City Solicitor Asks Court to Drop Charges Of Discrimination in Police Hiring Practices

The U.S. District Court should drop racism charges filed by five black policemen against Cambridge officials, Edward D. McCarthy, Acting City Solicitor, said yesterday.

The suit, filed July 15, alleged discrimination in police department hiring and promotional policies.

McCarthy said the city did not violate constitutional guidelines or state law in its police hiring practices.

He said neither the City Council nor civil service commissioners should be named as defendants in the case since they do not hire or promote members of the police force. The suit names the City Council as defendants because "they are responsible for the policies, management and operation of the Cambridge Police Department.

The complaint also cites James F. Reagan, chief of police, and James L. Sullivan, city manager, as defendants.

The policemen charge they are being denied the opportunity of becoming sergeants, the first rank after patrolman.

McCarthy said the police chief and city manager appoint sergeants from a ranked list of qualified patrolmen. The Civil Service Department makes the list based on test score results. The exam has been given three times in the past 17 years. He said a name on the list can be skipped if the patrolman's performance is deemed unacceptable.

The highest-scoring black patrolman placed twentieth out of the 73 policemen who passed the exam, Beryl W. Cohen, attorney for the five plaintiffs, said yesterday.

He said the police department's intention to hire only nine more sergeants shows an effort to keep blacks away from upper-level positions.

The 250-member force now includes 21 sergeants, reduced from 37 in 1968. This is the lowest figure in ten years.

There has been only one black sergeant in the department's history. Cohen said, and at present there are only five black patrolmen in the entire force.

The complaint states there has been "no conscious effort" to recruit blacks to the force despite Cambridge's 6.8-per-cent black population, which is rising.

Cohen said that among the men ranked before the black patrolman on the list, two were involved in what he called police brutality incidents.