Pennsylvania State Guardians
Pennsylvania State Guardians
Welcome to the Pennsylvania State Guardians Online Information Site. We hope this site will provide you with valuable information about the services of the Pennsylvania State Guardians, and current events occurring within the Department.
The purpose of this site is to:
Provide information about the Pennsylvania State Guardians organization.
To provide up to date information about matters of interest to PSG members and affiliates. To assist the current PSG membership base with member services and support. To provide an automated method of requesting membership materials and applications. To provide notification of upcoming PSG or related events To provide notification of any significant laws or policy changes as they pertain to minorities. To allow an opportunity for membership to have direct feedback with PSG officers.
We hope this site will be helpful in providing you with information about the PSG and current affairs. If you have any ideas or suggestions that you feel we could use to improve our site, please visit our "Contact the Guardians" page and contact us.
About the Guardians
Primary Functions of the PSG
The Pennsylvania State Guardians Association was formed by a few minority Pennsylvania State troopers in the early 1970's. The association was incorporated in March 1979. The purposes for which the association was organized are as follows:
To aid in any campaign against any overt or other act of discrimination and/or prejudice within the Pennsylvania State Police, and law enforcement agencies and public safety departments operating within or affecting the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well as within communities the Association serves.
To recruit qualified aaplicants for the Pennsylvania State Police and the agencies the Association serves.
To assist members of the Association in their efforts to achieve professional advancement within the Pennsylvania State Police.
Additional goals of the Pennsylvania State Guardians are:
To provide a forum for better understanding and cooperative enterprise between police authorities and the citizenry with respect to police activities and community and race relations.
To aid and promote programs for the children, youth, and adults of the communities the Association serves.
To help foster better understanding of law enforcement and police careers. And to aid in the curbing of juvenile delinquency.
To provide a pool of applicants for, and ensure the representation of minority group members in, every functional area (administrative, supervisory, operational, clerical, support, etc.) of the Pennsylvania State Police.
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To unify, strengthen, and promote the welfare and well being of the members of the Association, and the general public that the Association serves.
To solicit funds to aid the Association to carry out the foregoing purposes and objects.
And for all other lawful purposes.
Consent Decree
Pennsylvania, State Police Consent Decree
Pennsylvania State Police Consent Decree June 20, 1974 to February 1, 1999
Submitted by former PSG President, Mark E. Lomax
History
July 27, 1973 a young trooper named William Bolden, III was fired by the Pennsylvania State Police for allegedly failing to pay several department store bills. Trooper Bolden, an African American, had just completed his eighteen-month probationary period.
Claiming that he was being treated differently than similarly situated white troopers, and that he was denied a hearing or court-martial to contest the charges that had been brought against him, Trooper Bolden filed a class action lawsuit against the PA State Police on November 16, 1973 in Federal Court in Philadelphia. Harold Goodman, a lawyer working for a legal aid service, represented Trooper Bolden in Federal Court before the Honorable Judge Clifford Green.
The result of the hearing was that Trooper Bolden was reinstated with back pay. Additionally, Judge Green proceeded to try the class action aspects of the case involving sixteen other minorities who had been rejected for cadet employment or had been denied promotions and other benefits of employment. This hearing was held over three weeks in March and April of 1974.
Evidence consisted of proof that from 1905, when the PA State Police was formed, until 1961 the PA State Police hired only two black troopers. Only a handful was hired over the following decade. By 19731 there were only 62 minorities out of a total complement of 4,173, or just 1.48 %. Out of those 62, all but two held the rank of trooper.
On June 20, 1974, all parties signed a Consent Decree. As required by the Consent Decree, the PA State Police had to prevent further discrimination against minorities, develop job-related hiring and promotion standards, and engage in a long-term recruitment program to attract and hire qualified minorities. Additionally, the PA State Police agreed that qualified minorities would be promoted to the ranks of Corporal, Sergeant, and Lieutenant which would be reflective of the racial makeup of the workforce in the Commonwealth.
Over the next decade, the PA State Police failed to adhere to the provisions of the Decree. Beginning in the late 1980's, the PA State Police began working towards satisfying the requirements of the Decree. As a result of this effort, several new initiatives occurred. These initiatives included the establishment of the Bureau of Professional Responsibility, the development of job-related promotion procedures for the ranks of Captain and Major, the development of a long-term recruitment program, and the establishment of an independent three-member panel of experts who developed a valid and job-related standards for selection into and graduation from the Academy and for the promotion to the ranks of Corporal, Sergeant, and Lieutenant.
Dissolution
As a result of recent diligent efforts on part of the Plaintiffs and the PA State Police, the requirements of the twenty-five year Consent Decree were satisfied on October 22, 1998. An Order for the dissolution of the Consent Decree was then filed before Judge Green. On January 21, 1999, a Fairness Hearing was held at the Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia before Judge Green. Any objections to the dissolution of the Consent Decree were heard. Harold Goodman made the closing statements on behalf of the Plaintiffs. On February 1, 1999, Judge Green signed the Order of Dissolution of the Consent Decree.
Pennsylvania State Police
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