Public Safety
State Police reach out to diversify ranks
|
By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING – Lots of young people in Michigan want to be State Police troopers, but almost all of them are white men. The State Police, like law enforcement agencies across the country, are struggling to recruit minorities into their ranks. “The minority population, many of them, it’s not in their culture to become a police officer,” said Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the State Police. “When you look out at hiring, I would say that actually we’re blessed that we still get a lot of candidates, but we want to make sure that our workforce is diverse, too.”
Officials are working to broaden their appeal by becoming more visible to young people with diverse backgrounds.