Steve Burns
WMAL.com
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. – (WMAL) Prince William County Police Chief Barry Barnard is just five weeks into his new job, but is already pushing to add some diversity to his force.
“It’s important that law enforcement reflect the community they serve,” Barnard told WMAL. “It’s really all about building trust. We’re all unique individuals, of course. But when people have common experiences I think that helps build trust.”
Prince William is now a majority-minority community, with a 45% white population. Those numbers, Barnard said, are not reflected within the force.
“The African-American population in Prince William County is about 20%. About 7% of our sworn staff is African-American.” Barnard said similar disparities exist in Hispanic and Asian categories.
They’re reaching out to places like historically black colleges and universities, job fairs with strong minority representation, and black churches to bolster their recruitment efforts, Barnard said.
“I’m not shy about talking about it. I think we need to discuss it,” Barnard said. “We are underrepresented in these categories.”
Barnard also said he is relaxing the department’s tattoo policy. Under previous rules, excessive tattoos were not allowed. Now, only offensive tattoos and facial tattoos are outlawed.
“We don’t want to have people who are otherwise well-qualified who don’t come to see us simply because they have a tattoo they think may prohibit them from being hired.”
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Arlington County Police)
