Sunday, August 16, 2009
Police Minister Judith Collins wants to attract more ethnic-minority recruits to the police force - and hopes to enlist New Zealand's first Somali officer.
In a speech to new recruits in Auckland, Ms Collins said New Zealand was becoming more culturally diverse and the police force should reflect this.
Though police were successfully drawing more Maori, Pacific and Asian recruits, she believed they still needed more diversity and singled out the Somali community as an example.
"I think of the Somali community, which continues to grow, but we still have no Somali police officers," she told members of the Unitec police recruitment programme.
However, community leaders said young Somalis could not afford to join the police, and the Government needed to provide extra funding.
Adam Awad, of Wellington, said the cost of gaining swimming and first-aid certificates and joining a gym in order to successfully apply was beyond the reach of many Somalis.