Unfortunately that seems to be the pattern for a good number of the law enforcement agencies, not to mention fire departments. I worked for 25 years for NY State's prison system, first as an officer, then as a Sergeant. On the Sergeant's test I took in '84, I received a 92. I should have been promoted a lot sooner than I was, but on that specific test, the state had decided to give extra points to minorities. That decision allowed all blacks and hispanics to move higher up on the eligibility list. It also meant that they were promoted before we were, even though they really hadn't earned it. I finally got promoted in the summer of '89. By having to wait that extra time to be reached on the list, I not only lost seniority time in that title, I lost the salary that went along with the promotion as well.
I can remember back in the 80's, New York State was looking to hire more minorities into the State Police. In order to get the needed minority recruits qualified to take and pass the test, they ended up having to provide them with remedial reading classes.
That nonsense happens all over the private sector as well. There are tokens everywhere, but it provides job security for the real workers. Unfortunately for blacks, most companies are just opting for Hispanics or white women; soon they will mandate hiring blacks specifically (since it will never happen “naturally”).