Photo: Robin Kuniski/Metro Calgary News
Just like the Canadian Army, the Calgary Police Services would love to see more “diversity” in their ranks. But up until now, it hasn’t happened. For whatever reasons, many visible minorities don’t want to sign up for the work. So in an attempt to “increase diversity in culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and age,” the police service has collected 21 volunteers to form a community recruitment team:
“We live in a diverse community and our police service should represent the community that it serves,” Acting Insp. Craig Skelton said at a news conference Saturday.
“We should be able to have representation from all the communities in Calgary as members of the Calgary Police Service and make that connection for people between the community and their police service,” he said.
Predominantly white males are interested in policing, and so the Calgary Police want to work hard to develop programs that encourage more minorities and women to apply. So what is it that makes the police force such an old white boys club?
Well, according to this article, it’s not because visible minorities simply don’t want to be policemen. It’s because the police are racists. Of course:
There are various reasons why people from different backgrounds may be reluctant to become police officers.
“Some perhaps are not accustomed to police who are honest and treat them fairly. In some cases, maybe they have had bad experiences, even here in Calgary,” Ellis said.
Allright. So what’s their excuse for not joining the Army? Perhaps they were bombed by NATO?
Of course it doesn’t matter if they will make good cops with Canadian values as long as they fit the politically correct code of multiculturalism.
It’s all about quotas. For both hiring and arresting.
So how exactly does this work in an HR Department???
“I don’t care that the able bodied white guy is more qualified. We need to hire based on Sex, Race and color… Hire that Black woman from India with the artificial leg and one eye… put her on patrol with the pregnant chic from Africa”
By all means, hire police officers with diversity in mind. We all know how well that has worked out for the RCMP. (sarc. off)
Are you referring to this one?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2008/04/17/rcmp-discrimination.html
“Well, according to this article, it’s not because visible minorities simply don’t want to be policemen. It’s because the police are racists.”
Actually, that statement is not supported by your quote.
As someone who does a lot of work with immigrant and refugee families, allow me to correct your assumptions.
A lot of these people come from countries where corruption is rampant, and in particular on the part of the military and police agencies. If you live in a refugee camp because some soldiers, in uniforms and guns, have attacked your family and forced you to flee, you might be a little apprehensive about dealing with people in uniforms. If you come from a country where the police are corrupt and can be “bought off” by criminal elements, you are going to distrust any police force.
It is one of the things police are taught in training – that people with different experiences will not always see the police as being friendly and helpful. There is a real fear in some communities that prevents them from going to the police when they have been victimized. The plan to make the police force more racially and culturally diverse is a way to address this problem, thus allowing the police to provide some protection. As one of your posters said on a different thread, we often see people who look different as “others”. People from certain cultural backgrounds may feel more comfortable speaking to someone who comes from the same cultural background because they will feel they will be better understood.
That some people would have had some bad experiences at the hands of the Calgary police is not surprising. I know you cannot believe there are actually people who are racist out there – but there are. That does not mean all police are racist, or even more than a small number of them, but to pretend it does not exist is simply silly, and really demonstrates, yet again, how very uninformed you are.
I know you cannot believe there are actually people who are racist out there
That’s not true. I’ve read plenty of Islamic diatribes.
Thanks for proving my point.
What was your point again? That immigrants come from countries where the police are corrupt and dangerous, so they’re afraid to join up? That they’ve been treated badly by the police? That the police are racist? Yes, I heard those points echoed in the CTV article.
I have another suggestion. “Visible minorities” are taught by their parents from the first generation to look down on occupations in policing and the military, as well as construction and other physical jobs.
Since we have a heavy influx of skilled immigrants, you tend to see the next generations going into University and Information Technology and Business, leaving the military and policing to the middle and lower class white Canadians. The real question is, as “visible minorities” become visible majorities, who is going to replace all of those white people?
Well, perhaps if you learned how to read as well as you write you would stop grossly mischarachteriuzing the words of others.
Mostly my point is that you likje to talk a lot about things when you know nothing about them.
I also think you refuse to see racism in others because you refuse to see it in yourself.
Reread my post and try again.
Gayle:
Shouldn’t we be careful where we swing the ‘racist’ label lest we slander an entire profession? I’ve met some police officers in Calgary and I’ll say they are the most forgiving (and friendly) bunch to out-of-towners and minorities.
I’ll agree with your statement that people from other nations have strongly ingrained sense of fear and/or distrust of the police. In many countries you should not trust the police. But people who live here long enough know that the police are generally not corrupt or untrustworthy.
I think what drives minorities away from jobs like being police officers is what Adrian points out. People who come to Canada dream of their children becoming doctors, engineers, nurses or lawyers. Even “just” going to college is discouraged by many!
Why would you suggest I am slamming an entire profession when I state that most police officers are not racist?
I would like to know if you have any actual evidence that non white immigrants do not want to be cops because they prefer to be doctors, and if that is somehow more likely to be the case for non white people than it is for white people. I know of a lot of white immigants who came to this country, got a good education and joined a profession. In fact, I can think of only one cop I know who has an English accent and none with a Scottish, Irish or Australian accent. Nor any Germans, French, Danes, Swededes …
I think you are just making some ugly assumptions.
You kbow what? I am willing to bet a lot of people would prefer to be a doctor than a cop.
Pardon the typos. Hard to type on this blackberry.
Any occupation that relies on volunteers gets just that, volunteers. You can’t make someone join the police or the military, all you can do is let them know that these professions will welcome them and treat them with the same degree of fairness that they would any volunteer who joins, regardless of colour or background… all are equal.
Gayle:
Firstly, by casting suspicion on even ‘some’ police as being racist without substantial proof you open ‘all’ police to be suspected of racism. That’s the problem with accusations of racism against groups, even if you try to moderate it by only accusing ‘some’, ‘everyone’ ends up sharing the blame partially.
