Law Enforcement and Multicultural Society

Law Enforcement in a Multicultural Society Name: Institution: Law Enforcement is a controversial issue when one is in diverse societies where competing national identities, cultures and religion challenge the present order, and a peace officer has yet to develop the abilities to overcome its own prejudices and biases and engage with diversity. Diversity and multiculturalism are at the very center of the world, and accurately describe the demographics of any nation. The word multiculturalism does not describe a political force or a movement. It is simply a community comprised of many different racial and ethnic groups (Shushta, et al., 2008). Reactions to these changes in the world range from celebration and appreciation of diversity to a complete intolerance of differences. The aim of this paper is to analyze the changing and emerging issues in peace officer strategies and roles within a multicultural society context. With every culture lies a massive amount of diverse perspectives and backgrounds. Law enforcement officers face the complexities and challenges of a diverse community. Although the nation is rich with diversity, many law enforcement procedures and interactions with the public can be complicated by diversity. Lack of knowledge of differences in culture can result in unintentional violation of a person’s rights. Officers, more than others, must make sure that they place their prejudices in check and refrain from acting on biased thoughts. Law enforcement officers need to understand the overlap between ethnicity and race and that many people consider themselves as multiracial (Oliver, 2001). For instance, a black Latino, such as an individual from Brazil, may identify himself as both Latino and black. Additionally, law enforcement officers should be aware of ethnic flash points, which are created once immigrants move to an area that is economically depressed with diverse and large populations. A few people feel that immigrants shifting to...