Criminologists have often criticised police for not reflecting society’s diversity in its staffing profile, but this is not really a significant issue as it does not impact on policing practices. Do you agree with this statement, why or why not?
Australia is a highly diverse country, that prides itself in being a place of acceptance and fairness. While that is correct for society, there is one place where diversity is lacking; the Australian police force. Consisting mainly of Anglo-Saxon, heterosexual males, the police has always been this way for a long period of time. But with the changing times, the police has been criticised for a lack of diversity in its staffing profile. With a small proportion of staff as women, or of an ethnic background, …show more content…
With the decriminalisation of male-to-male sexual acts in Queensland in 1990 (Robinson, 2010 p. 42) causing the acts to be legal across the entirety of Australia, the steps to equality had already been made a long period of time before the present day. Yet with the legal, and growing social, acceptance of homosexuality, people of same-sex attraction are still treated with discrimination, both in the police towards officers and by the police towards citizens. The root cause of this discrimination, as suggested by Hayes and Dwyer (2011), stems from the highly masculine, heterosexual male culture that exists internally in the police force. This culture aims its prejudices and homophobia mainly at the gay male population, with some men being wrongly and unjustifiably accused of being “pedophiles and being immoral and illegal” (Hayes and Dwyer, 2011 p. 15). As the discrimination occurs inside the force itself, it has inevitably caused it to affect the judgement of officers during their work. When faced with LGBT offenders, “most male officers have little or no compassion” (Haynes and Dwyer, 2011 p. 15) nor respect for those involved based solely on their sexual orientation. With the lack of compassion and discrimination, it is reasonable that the LGBT community is fairly careful in relation to …show more content…
By having the Australian police made up of just one population, there is much room for discrimination against those that aren’t a part of that demographic, causing the police to lose touch with society. Without diversity, the police can become insensitive and even intolerant to those they are supposed to be protecting, and without reflecting the diversity that exists in the public, they can lose the trust that they need. However, times are changing, and tolerance and diversity are becoming more common in the police force itself, and is being encouraged. With initiatives to recruit and maintain staff that are female, of the LGBT community and are culturally diverse, there seems to be a call to make the police more diverse in relation to the Australian society, and in turn, make the policing practices used by the police much more effective and trustworthy. By giving diversity to the police force, the connection between the community and the police can become stronger, making the community a safer, better protected place to live and be a part
Australia is a highly diverse country, that prides itself in being a place of acceptance and fairness. While that is correct for society, there is one place where diversity is lacking; the Australian police force. Consisting mainly of Anglo-Saxon, heterosexual males, the police has always been this way for a long period of time. But with the changing times, the police has been criticised for a lack of diversity in its staffing profile. With a small proportion of staff as women, or of an ethnic background, …show more content…
With the decriminalisation of male-to-male sexual acts in Queensland in 1990 (Robinson, 2010 p. 42) causing the acts to be legal across the entirety of Australia, the steps to equality had already been made a long period of time before the present day. Yet with the legal, and growing social, acceptance of homosexuality, people of same-sex attraction are still treated with discrimination, both in the police towards officers and by the police towards citizens. The root cause of this discrimination, as suggested by Hayes and Dwyer (2011), stems from the highly masculine, heterosexual male culture that exists internally in the police force. This culture aims its prejudices and homophobia mainly at the gay male population, with some men being wrongly and unjustifiably accused of being “pedophiles and being immoral and illegal” (Hayes and Dwyer, 2011 p. 15). As the discrimination occurs inside the force itself, it has inevitably caused it to affect the judgement of officers during their work. When faced with LGBT offenders, “most male officers have little or no compassion” (Haynes and Dwyer, 2011 p. 15) nor respect for those involved based solely on their sexual orientation. With the lack of compassion and discrimination, it is reasonable that the LGBT community is fairly careful in relation to …show more content…
By having the Australian police made up of just one population, there is much room for discrimination against those that aren’t a part of that demographic, causing the police to lose touch with society. Without diversity, the police can become insensitive and even intolerant to those they are supposed to be protecting, and without reflecting the diversity that exists in the public, they can lose the trust that they need. However, times are changing, and tolerance and diversity are becoming more common in the police force itself, and is being encouraged. With initiatives to recruit and maintain staff that are female, of the LGBT community and are culturally diverse, there seems to be a call to make the police more diverse in relation to the Australian society, and in turn, make the policing practices used by the police much more effective and trustworthy. By giving diversity to the police force, the connection between the community and the police can become stronger, making the community a safer, better protected place to live and be a part