POLICING A DIVERSE SOCIETY

Student’s Name:
Professor’s Name:
Course Number:
Date:
Policing a Diverse Society
Policing A Multicultural Population in the UK
Policing in countries with citizens of diverse origins, cultures, and races has proved to be a complicated task given the priorities and concerns held by each community or race. This leaves gaps in satisfaction of the various racial groups making up the United Kingdom. Immigrants are increasingly becoming a fundamental labor force and thus incorporating them in policing is deemed essential but has become a considerable challenge. This problem has been illustrated by the poor relations between the police force and the minority communities. The case of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence that was unresolved highlighted the inherent poor relations and lack of trust on the role of the police officers to offer equivalent service to all the citizens (Bhugowandeen 4-5). This triggered the need to revolutionize the police training from merely laws and procedures for training them to appreciate the existing cultural diversity in the UK. Partnerships with minority groups have also helped bridge the gap since the police officers learn the values upheld by the minorities and also avoid acts that are sensitive to such communities. Secondly, the percentage of the minority population does not correlate with those in policing, statistics show that the minority constitutes 7% of the whole population. However, those in policing was only 2% a gap that has been reduced with the implementation of Race Relations Act 2000 which called for the design of a racial equality scheme to 5% (Bhugowandeen 2).

This was further enforced with random statistics done by the Commission for Racial Equality to ensure compliance by various organizations.
Policing A Multicultural Population in Canada
A projection of the required labor force for the Canadian job market calls for entry of nearly 250,000 immigrants annually (Haberfeld and Cerrah 312). This leads to the development of a highly diverse community that has proved difficult to police. One of the key concerns is the traditional government focused policing strategies. This has left out the people who are the primary consumers of the service the police are providing. Measures have however been enacted the focus the policing model towards the people and the community depending on the relevance and collective views on a particular matter. The implementation of the Canadian Multiculturalism act of 1988 was the stepping stone for this mitigation. This has also fostered proactive policing that ensures intelligent and informative decisions by police officers in dealing with crime and law-breaking instances (Haberfeld and Cerrah 319). This preserves the delicate relationship between the usually rebellious minorities and the police force. Secondly, the lack of trust in the policing force due to the various acts associated with the police. For instance, the shooting of Dudley George an aboriginal protestor by Ontario Provincial Police in 1995 and the following case in 2002 where another aboriginal was left in freezing conditions after being apprehended by two Saskatoon Police (Haberfeld and Cerrah 313). These poor police image has been slowly restructured with moves such as recruitment and retaining of police officers from the minority groups. Liaison committees have also been initiated to mitigate the diverse cultures and to negotiate with minority groups to allow understanding and sharing of ideas to foster improved service delivery. Accountability is also a measure that has helped mitigate these concerns since commissions of inquiry have been initiated to hold every policing official accountable for their actions. Policing departments such as RCMP and OPP have also been restructured and remodeled to mirror the central party of the services they offer as members of every community.
References
Bhugowandeen, Bela. “Diversity in the British police: adapting to a multicultural society.” Mémoire (s), identité (s), marginalité (s) dans le monde occidental contemporain. Cahiers du MIMMOC 10 (2013).
Haberfeld, Maria R., and Ibrahim Cerrah. Comparative policing: The struggle for democratization. Sage Publications, 2007.