An obvious solution that would force change to happen

A good start to making those in authority treat all diverse members of society (criminal, innocent or suspected) equally would be to include visible minorities as hired law enforcement. Yes, there are currently police officers who are not just white – but when you look at the statistics there is definitely room for improvement in including a range of nationalities among those who protect and serve.



In 2006, the Law Commission of Canada stated that "…in spite of concerted efforts to increase diversity in police services in Canada, women, members of visible and ethnic minority groups, as well as Aboriginal peoples, remain significantly underrepresented, compared to their representation in the communities being policed" (based on 1996 Census data). Data from the 2006 Census show that, for Canada as a whole, this continues to be the case for visible minorities and women.

Although this picture may look strange at first, I urge you to analyze why it forces you to do a double take - is it because there are hardly any officers of the Muslim nationality? The turban the clearly represents another culture? Is it the fact that a job that is so exclusively "Canadian" is being performed by somebody who does not appear to be born in Canada? If the reason was any of these suggestions, my point as to how minorities are not as readily included in law enforcement has been proven.