POLICIA

Please join us for our third debate of the 2009 Spring semester on Wednesday, March 11th at 8:00 pm at The Honors Building, 714 21st St, to debate

Resolved: Police forces should be ethnically representative of their communities

Modern society's rapidly integrating communities has provided police departments across much of the country with a cultural problem: whether a police department should be representative of its district? The role of police is to protect and serve their communities. Conflict between police and their communities can arise from unresolved political, racial, cultural or ethnic differences and can instigate violent confrontation. While tension will always exists between the law enforcer and the law breaker, does an ethnically representative police force minimize the potential for racial or ethnic violence? Joining a police force in order to protect one's community is a noble profession. Some argue that all a good police force needs is willing volunteers and strong training. They suggest that a quota system of any sort would lower the standards of the force. However, others believe that communities are likely to be more receptive to an ethnically representative force. Thus, can a racially mixed force decrease corruption and brutality, or is the wrong approach to a problem that demands another solution.

This is sure to rile up some opinions.