Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies benefits are gained as quickly as possible and organizational resistance is minimised. Leadership, commitment and skilled management by police officials at the highest levels are required for this purpose. 6 III. TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 8. Police need to receive training and other forms of professional support required to understand and respond appropriately to the sensitivities of minorities, and so that they carry out their policing roles effectively in ways which promote harmony and reduce tensions. Training is an essential, though by no means the only form of professional support that police require in order to be able to carry out their role effectively in multi-ethnic contexts. The aim of such training should be to provide police with the specific competences (i.e. awareness, knowledge and skills) that are required for working in such environments. A 'training needs analysis' should be carried out in order to identify these requirements. The main areas of need likely to be identified will include: cultural and religious awareness, mediation and community relations skills, language training, and training in human rights, including rights of persons belonging to national minorities. In multiethnic societies, all police should receive a minimum of training in these areas. However, the extent to which language training is required, and the precise content of cultural and religious awareness training, will depend on local circumstances. Experience shows that it is essential that such training should be practical and jobrelated. If the training is purely theoretical, it is likely to have little or no impact on behaviour even if cognitive learning takes place. The training needs to show police the relevance and practical implications of new knowledge and skills, and to demonstrate how these will assist them to carry out their role effectively and professionally and bring benefits to them in their everyday work. Care should also be taken before attempting to use training to directly change police attitudes, especially among experienced police officers. Among most adults, personal Further guidance on issues relating to recruitment and representation is included in the booklet published by the European Policing and Human Rights Platform: The Recruitment and Retention of Police 0fficers from Minority Communities, available at http://www.epphr.dk/downloads.htm. 6 19