Conversations about diversity carry a lot of weight in the law enforcement sector. Specific focus has recently been placed on the diversification of police departments, and every department strives to attain a diversified workforce in the police. Diversification reflects a better picture of the population that the police serves. The link between law enforcement and the community is enhanced by having more Black, Latino, and other non-white officers. Individuals from various backgrounds and cultures have varying ways of handling themselves and others. Officers spend most of their time interacting with people from different cultures when executing their duties. Communication skills help officers to interact with their team, the suspects, or the general public. Having a diverse workforce in the law enforcement agencies incorporates diversification in cultural background, sexual orientation, life experience, language, religion, gender, and race. This essay will develop a research question based on the topic of diversification of the police workforce, present a hypothesis, and include existing literature to answer the research question.
Research Question and Hypothesis
The research question for this research is: What is the importance of diversification in law enforcement? My hypothesis to the research question is that diversity in the police department prepares both the police officers and the community on cultural differences and helps them avoid inappropriate misunderstanding. Diversification helps bridge the communication gaps between the community and the police and increases public trust in the police force. Besides, having a diversified police force also diffuses the tension between the police and the public and improves the perception of fairness in the police force.
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Literature Review
Earning Public Trust
Jackson (2015) states that a law enforcement agency trusted by the community executes its duties effectively and efficiently. It might be hard to earn trust within the community for police officers since they mostly respond to wrongful situations. In an interview with a sergeant at a metropolitan police department, Paul Grattan explains that when a police officer with a wide range of religious background, ethnicities, and experiences working in a community, the citizens will likely view them as members of the community and not intruders (Jackson, 2015). Most citizens feel safe when talking with people they trust, and they open up to them freely. Gaining trust in the police force can result from having officers from the same background as the community they serve, listening to the same music, or attending the same church. Alderden et al. (2017) explain that diversified police departments are more likely to earn public trust since the department reflects the community they serve and includes officers of many experiences and backgrounds.
The ability of a diversified police force to earn public trust has more benefits other than just the general perception. A community that trusts the police department offers a conducive environment for law enforcement agencies to conduct their investigations and not distort the evidence (Alderden et al., 2017). Alderden et al. (2017) confirm the perception that individuals like to talk to people with the same characteristics as them. Since the police force cannot accommodate everyone from the entire community, having a representative through diversification allows them to serve and access the required information effectively. Jackson (2015) found that the community trust in law enforcement deepens when the community members believe that the police department represents them, responds to them, and understands them. Trust is important in solving crime, diffusing tension, and developing a law enforcement system that the community views as just and fair. Most victims would refuse to engage with law enforcement when they perceive that the police force is not responsive to their concerns and experiences.
Ease Community Tension
Police-involved shootings increase tension, especially between police officers and the back communities across the United States. Some police departments recruit a more diverse police force to counteract the potential tension caused by such incidences (Todak et al., 2018). For instance, David Brown, Dallas Police Chief, asked young black men to apply to be police instead of protesting to enable them to fix the problems in their communities (Miles-Johnson & Pickering, 2018). Tension in the community can be reduced by increasing officer training, reducing police’s use of aggressive arrest tactics, building a solid relationship between the officers and the community, and hiring police officers who understand the community they serve. Diversification can also reduce tension since policewomen are less likely to apply excessive force. Women only account for 5% of the total complaints on the application of extra force (Miles-Johnson & Pickering, 2018). The police organization also spends less on female officers since they are less likely to be involved in lawsuits. Therefore, embracing diversity by involving more women in the police force would help to reduce the tension in the communities.
Ba et al. (2021) explain that police departments rarely reflect the diversity of their communities. In a report compiled by the New York Times, most police departments within the US have 30% more white than the other cultures they serve. Ba et al. (2021) explained that according to Columbia Law School’s research, communities experienced reduced incidences of tension and violence when the diversity of law enforcement agencies matches the diversity of the served communities (Todak et al., 2018). The research conducted by Legewie indicated that cities that have invested in the diversification of the police force had recorded reduced tensions (Ba et al., 2021). The training given to police officers plays a huge role in examining how police officers treat the public, especially those from different races. Hiring a culturally diverse workforce helps instill equality into the police force, which transforms the public.
Changing the Perception of the Community on Police Department
People have different perceptions about police officers and law enforcement agencies, which is always developed based on the interaction between the two parties. Sometimes, the depictions and stereotypes of employees in law enforcement fail to cover the wide range of skills and personalities found in a police department (Miles-Johnson & Pickering, 2018). There is a growing concern on the misconception that police officers are recruited based on possession of specific abilities or talents (Todak et al., 2018). Departments working to change the perception diversify the police force in terms of military service, volunteerism, talents, hobbies, family history, cultural exposure, language proficiencies, prior work experience, training and education, and family circumstances (Todak et al., 2018). Some people think that they are interrogated because of their race. Diversity can be achieved in the police force by including police officers from the background similar to the community they serve. A community will view a police department that includes officers from a minority population as less racialized.
A diversified police department leads to fairness perception and job satisfaction. The diversification helps the organization and the public understand the police force regardless of their existing ideas (Miles-Johnson, 2019). A police department that encourages diversification enjoys collective ability since it has a pool of ideas to extract the best solution out of a problem. A community will respect a diversified police department since they think that the representative will address their needs. Therefore, they help the police work on evidence to uncover certain truths (Miles-Johnson, 2019). The change in perception makes the community comfortable when dealing with a police officer since they regard them as one of the community members.
