Gardai told of multi-cultural policing

"Cops are real people, and real people make mistakes. Even the best intentions can lead to tragedy," a former lieutenant with the New York Police Department told a Garda conference yesterday.

Mr Robert J. Louden, director of the Criminal Justice Centre at John J College in New York, was addressing the second day of the Garda Siochana-organised conference, "Providing a Police Service in a Developing Multi-ethnic and Multi-cultural Ireland".

Against the background of the controversial Diallo murder case, in which a black African was shot dead by several white NYPD officers in February, he said that despite the city's long history of ethnic diversity, and the large amount its police force has learnt on policing a multi-cultural society, tragedies still happen.

As the officers in the Diallo case have been indicted and face trial, he told The Irish Times that he could not comment on whether a "mistake" occurred in the case.

New York has 40,000 police officers, 178 distinct cultures and, according to 1996 census figures, 56 per cent of its population are either foreign born or the children of foreign-born parents.

First and foremost, however, a police force should regard its community as one, albeit one in which there were many differences, said Mr Louden.

When he joined the NYPD in 1966, the son of an Irish Catholic family, he assumed all ethnic Italians were members of the Mafia.

"So, whenever I talked to an Italian I assumed they were going to try to bribe me or murder me . . . When I came into contact with the Jews in lower Manhattan, a lot still had memories of the Holocaust and were in absolute fear of police. Nobody told me that they didn't look at me as a helper, but as a potential enemy."

Since the 1960s the NYPD has initiated numerous programmes on socialisation of minorities within the force, consultation and dialogue with communities, ethnic differences and human rights.

Mr Louden stressed that the police must be equipped to keep themselves "safe" physically, legally and administratively.

Also speaking yesterday was Sgt Ray Whiting of London Metropolitan Police. From the borough of Lambeth, he described the steps his division has taken to improve relations with ethnic minorities. Most crucial was community interface, he said.

He, too, said that training on ethnic understanding cannot be simply a self-contained package.