Introduction
For the purpose of this assignment, the Dallas Police Department police academy and training curriculum was examined. Overall, it dedicates a significant section of the curriculum towards diversity training and community relations with various populations. It has a community service section that focuses on communication, compromise, and cooperation along with elements such as problem solving skills and team building. Furthermore, the curriculum has a dedicated section on multiculturalism and human relations. However, it can be argued that it is relatively minor, consisting of only 10 hours of education in a 1400 training curriculum. The section includes cultural training for Anglican, African American, Hispanic, and LGBT communities as well as means of approaching arrest, search, and seizure. In the latter parts of the curriculum there are also beneficial practical trainings such as learning Spanish (high percentage of Hispanic population in Texas), verbal communication, and applying culturally-sensitive methods to police encounters such as traffic stops (Dallas Police Academy, 2022).
The curriculum does include a fair amount of diversity and cultural-awareness training. It is not clear on everything that is covered in each course, but more emphasis on community relations and addressing minority encounters would have been beneficial. However, it is fair to say that the Dallas Police Department is taking into consideration the realities of their operating environment, such as the high possibility of non-English speaking individuals, and considering the diverse make-up of the communities beyond ethnicity, including LGBT and handicapped populations. This can greatly inform policy for diversity and inclusivity in all police agencies. First, the necessity to consider the realities of the local environment and needs of local populations as various locales differ significantly in demographic make ups. Finally, implementing diversity training with the consideration of these populations and the unique challenges that they may face in terms of discrimination, implicit bias, and intercultural interactions.
Development of Training
In order to incorporate diversity into academy training and culture, there must be an extensive effort to include multicultural competencies. To do so, the curriculum needs to expand, and potentially increase time of training. The average police academy completion is currently 5-6 months, but many experts have called to increase this to 10-12 months or longer. The curriculum that has not undergone major changes over the decades must be expanded. An analysis by a former police officer Burkhalter (2020), suggests that academies should include courses often seen in undergraduate programs such as sociology, psychology, and conflict-resolution training. These will only benefit the profession, and help to develop more well-rounded officers. Furthermore, courses should be added that would help to better understand the nature of society, racial relations, and complexities of not just law enforcement-community interactions but intercultural dimensions. All of this is necessary for competent performance of a public service profession.
Sustainment in diversity training can be achieved by several methods. First, throughout their time at the academy, recruits will be given field assignments periodically for several weeks where they can apply their knowledge. They then return to the academy to perform reflection and evaluation activities, with feedback on improvements including their approaches and biases in regard to diversity-associated activities and communication. Second, there needs to be a socially sustainable and inclusive organizational climate, both at the academy and at the department levels. The construct of organizational climate and culture has far reaching impacts on the behavioral and mental perceptions of those involved. As noted by Morando and Platania (2022), there are intimate and inescapable ties between the mutual influence of the individual and the organization. Based on the signaling theory, employee perceptions and actions are directly shaped and relate to the ‘signals’ intended by the organization. Therefore, police organizational climate should be formed from the initial stages of recruitment to achieve sustainable diversity.
Future of Diversity Hiring
The future of diversity hiring in law enforcement will be driven strongly by organizational structure and leadership going forward. With significant evidence pointing at the relationship between individuals and the organization, the decisions of police officers are inherently influenced by the policies, norms, and culture of the employing organization. In applying this to hiring and the general diversity make-up of the workforce, the nature of the organization ultimately attracts the volumes and types of potential employees that are willing to work in that environment. Regardless of public messaging or even attractive hiring offers, sustainable change in diversity will not occur until the fundamental nature of law enforcement agencies changes to promote this in its organizational climate, policies, and leadership.
Nowacki et al. (2020) examined some organizational actions that most benefited diversity hiring. These included agencies that formed specialized units, not segregated by race, but those for those diverse applicants who were interested in policing but not necessarily traditional patrol duties. Furthermore, findings indicate that the more representative an agency is, particularly at leadership positions, the most success it has in fostering legitimacy in the community and attracting more diverse hires.
Conclusion
Finally, to sustain the diverse workforce, the organizational environment had to be inclusive and welcome presence of all personnel as legitimate members that are valuable and should be retained.
References
Dallas Police Academy. (2022). Basic training curriculum. Web.
Morando, M., & Platania, S. (2022). Building a social sustainable society: Influence of interventions and training programs on organisational climate. Merits, 2(1), 21–25. Web.
Nowacki, J., Schafer, J. A., & Hibdon, J. (2020). Workforce diversity in police hiring: The influence of organizational characteristics. Justice Evaluation Journal, 4(1), 1–20. Web.