Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies open-minded and progressive organization. If there have been mistakes or failures, these should not be concealed, but analysed for the positive lessons that can be learned for the future. Developing and implementing such policies is not a task that should be undertaken quickly, but needs to be based on a step-by-step approach over a period of time. 3 II. RECRUITMENT AND REPRESENTATION 4. The composition of the police - at local, regional and national levels and including senior as well as junior ranks, and also civilian personnel - should reflect the diversity of the population. The public image of the police as an ethnically representative body needs to be actively promoted. Equitable representation of minorities in the police organization is important for several reasons: a) As an indicator that members of all ethnic groups have equal opportunity as individuals to join and progress in careers in the police; b) As a way of promoting integration of minorities through their participation in the public life of the state and its institution s; 4 c) As a way of providing the police organization internally with a range of knowledge and skills (including language skills) that are required for working in an ethnically diverse community; d) As a means of helping police to build relationships externally with minority communities based on effective communication, co-operation and mutual confidence. For all of these reasons, increasing the representativeness of the police should be regarded as a major priority. This has been endorsed in Opinions of the Council of Europe Advisory Committee for the Framework Convention on National Minorities. 5 3 For further information and advice on implementing police reform programmes see the Council of Europe's Police and Human Rights Programme, and in particular the publication: Policing in a Democratic Society - Is Your Police Service a Human Rights Champion? Available at http://www.coe.int/t/e/human_rights/police/2._publications/ 4 See the OSCE HCN M Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life & Explanatory Note (1999), available in several languages at http://www.osce.org/hcnm/documents.html 5 Available at http://www.coe.int/T/E/human_rights/minorities/ 13