4:59 am | Posted by Webmaster

Experts: Cultural diversity in law enforcement must increase

Police officers from Somali and other ethnic communities are needed in Finland, believes Jari Taponen, the head of crime prevention at the Helsinki Police Department, after a visit to Minnesota, the United States.

“Minnesota has the world’s largest Somali community living in a diaspora. Crime there decreased by 30 per cent after the community got its first police officer of Somali descent,” tells Taponen.

The state currently has roughly two dozen police officers of Somali descent. Understanding between communities has increased and tensions have abated. Radicalisation has similarly declined since al-Shabab inspired a large group of people to leave the state eight years ago. While some 150 people have reportedly left the United States with the intention of entering Iraq or Syria, a minimum of 60 are believed to have left Finland.

Their actions in the conflict-ridden region remain unknown to some extent.

“In Minnesota, the number did go up during our visit. Six youngsters were arrested on suspicion of plans to join an extremist group. If they’re found guilty, the local punishments will be long prison terms. This case wasn’t exactly what we were there to learn,” says Aaro Rytkönen, the director of advocacy at Finn Church Aid.

Roughly half of the two dozen participants in the study visit organised by Finn Church Aid were Muslims. The participants also included civil servants from a variety of government agencies and religious backgrounds.

In addition to promoting cultural diversity in law enforcement, the participants would adopt other best practices from Minnesota, such as establish an association for young Somalis, organise regular meetings with officials and encourage co-operation between religious communities.

The meetings, for example, would provide an opportunity to discuss concerns that may result in feelings of social exclusion.

“For example, police officers ensure that there’s enough parking spaces for everyone taking part in Friday prayers at a local mosque,” describes Rytkönen.

The United States, however, has yet to fully understand that the best way to get the message across is from within the community. This is what local youngsters firmly believed, according to Hunderra Assefa from the Young Muslims’ Association of Finland.

“The message from officials isn’t as convincing as that from community leaders in a debate on violent extremism,” Assefa views.

He welcomes the proposal for greater cultural diversity in law enforcement but also encourages officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, for example, to participate in preventive intervention work. “The foreign policy pursued by Western countries can provoke feelings of helplessness – and the media plays a big role in this as well. Talks with officials could reduce frustration,” says Assefa.

The integration of people of Somali descent is, as a principle, easier in the United States as the population has been built on immigration. Education and employment opportunities are also important: Both the employment rate and education level are higher among Somalis in Minnesota than in Finland.

Many of them are self-employed or work as shop assistants and taxi drivers.

Job-seekers who have faced rejection in the labour market one time too many are vulnerable targets to extremist recruiters. “Radicalisation is a new phenomenon here. Integration work has continued for some time, but now it’s time to raise co-operation between officials and communities to a new level. Our interests are the same. No member of a community wants people to join extremist movements,” stresses Taponen.