Multicultural Law Enforcement: Strategies for Peacekeeping in a Diverse Society, Second Edition

• NCJ Number: 192933
• Author(s): Robert M. Shusta; Deena R. Levine; Philip R. Harris; Herbert Z. Wong
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 476 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice Hall Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Overview Text
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This text examines the multicultural issues facing the police today and in the future and provides guidance on how police can work more effectively with specific cultural groups inside their organizations as well as in the community.

Abstract

The book’s five sections focus on the implications of a multicultural society for law enforcement, both within and outside the police agency, training in cultural understanding for law enforcement, cultural specifics for law enforcement, response strategies for hate crimes, and cultural effectiveness for police. Individual chapters describe the changing population that law enforcement representatives encounter, differing opinions about diversity, prejudice and its effect on police work, racial profiling, and community policing. They also discuss demographic changes in law enforcement agencies in terms of ethnic and racial groups, policewomen, and homosexuals; the need for flexibility in leadership styles; and challenges in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of police personnel from various racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. Additional chapters discuss law enforcement contacts with specific cultural groups, including Asian Americans, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Arab Americans and other Middle Eastern Groups, and native American Indians. Further chapters focus on the nature of hate crimes and bias-related violence, the reporting and tracking of hate crimes, investigation and control of these crimes, and victimology related to hate crimes. The final chapters consider the emerging role of police officers within a 21st century multicultural society; police professionalism and peacekeeping in a diverse society; and selected strategies for use in a multicultural society, including community policing, creative crime prevention among youth, the curbing of litigation against police officers, and planned policing innovations. The analysis emphasizes the need for police professionalism, tolerance, and understanding of diversity and for leadership styles that respect the pluralism of society. Figures; table; chapter discussion questions and reference lists; glossary; index; and appended attitude assessment survey instrument, needs assessment instrument, self-assessment of communication skills, and resource lists