Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies RECOMMENDATIONS ON POLICING IN MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETIES I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 1. States should adopt policies which clearly recognize the importance of policing for inter-ethnic relations. These policies should form part of wider policies and programmes to promote the integration of minorities at national and local levels. They should also be co-ordinated with wider action to promote professionalisation and a service-orientation in policing, and to ensure that all policing is carried out in accordance with international standards on human rights, including rights of persons belonging to minorities. 2. States will need to ensure that the police and the general public, including minorities, understand the role of the police in promoting good inter-ethnic relations. They will also need to ensure that the police are tasked and equipped to carry this role out. Political and police leaders should publicly state their support for this role, and promote understanding and support for it generally among the public. 3. Action plans to implement these policies, and also to monitor their implementation on a regular basis, should be developed by state authorities and police in close co-operation with minority representatives. 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. 5. Statistical targets should be set for increasing the representativeness of the police, and monitoring of the ethnic composition of the police should be introduced in order to measure progress. 5