THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1989. More diversity in police

Press, 12 April 1989, Page 20

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1989. More diversity in police

The new Commissioner of Police, Mr John Jamieson, wants more women in the police force and a greater ethnic mix among new recruits. There is nothing exceptionable in this, though the fact that Mr Jamieson is moved to comment on the need might cause mild surprise: it might have been assumed that the police force was already more or less representative of the community it serves. Such is not so. Too few women are applying to join the police and the force has an immediate problem. Only 6.5 per cent of officers are women, and applications from women to join the force have, in Mr Jamieson’s words, “dried up.” An insufficiency of women police recruits, and an intake of recruits that in no way reflects the racial balance of society, foreshadow problems for the community. For some years now the intakes of recruits for training have been well down in the number of women that is preferred and needed to keep a balance in the force. A revised awareness of and emphasis on cultural diversity in the community, and an earnest determination to be sensitive to cultural differences, also suggest that the intakes of recruits have not reflected adequately the racial pot-pourri that New Zealand society has become. The problem is not so much in the absolute number of recruits coming forward. More men, predominantly white and middle-class, are applying than can be accepted. The specific shortages are in the number of women, and in the number of Maori, Samoan, and Cook Island people in the force.

The more representative a police force is of the community it serves, and the more the force reflects the balance of race and sex in the community, the more likely it is to be accepted as a part of the community. A police force that takes no account of the community’s mix, or pays too little attention to reflecting that mix, increasingly runs the risk of becoming alienated. It would be a bad thing for New Zealand if the police were to grow away from the community, and it would also make the job of the police much harder. In police work, moreover, there are occasions where the presence of policewomen js essential.

Undeniably, too, considerations of race have come to play a more prominent part in everyday affairs than once would have been considered likely. This is especially true of law enforcement, when racially-organised gangs and offending disproportionate to racial numbers can exacerbate tensions in what are inherently confrontations between the community and those who would challenge its standards and rules. The “them and us” attitudes which can colour relationships between the police and sections of the community can be lessened if the police encompass the diverse races and do not give the appearance of representing only one part of society. Mr Jamieson is keen to revive small community police stations and to increase community policing. An essential part of getting the police back into the community will be ensuring that, as far as possible, the force mirrors the society it serves.