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Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union - Open Society ...

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A large number of Polish migrants have settled <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> City and Holbeck area ofWest Yorkshire <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United K<strong>in</strong>gdom. Recogniz<strong>in</strong>g this trend and hop<strong>in</strong>g to encouragebetter communication, a group of local police officers took a twelve-week Polishlanguage and culture course delivered by Polish students at a local university. Officersattended a weekly lesson and reported enjoy<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> classes. The course provided enoughPolish for officers to greet and have simple conversations <strong>in</strong> Polish, and communicateimportant <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>in</strong> an emergency.The Basic Skills Agency, <strong>in</strong> association with South Wales Police and Cardiff CityCouncil’s ESOL Service, has produced “Police ESOL,” a course that teaches English as itbuilds relationships between law enforcement officers and communities where Englishis not <strong>the</strong>ir first language.UNITED KINGDOMPolice ESOLIn 2003, <strong>the</strong> Basic Skills Agency, <strong>in</strong> association with South Wales Police and CardiffCity Council’s ESOL Service, has produced “Police ESOL”; an English languagetra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g pack for English Speakers of O<strong>the</strong>r Languages (ESOL). 234 “Police ESOL” wasorig<strong>in</strong>ally designed with a view to streng<strong>the</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>ks with <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g numberof asylum seekers liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Wales, but has s<strong>in</strong>ce been expanded to develop Englishlanguage skills <strong>in</strong> order to improv<strong>in</strong>g communication between <strong>the</strong> police and black,Asian and m<strong>in</strong>ority ethnic communities. Police ESOL is a course <strong>in</strong> which policeparticipate teach<strong>in</strong>g English thus build<strong>in</strong>g relationships between law enforcementofficers and communities. It focuses on provid<strong>in</strong>g students with practical knowledgeabout law and polic<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United K<strong>in</strong>gdom, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> police structure,domestic violence, racism and deal<strong>in</strong>g with an emergency. Each session is <strong>in</strong>tendedto give students confidence <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> police, a sense of what <strong>the</strong>y do and an understand<strong>in</strong>gof United K<strong>in</strong>gdom laws, while develop<strong>in</strong>g core written and spoken Englishskills. Build<strong>in</strong>g a more direct relationship between <strong>the</strong> police and m<strong>in</strong>ority communitieswho are learn<strong>in</strong>g English can reduce <strong>the</strong> fears that have traditionally preventedracial <strong>in</strong>cidents or domestic violence from be<strong>in</strong>g reported and can allow those participat<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g to raise issues of local concern with officers.Specialized UnitsSpecialist units with particular skills are created to respond to specific issues and/or communities at times of need. (These are dist<strong>in</strong>guished by <strong>the</strong>ir more operationalfocus and approach from <strong>the</strong> diversity units discussed <strong>in</strong> Chapter VII which are created154 COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND INVOLVEMENT

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