Journal of Police & Society

Journal: Journal of Police & Society: An Interdisciplinary Israeli Journal of Law Enforcement & Criminology Issue: No. 7 – Special Issue: Policing a Multicultural Society Date: April 2003 Source: Community & Civil Guard Department, Israel National Police Document No.: 242329 This document has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide online access, NCJRS has made this material available in electronic format. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. At the turn of the century, multicultural communities are a growing phenomenon globally and in many cities throughout the United States. The world has witnessed increasing transnational migration of large groups of people due to a variety of factors worldwide. This movement has resulted in changes in the ethnic and cultural makeup of communities that are the destinations and sources of the migration. These changes present challenges for criminal justice practitioners and policymakers in the affected communities. For example, some cultures will allow only women to be questioned by a female police officer. A male may refuse to cooperate with a female police officer. Men from some cultures carry a ceremonial dagger next to their skin, which they would be reluctant to remove. Communication may be a problem, as not everyone speaks the same language. Poor language skills and a lack of cultural sensitivity may lead to unintended violence. Cooperation with law enforcement officers within ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods may not be forthcoming. Recruitment and retention of an ethnically diverse police force is both a challenge and a necessity. Failure to address the challenges of policing in a multicultural society can result in misunderstandings, alienation, civil unrest, and violence. To address these challenges, NIJ, together with the Israel National Police's Community & Civil Guard Department, co-chaired a conference on policing a multicultural society. The meeting was held in Jerusalem, Israel, in March 2001. Presented here are papers prepared from this conference. They were published by the Israel National Police in a special edition of the journal Police and Society. NIJ has posted them to share information and the experiences of eight countries with practitioners and policymakers in the United States and other countries that face similar problems. Journal of POLICE & SOCIETY An Interdisciplinary Israeli Journal of Law Enforcement & Criminology SPECIAL ISSUE: “Policing a Multicultural Society” Published by the Community & Civil Guard Department, Israel National Police With the Assistance of: The National Security Studies Center - University of Haifa ,,.,. -{-..... ~... ""'"'~-::.. -1""Y"Q•;'f(- .,. --:··-.....~ ~ With special thanks to Professor James O. Finckenauer, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, and past Director, International Center, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for co-chairing the workshop in Israel, on “Policing a Multicultural Society”, which led to this special issue; to Alissa Huntoon, Daniel Tompkins, and Marvene O'Rourke of NIJ for editorial and coordination assistance; and to the National Institute of Justice for its support for the workshop and publication of this special issue. Issue No. 7 April 2003 Guest Editors: Edna Erez, Department of Justice Studies, Kent State University James O. Finckenauer, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University. Peter R. Ibarra, Department of Justice Studies, Kent State University Editors: Pinhas Yehezkeally, National Defense College, I.D.F. Orit Shalev, Lee Center Of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania Editorial Board: Menachem Amir, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Giora Rahav, Tel Aviv University David Weisburd, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Moshe Adad, Bar Ilan University Advisory Board: Israel Barak, Ministry of Public Security Ester Dominisini, Community and Civil Guard Dept. Israel Police Edna Erez, Kent State University Gideon Fishman, University of Haifa Shlomo Gal, Anti-Drug Authority (retired) Arie Ratner, University of Haifa Jacob Raz, Traffic Department, Israel Police Joseph Sedbon, Tel Aviv District, Israel Police Moshe Talgam, Israeli Society of Criminology Linguistic Editing: Anat Bashan Cover: Omer Resisi CONTENTS Edna Erez, James O. Introduction to the Special Issue on 5 Finckenauer, and Peter R. “Policing a Multicultural Society” Ibarra Philip C. Stenning CANADA: Policing the Cultural 13 Kaleidoscope: Recent Canadian Experience Simon Holdaway ENGLAND: Police Race Relations in 49 England and Wales: Theory, Policy, and Practice Lorraine Mazerolle, Elena AUSTRALIA: Policing the Plight of 75 Marchetti and Andrew Indigenous Australians: Past Conflicts and Lindsay Present Challenges Madelaine Adelman, ISRAEL: Policing Violence Against 103 Edna Erez and Minority Women in Multicultural Societies: Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian “Community” and the Politics of Exclusion Peter R. Ibarra USA: Contacts with the Police: Patterns and 133 Meanings in a Multicultural Realm Uwe Ewald and GERMANY: Multicultural Context, Crime 165 Thomas Feltes and Policing in Germany: Challenges After Unification Fran Buntman and SOUTH AFRICA: Policing in a Diverse 197 Rika Snyman and Multicultural Society: The South African Case William F. McDonald USA: The Emerging Paradigm for Policing 231 Multiethnic Societies: Glimpses from the American Experience Police & Society, 2003, Issue No. 7, pp. 5-12, 2003, Israel National Police, The Reprints Available From The Editorial Board Community And Civil Guard Department, Printed In Israel Introduction: Policing a Multicultural Society Edna Erez*, James O. Finckenauer**, and Peter R. Ibarra* * Kent State University, U.S.A. ** Rutgers University, U.S.A. Introduction The fall of the Iron Curtain, persistent regional conflicts, repression and political unrest, the opening of borders by previously closed societies, and a variety of trends related to globalization figure prominently in the world at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. A consequence of this international tumult has been the migration of large numbers of people from one place to another. This movement is changing the cultural diversity and the ethnic composition of both sending and receiving areas, in some cases transforming longstanding homogeneity. Countries that historically may have been less than welcoming to outsiders have suddenly become multicultural and multiethnic. In states that have undergone significant political change without a major influx of immigrants, no less profound shifts have altered features and expectations of, and demands on, societal institutions, including the police. These internal shifts have literally transformed the “policed” into the police; peoples who historically were the recipients of police actions and services have themselves become the police delivering those actions and services or have been placed in positions to review, revise, or otherwise influence policing policies and practices. The Challenge Notwithstanding differences in the previous postures taken by various jurisdictions toward immigrants and marginalized subjects, a common underlying question remains: What impact have these transnational trends had on institutions dedicated 5 Erez, Finckenauer and Ibarra Introduction to the Special Issue on Policing a Multicultural Society to the preservation of order and stability? Indeed, one of the societal institutions for which these emerging global patterns can be expected to have posed fundamental challenges is the police. The police in all societies are charged with maintaining public order and protecting public safety, and that generally means conserving the status quo in whatever form it may take. The police are inherently conservative in both their actions and their predispositions. They represent the vested economic and political interests and values of the societies in which they perform their policing duties. Where countries are changing and adding cultural and ethnic multiplicity, the police are most likely to be aligned with the old cultural and ethnic guard, or they may be perceived as such by new, or newly empowered, constituents. As a result, questions about the philosophy and practice of policing are ultimately liable to come under close and probing scrutiny. The police operate at “street level,” where they have direct contact with all who are involved in any way with law and public safety. In fact, the police represent the sole agency with which the vast majority of those who ever have any dealings with the criminal justice system come into contact. As a result, the police have enormous power to influence attitudes and public opinion about fundamental concerns regarding a political entity’s capacity to act in just, legitimate, and accountable ways. Police-community relations are shaped on the street and in the station houses, and it is there that such controversial practices as profiling and “zero tolerance” are enacted. Using their discretionary arrest powers, the police are also the gatekeepers of the criminal justice process. They determine who is subjected to the power of the law and who is not. Because of this unique role and powerful position in society, the police are likely both to influence and to be influenced by the social implications of migration and shifts in the political power of various communities. Rapid transformations in the relative heterogeneity of the population, and

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