Beyond that, as you know, talking about a group in a negative way rather than a positive way only reinforces negative impressions. Sure you could say ‘some’ police are racists. But why not say ‘most’ police serve their communities honourably and impartially, looking beyond race or gender and treating everyone equally. Wouldn’t that encourage minorities to join the police more?
You say you deal with immigrants often, I’ll take that as fact since you seem honest. How many of those immigrants would encourage their children to become police officers do you think? How many would actively discourage it?
Immigrant parents often sacrifice a great deal for their children and aspire that their children be able to obtain a much higher position in society than they occupy. To a large number of them, the thought that their child wouldn’t go to university is unheard of.
I’m not generalizing much at all I think. My experience is that many children of immigrants are told flat out that not going to university was unacceptable. There isn’t a choice of even going to college or looking at a profession. As a very practical example, one of my friends, a minority female, was strongly discouraged from becoming a police officer by her parents. Meanwhile, several of my white male (and some female) friends have gone on to become police officers.
If you think about it logically it makes sense however. Being a police officer is not a social status moving position. You will not climb the social ladder or ensure financial security with such a position. Those two things are of paramount importance to immigrants. A nurse is a very stable, well paying job. A doctor is a high status, high income job. Lawyers are high status as well. All of which provide a new family in a country security.
Re: the typos. I’ve added a preview and a comment edit function. So anyone can correct their typos if they really want to.
if you learned how to read as well as you write
I’ll take that as a backhanded compliment. But whatever the case, the point is that when we talk about why minorities aren’t in the police force or the military, all you ever hear about is how it’s all Canada’s fault. It’s never the fault of the visible minorities. No, no. We don’t enjoy placing blame where it belongs. It’s much easier to blame that white establishment.
BLAME I ON WHITEY…!!!
note: sarcASSim intended in the Whitey comment…
Gayle is like Jessy Jackson or Al Sharpton…. full of her own opinion enough to make up for everyone else who may actually have a valid or seperate opinion…
If you don’t pick the best person for the job regardless of who’s applied you’ll end up being a racist people… let merit be the deciding factor and not orginal nationality or color…
Eric – I reread my comments and stand by them. There is no way one could take from them that I am suggesting all police, or even most, are racist. The “proof” you seek is the comment in the article – the one that suggests some people have had bad experiences with police. The only other proof I have is anecdotal and from experiences recounted to me by the people I work with.
“You say you deal with immigrants often, I’ll take that as fact since you seem honest.”
I deal with immigrants and refugees from poor, often war torn countries who are just happy to be here. These are the people who tend to fear involving the police in their lives. Unlike Adrian’s total mischaracterization of my comments, I am not referring to people who are afraid to join the police, but rather people who are afraid to call the police when they have been victimized by a criminal. They do not trust the police – this is why the police want to reach out to them – so they can help them.
There are other immigrants, from both white and non white cultures, who do not choose to join the police and the millitary. Why aren’t you and Adrian railing about all the British immigrants who refuse to put on a uniform?
“…when we talk about why minorities aren’t in the police force or the military, all you ever hear about is how it’s all Canada’s fault…”
This is where that reading comprehension thing might come in handy.
I did not say it was Canada’s fault. Nor do I take that from the article.
I am pretty sure the blame is being placed on corrupt police forces outside this country.
“So anyone can correct their typos if they really want to.”
I choose not to. Does that make me a bad person? (Maybe try posting from your Blackberry and get back to me. But thanks for proving what a petty little man you are).
Sheesh.
I did not say it was Canada’s fault. Nor do I take that from the article.
I do.
I choose not to. Does that make me a bad person?
No. It’s merely an option I offered you. Does that make me a bad person?
“I do.”
Yes, well we have already established you have some issues with reading comprehension.
“If you don’t pick the best person for the job regardless of who’s applied you’ll end up being a racist people… let merit be the deciding factor and not orginal nationality or color…”
They are not talking about affirmative action, they are talking about recruiting people from different cultural and racial backgrounds.
In case you are unaware, they are not one and the same. No one is saying they should choose an underqualified person just because of their race, gender, or religion.
In Toronto they hire almost any woman or immigrant/ minority that shows up. They reduced standards for these people so that they couldn’t turf them.
Really? Any woman or immigrant?
Got a link for that?
Gayle:
I’m not railing against them at all and so far as I can tell neither is Adrian. I don’t care if they join the police or not, they’re free to pursue whatever career they want.
My issue is with enforcing ethnic quotas in hiring decisions.
Sure, maybe it would be better to hire more minorities, but shouldn’t we focus on hiring people who are the best for the job rather than basing our hiring on the colour of their skin? Who is to say that a white person isn’t going to make minorities feel more at ease than a minority?
Would an ethnically chinese police officer who is unable to speak mandarin be more qualified than a white police officer who could speak mandarin?
“My issue is with enforcing ethnic quotas in hiring decisions.”
That article says nothing about ethnic quotas or preferential hiring.
Did you ever consider they are looking for qualified people to apply? In fact, why on earth would you consider otherwise?
Maybe stick to the facts.
“Maybe stick to the facts.”
Adrian thinks facts are whatever he wants them to be. You should have said, “Stick to what was actually written in the article linked”.
As a Minoriti who speaks more than 3 asian languages, wanted to join before but after hearing stories from members inside, screw it. Don’t want to bring in details incase they knock on the door. And as far as for whatever reasons, many visible minorities don’t want to sign up for the work, all I can say is they are commanded by their parents to become Doctor, engineers, teachers or lawyer, and they don’t trust the police. Its sad to see the good cops share the corrupted images created by the bad apples of all ranks.