Further research suggests that diversification of police departments makes them more responsive to the served community, more willing to initiate systematic and cultural changes, and more open to reforms (Miles-Johnson, 2019). Some researchers have considered diversity as a catalyst for reform since it enables officers and the management to meditate and reflect on issues within the departments (Todak et al., 2018). A more open-minded and reflective culture in a police department can help push for reform across the various areas, such as racial bias, community policing, and civilian oversight. Diversity achieves these reforms by weakening the uniformity of viewpoints within police departments and the political solidarity of the police (Todak et al., 2018). Weakening the social solidarity of the police leads to diversification of police departments enabling the departments to take advantage of special competencies of minority groups, including openly gay and lesbian officers and female officers (Miles-Johnson, 2019). Diversity would neutralize the belief held by minority groups that they bring special credibility and special understandings to their work.
An increase in the number of female officers within the law enforcement agencies leads to a considerable increase in some benefits for the police. Reports indicate that policewomen are as competent as male officers when delegating their duties (Todak et al., 2018). Besides, female officers apply a civilized policing technique that does not require more physical energy. Therefore, unlike male officers, policewomen are less likely to use excessive force in the field (Todak et al., 2018). Most women are good at communication which makes them implement a community-oriented approach to policing since the technique focuses on corporation and communication with the public. Most violent crimes reported in law enforcement agencies involve women. Therefore, employing a diversified workforce full of women is effective since women tend to be more responsive to reported violence involving women.
Provision of Services to Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Individuals
Having a diverse police force with multi-lingual officers enables law enforcement agencies to provide better services to people with limited English proficiency. For instance, the New Orleans Police Department started building a team of multi-lingual officers in 2016 (Coppersmith, 2018; Troshynski et al., 2020) to strengthen relationships and communication between the police and limited English-speaking communities. The approach was meant to develop a team of officers that can communicate with limited English-speaking communities across the city (Coppersmith, 2018). The bilingual officers trained by the NOPD were assigned to various places across New Orleans city to interact with visitors and other individuals who cannot communicate in English (Troshynski et al., 2020). In a statement released by Michael Harrison, NOPD superintendent, it was clear that the move to overcome the language barrier yielded positive results for both LEP communities and the police department (Coppersmith, 2018). The team of multi-lingual officers helps in the effective and safe execution of jobs in the field. Besides, bilingual training officers build trust between the LEP residents and visitors, and the police. As a result, members of the communities that do not speak English feel free to report crime and participate in crime investigation.
Law enforcement agencies can also diversify their workforce by focusing on language acquaintance in LEP communities in several ways. Conducting widespread recruitment of bilingual police officers who can speak other languages such as Vietnamese and Spanish can be a proper way to understand the LEP community (Coppersmith, 2018). The police department can run an advertisement in several languages to encourage many non-English speakers to apply for the recruitment. Training new recruits on ways to interact with the diverse community helps to improve the communication between the police and LEP communities. The training should incorporate skills and phrases that can build trust when responding to an individual who does not understand English (Troshynski et al., 2020). Translating public information in other languages apart from English is another approach that helps to earn the public's trust (Troshynski et al., 2020). The translation should include important information, such as how to report a complaint. A report indicated a partnership between Loyola University and the NOPD to translate important documents and forms for individuals with limited English capabilities (Troshynski et al., 2020).
Diversifying police force enables the police officers to understand the people they work with. Investigating recurrent issues within a community requires an understanding of individuals involved in the activities, unlike an arrest, which can be executed without understanding the victims (Coppersmith, 2018). Employing a diverse workforce in the panel that investigates a case helps to comprehend aspects such as the background of the victim and their reason for conducting certain crimes. Individuals will tell the truth to people who understand them without being biased. Miles-Johnson (2019) claims that having a workforce with diversified experience and skills can be a valuable asset in investigating crimes and related cases.
Conclusion
The diversification of police departments has a wide range of importance that makes it a crucial aspect of police organizations' operations. Findings from the literature support the hypothesis that was developed based on the research questions. A diverse force helps the police department by earning them public trust since people always feel a sense of belonging. Public trust is essential in executing the investigation process since members of the minority community can easily talk to the police officer if they feel represented in the police form. Research findings also indicate that diversification helps lower community tension and changes the community's perception of the police force. Some researchers have considered diversity as a catalyst for reform since it enables officers and the management to meditate and reflect on issues within the departments. Lastly, research findings suggest that the diversity of police departments leads to the provision of better services to individuals with limited English capability. Therefore, the existing literature confirms that diversification of police departments is of great importance, and it matters a lot to the success of police departments.
References
Alderden, M., Farrell, A., & McCarty, W. P. (2017). Effects of police agency diversification on officer attitudes. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management . https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-07-2016-0111
Ba, B. A., Knox, D., Mummolo, J., & Rivera, R. (2021). The role of officer race and gender in police-civilian interactions in Chicago. Science , 371 (6530), 696-702. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd8694
Coppersmith, A. (2018). Lost in Translation: Persons with Limited English Proficiency and Police Interaction in the United States. https://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/19327
Jackson, B. A. (2015). Strengthening trust between police and the public in an era of increasing transparency . Arlington, VA: Rand Corporation.
Miles-Johnson, T. (2019). Policing diverse people: How occupational attitudes and background characteristics shape police recruits’ perceptions. Sage Open , 9 (3), 2158244019865362. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2158244019865362
Miles-Johnson, T., & Pickering, S. (2018). Police recruits and perceptions of trust in diverse groups. Police Practice and Research , 19 (4), 311-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2017.1364162
Todak, N., Huff, J., & James, L. (2018). Investigating perceptions of race and ethnic diversity among prospective police officers. Police Practice and Research , 19 (5), 490-504. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2018.1428097
Troshynski, E. I., Bejinariu, A., & Willis, C. S. (2020). Lost in translation: experiences of ESL/LEP civil protection order petitioners. Contemporary Justice Review , 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2020.1819804
