Enhancing recruitment and retention of visible minority police officers in Canadian policing agencies

ABSTRACT

Given the challenges that police organisations continue to face in attracting visible minorities, this study reviews how minority police officers perceive the barriers they confront. The systematic review of the literature provided the initial framework to guide the interviews with 20 visible minority police officers in a medium sized police organisation in Western Canada. The results illustrate that this police organisation, like many others, is slow in changing its organisational culture. This was demonstrated through comments about some misguided recruitment practices where human resource officers are not able to generate interest from potential minority recruits. It was also demonstrated through comments about leadership’s inability to follow through on improving diversity. Thirdly, it was demonstrated through comments about job satisfaction and motivational issues. The findings point to reshaping recruitment, leadership and motivational practices as a way to better develop a more heterogeneous police culture. In re-engineering the recruitment process, a key message emphasises building relationships using ‘gatekeepers’. Changes in leadership practices might encourage transformational or shared types of leadership with structures for more engagement – teamwork, participation, and personal development. This may allow leaders and members to be involved in pursuing diversity goals and be internally motivated to carry them out. The findings also indicate that key motivators for minorities relate to community feedback, autonomy, career developmental opportunities and team relationships. These motivators build on police public service-like motivators (PSM’s) emphasising service to the larger community, a focus which might offer insights in responding to the diversity issues in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Recruitment and retention of minorities
• barriers to recruitment of minorities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Four main types of police service organisations exist in Canada: the federal police (the RCMP), provincial police forces (such as Ontario Provincial Police, Quebec Provincial Police, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary), municipal police (such as Calgary Police Service, Lethbridge Police Service, Saskatoon Police Service, Toronto Police Service), and Indigenous police (such as Blood Tribe Police in Standoff, AB). All agencies enforce federal legislation (most commonly the Criminal Code of Canada), selected provincial legislation (such as the Traffic Safety Act, Mental Health Act, and Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Act) as well as municipal by-laws in their particular jurisdiction. In all provinces, except Quebec, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador which have the provincial police forces, the RCMP is under contract with the province and acts as the provincial police. In several cases, the RCMP is contracted to work as the municipal police (i.e., Burnaby, BC; Red Deer, AB). The Indigenous communities that have their own police forces do so through tripartite agreements with their communities, the province and the federal government. There are other police services operated by the military and private companies (e.g., Canadian National Railway). Approximately 30 municipal police services have more than 200 members; of these 30 agencies, 9 have over 1000 members, and two are between 4500 to 6,000 members. As of 2019, there are just over 30,000 members of the RCMP in Canada; 19,000 of those members are police officers and 11,000 are civilian members. Many of these members, both officers and civilians, are working as RCMP municipal police forces.