NYPD commissioner says he can't hire more non-white officers because so many of them are criminals

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton

"We have a significant population gap among African American males because so many of them have spent time in jail and, as such, we can't hire them," Bratton said in an interview with the publication.

For this high number, Bratton blamed the "unfortunate consequences" of stop-and-frisk policing carried out on young non-white men over the last few years in New York.

A felony conviction, domestic violence charges, or a dishonorable discharge from the military automatically disqualifies someone from joining the NYPD, according to the Guardian.

Currently, the NYPD is struggling to regain the public's trust. In December, the decision of a jury in Staten Island not to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, led to several days of protests in New York.

Like the many other forces in the US, the NYPD has also been accused of racial profiling. Tensions have only grown in the past few months as videos and testimonies regarding the killings of unarmed non-white men made the news.