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Mahatma's Name Invoked in Police Recruitment

A P Kamath in Princeton

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, New Jersey's first African American police chief Carson Dunbar urged minorities join the force to change it: "You must become the change you wish to see in the world," he declared passionately.

The newly appointed chief, Dunbar takes over the police force after a number of nationally publicised cases of police brutality against minorities and double standards in dealing with crime roiled the Republican government in the state.

Dunbar vowed early this week to "remake" the embattled New Jersey State Police, starting with a new cadet class composed of more women and minorities.

His announcement came as he, Governor Christie Whitman and Attorney General John Farmer Jr. announced an advertising and recruitment campaign aimed at attracting more minorities and changing the image of a force beset by racial turmoil.

Whitman believes the recruitment campaign would encourage more women and minorities to join and bolster public confidence in the force.

"We are making an added effort with this recruitment campaign to ensure that we have men and women from all communities represented in the state police," Whitman said. "We want the best and the brightest of women and minorities to join the state police to ensure that we have the type of diversity that's representative of our state."

"This campaign is all about bringing new life and new blood to this organisation," Whitman said.

Part of the $300,000 campaign are the ads for college graduates to pursue specialised careers that "suit all kinds of people" -- from helicopter pilots to forensic investigators.

Radio ads -- in English and Spanish -- beckon recruits to call a recruitment hotline. Newspaper ads stress "the satisfaction of truly helping your community."

Recruiters will visit festivals, colleges, churches, mosques and mandirs to speak with community leaders and prospective young men and women.

The declaration by Whitman and Dunbar was sweet music to the ears of such minority police officers as Bill Nathan who believe that minorities will not only be encouraged to join the policed but will be treated honorably.

One of the handful of Indian American police officers in New Jersey, the New Delhi-raised Nathan has a suit in the working against the police department. He says he has been denied promotion despite his exemplary record for nearly two decades.

"If they want more minorities such as Chinese, Korean and Indians, the bosses must make sure that we are treated well, and we are given good promotions," Nathan, who worked for the Princeton police department, said .

There are many instances of minority police officers being treated badly or taunted by their white colleagues. Nevertheless, the police departments and community leaders want to see more minority police officers. The leaders believe that the presence of minority police officers help many communities appreciate the work of the police. The presence of minority police officers also help the mainstream police officers understand the culture and concerns of ethnic communities.

"Many of our people are scared of dealing with white police officers," says Nathan. "It is an in-built fear but when they see a brown face, they will open up."

A few years ago, a young Indian woman was reported missing. But the parents clammed up when they saw a pair of white and African American police officers. It took Nathan a few minutes to coax out of them the information that their daughter was dating an American. After a few days, the police found out that the daughter had eloped because her parents would not give her the permission to marry the man of her choice.

Last month, New York launched a stout effort to recruit more minority police officers; during the India Day Parade and the Navratri celebrations, leaflets were distributed touting the opportunities for advancement in police force.

Now, New Jersey has launched a similar plan, even though New York got little response from the Indian American and other ethnic communities. There are about a dozen Indian police officers in the state.

"It will be wonderful to see some of our young men and women in the police force here and other states with big Indian population," says community leader Pradip Kothari. "But many of our parents still have a very negative image of policemen because of their experiences in India with corrupt police officers."

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, in his first public appearance Dunbar said he planned significant changes for the 2,700-member force. The police force today is 14 percent minority -- less than half of the state's minority population.

"We are going to remake this organization," Dunbar said. "This organisation is a tremendous organisation. It has a 78-year proud history. But we're going to make it even better."

He warned against the alleged practice of changing test scores to accommodate those with connections. The Attorney General's Office is currently investigating charges that that favoritism and nepotism have played a role in keeping many minority candidates out.

"I'm not going to tolerate that," Dunbar warned.

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