and our department has a great diversity in it,” he said.
Prior to the decree being lifted, it required the Civil Service Commission established certain slots, Mettui said.
“If you have a certification, for example, maybe the first slot and the third slot would be filled by a minority,” he said.
“(Now) it’ll be whoever scores the highest on their exam and any other information they provide the Civil Service,” he said.
Normally, the department receives a list of applicants from the Commission and must follow that list.
“If the department needs to hire three people, it might get a list with 10 or 12 people on it. The list has applicants in order, and we have to comply with civil service by hiring the first three on the list unless there is a really good reason to bypass the applicant,” Mettui said.
There are several reasons why a candidate might be skipped on the list, such as lying on their application or having a police record. However, whether it’s before or after the consent decree, if a candidate is skipped, the department must provide a good reason and explain it fully to the commission, Mettui said.
“The Fire Department, in particular, have followed the consent decree to the fullest. We abided by it. I felt good about the consent decree and, I’m sure we will go on hiring the best possible applicants after consent decree is over,” he said.
The commission has implemented a couple new hiring practices that went into effect in November, said fire Chief Dale Glenn.
“The best factor to be utilized though, is the firefighter exam and recruitment process. We receive flyers regarding the exam and administer them out to the community,” Glenn said.
The exam is posted on the fire department’s Facebook page, Glenn said.
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©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
