New diversity campaign launched by police this week

The police department launched a new campaign this week with the aim of attracting more diverse candidates to become police officers. The campaign includes real police officers sharing their experiences. “The campaign is also aimed at people who are not yet thinking of the police as a career path,” Martin Sitsalsing, portfolio manager for diversity at the police said in a statement on the organization's website. 

“We desperately need those different backgrounds. As an officer, you represent yourself in different neighborhoods and when making contact with citizens. You bring everything you have,” he said.

The police force is becoming more diverse, but somewhat slowly. Last year, the percentage of aspiring officers in the Randstad region with an ethnically diverse background rose from 17% in 2020 to 23% in 2021, according to the Cultural Diversity Barometer of Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Nationally, this figure was 16% in 2020 but increased to 19% in 2021.

Approachability is the police force’s main concern fuelling their latest campaign. “In order to do our work effectively, we as a police force must be recognizable and approachable. We utilize each other’s differences and qualities. Diversity is therefore not a fad for us, but a pure necessity,” expressed Sitsaling. 

The campaign aims to help in attracting more than 2,000 new officers per year. The message will be “All you have in you,” and uses the stories of six real-life officers from diverse cultural and social backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender, age, and life experiences. 

The number of employees who leave the police force is 4-5% lower in comparison to similar organizations, according to the CBS. Of this figure, the percentage of employees with a diverse background accounts for 11% of the total outflow. This is lower than the intake percentage (18%) meaning that the force is generally retaining diverse employees. 

While the police force usually receives more applications than posted vacancies, the tight labor market means police employers must try hard to find suitable candidates. “Quality always comes first, but we simply don’t reach enough people with diverse backgrounds. They experience barriers or mistakenly think that police work is not for them. They do not consider the police as a potential employer.”