February 2006 such advice from an independent perspective, and not simply approve of whatever the police propose. Membership should reflect the diverse ethnic composition of the local community. d) Joint police-communit y workshops. Such workshops would bring together police and people from the community to work together on problem-solving related to specific issues in police-community relations. Participants should be small in number, and carefully selected as persons who can contribute to the solution of a defined problem or issue. This format can also be used for training purposes, to increase mutual understanding and to improve methods of co-operation generally. A skilled facilitator should be engaged to act as moderator for such events. e) Community contact points at police stations. These should be staffed with officers from the various ethnic backgrounds, and should provide information to persons belonging to national minorities about legal procedures and about opportunities for recruitment into the police, as well as serving as a 'public reception room' where such persons can address issues of concern to the police. Contact points could also be established in regional and city police headquarters, and in police academies and training schools. In addition, 'open days' could be organized in police stations and other establishments at which tours could be provided (including for schoolchildren), and these could be particularly targeted at persons from national minorities. f) Dedicated patrol officers regularl y visiting particular communities. At local police stations, particular officers could be assigned responsibility for developing and maintaining contact with each national minority in the area. In addition to being the contact person for the minority within the police station, they should make regular patrols in and visits to the localities in which persons from such minorities live (including visits to schools), and they should establish personal contact and trust with members of such communities as widely as possible. In this way the police can ensure they are in touch with the needs and concerns of the widest possible range of people from national minorities, and establish lines of communication and relationships of mutual understanding and trust. Methods of these kinds need to be used at all levels: national, regional and local. Both the personnel and issues will differ according to the level. For example, at national 26