The Washington State Patrol is under fire for a lack of diversity that has not changed much in the last 20 years, reports the Seattle Times.

The Times identifies one problem as the psychological evaluation that takes place late in the hiring process. The news organization along with the Northwest News Network public radio enterprise reviewed internal data and found that job candidates of color were rejected by the psychological screening more often than white candidates: 33 percent of Black candidates, 41 percent of Asian candidates and 35 percent of Hispanic candidates compared to 20 percent of white candidates between January 2017 and January 2021.

The agency recently hired its first diversity, equity and inclusion officer. Chief John Batiste has responded defensively to critics, asking, “What are you doing to help me diversify the agency?”