Barriers to Achieving Ethnic Diversity in the Norwegian Police Service

The police are perceived as being one of the most interesting and challenging organizations in which to study diversity because of the police's symbolic meaning, visible role in society, legitimate power, and contact with all citizens. Even though many reports and studies have addressed diversity within the police, few have investigated recruitment, retention, and promotion of diversity in the police profession across nations from a policy perspective (van Ewijk, 2012). This article reviews studies of ethnic diversity in Norwegian police education and in the Norwegian Police Service (NPS). The studies are discussed in light of the most recent action plan and policy documents on diversity in the NPS. Our aim is to contribute an updated account of the barriers to achieving ethnic diversity in the NPS through the recruitment, retention, and promotion stages. The findings suggest that diversity work may be aimed at the immigrant students' respective communities and families as well as the internal student environment at the Norwegian Police University College to address recruitment and retention issues. Strategic leader promotion of diversity in the NPS can be increased by developing recruitment procedures for police leader education, as practiced at the bachelor level, as well as by looking into selection practices by police leaders. Finally, even though action plans are in place, they have not necessarily been evaluated. Without systematic evaluation, it is difficult to ascertain whether and/or to what extent the aims for diversity in the NPS have been met and which measures have proved effective.