February 2006 Given the specific issues affecting them, some police officers from minority backgrounds may feel there are benefits in coming together to form their own professional associations. Police authorities should in principle support such initiatives, and be willing to facilitate their establishment. Formation of such associations is a human right, and they can provide mutual personal support for minority police especially when they are small in numbers and geographically isolated. They can also provide a channel of communication between the police authorities and police officers from minority backgrounds, and a source of valuable advice to the authorities on minority issues. The authorities should ensure that members of the wider majority understand the reasons for the formation of such associations, and that they appreciate that such associations can help to provide a more secure foundation on which the integration of police officers from minority backgrounds into the organization can be built. However, there should be no compulsion on these police officers to join or form such associations, as some may not wish to affirm their minority identity in this way. Particular care needs to be taken over the posting and deployment of police officers from minority backgrounds. These police officers should not be recruited specifically to work in their own communities: they should be recruited to become generic professional police officers who are capable of working with all sections of society. Nonetheless, in States where minorities tend to be concentrated in particular localities or regions, most police officers from minority backgrounds are likely to be recruited in such regions and to work in them. As noted under Recommendation 4 above, this brings important benefits to the police organization in terms of community awareness, contacts and public confidence. However, such officers should always be regarded first and foremost as generic police officers, and then secondly as ones whose particular minority background may qualify them for undertaking particular roles or contributing certain skills. Police officers from minority backgrounds should not be pressured to work in minority areas or communities, and indeed should be encouraged to gain experience through working in mixed areas or communities other than their own. When these police officers do work in their own communities, managers should always aim to deploy them where possible in ethnically mixed teams. As already noted, the types of initiatives and changes set out above call for a fundamental shift in the culture of the police - from a mono-cultural to a multicultural organization - and for other fundamental aspects of police reform, including the professionalisation of the police and the development of a 'public-service' orientation. The process of cultural change needs to be carefully managed, so that the 18