COLOGNE, Germany, April 29 (UPI) -- Germany says it is recruiting police officers from the country's immigrant communities to better reflect the nation's cultural diversity.
The aim is to change the demographics of the police in a country were 9 percent of the population is immigrant and 20 percent have some sort of migrant background, Deutsche Welle reported Friday.
It's only natural this part of society should be represented in the police, said Heike Wachterowitz of the Cologne Police Force's recruitment department.
"These colleagues can help us understand foreign cultures and maybe even help us to see things through different eyes," he said.
However, recruiting police officers from the immigrant community has not been easy, with the estimated number of officers with a migrant background far less than the 7 percent Germany's interior minister set as a goal several years ago.
