JOURNAL OF BUSINESS DIVERSITY
Cultural Implications of a Study of Police Communication With Minorities
Author(s): Halil Asllani, John R. Fisher
Citation: Halil Asllani, John R. Fisher, (2021) "Cultural Implications of a Study of Police Communication With Minorities," Journal of Business Diversity, Vol. 21, Iss. 3, pp. 52-62
Article Type: Research paper
Publisher: North American Business Press
Abstract:
Recent protests and riots around the globe have renewed the call for police reform. While police reforms could benefit the police and the public, police training in cultural awareness, racial biases, and communications may result in better and faster changes in police attitudes and approaches for working with minorities. This study suggests that non-police public safety personnel perceive a greater need for police training than the police. The study examined the police relationship and their communication with minority populations as perceived by Kosovo police (N=20) and other public safety personnel (N=24). Respondents answered a quantitative survey. Although not statistically significant, it appears that most police respondents didn’t recognize that cultural barriers exist between minorities and police, and they didn’t feel a strong need for cultural training. On the other hand, other public safety personnel showed greater support for cultural training, recognizing that cultural barriers do exist between police and minorities. Both groups agreed that trust is more important than speaking the same language when working with minorities.
