Affirmative Action Law Enforcement

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Affirmative Action and Law Enforcement
Affirmative action is an employment equality initiative. Its intent is to not only diversify the work place but to give disadvantaged minorities equivalent access to employment opportunities usually possessed by the majority population. Affirmative action ensures that minority are afforded the opportunity to participate in education and training programs as well as provided a chance to compete and be considered for career openings, equal pay and promotion. Affirmative action applies to ethnic minorities, woman, people with disabilities and veterans. In the white male dominated law enforcement carrier field, affirmative action has ben utilized to ensure a divorce force that include a variety of ethnic
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Diversative can be important in a company as it promotes ideas and perspectives from an array of different backgrounds and life experiences that can benefit the growth of a business. Employees from separate walks of life can interact with like-minded customers improving the experience of a consumer. This is also true for law enforcement departments. Community policing is about officers and citizens making a connection and working together to make the community better. When a police department has diversity within its ranks, there is a better chance of an officer deescalating a situation if he or she have an understanding and can make a connection with the persons involved due to having race, backgrounds or even gender in common. A female victim of a crime may be more forthcoming with information concerning an assault or other crime when speaking to a female officer. Furthermore, sharing common ground with the community you are policing could help defuse a volatile situation or even afford an investigator to opportunity to gather vital information that may not have been offered otherwise. On the other hand, there are also obstacles concerning affirmative action. There have been instances when a female patrol officer or corrections officer are faced with an offender who may be twice their size and strength. The outcomes of these situations can be deadly for the …show more content…
However, the numbers are still tilted towards a inflated number of causation officers. In Boston Massachusetts for example, white officers make up more than 65% of the police force. A combined populace of African-American, Hispanic and Asian make up the other 35% (www.governing.com). Furthermore, despite lowering strength requirements to boost female recruitment to Boston’s police force; the department is made up of a mire 16% of female