Saluting One of Our Own: Community Faculty Member John Harrington Honored for Diversity Work
January 28, 2013
Harrington was presented with an appreciation award for his work with the Asian-American community. Read the article here:
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/179593071.html?refer=y
What work remains undone for urban chiefs? Please share your thoughts.
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CJS-360 Diversity Issues 
This is awesome to hear. Harrington is a great professor. I am glad to say that I have had him as a professor. This relates to my Diversity Issues class. Currently we read a chapter in the book: Color of Justice. It was chapter four- Justice on the Street? The Police and Racial and Ethnic Minorities. It related to issues around the police and ethnic minorities. It also looked more in depth such as racial profiling. It is known that Harrington is always out in the community working on relationships. I believe that the police and the public should learn from each other and have communication and it should not matter about the ethic background of the individual.
I was very excited to read this article. Living in St. Paul during his tenure as Chief, I know Chief Harrington was very involved in the communities promoting diversity and unity. His work should be the framework for all urban police chiefs. Diversifying their police force to meet the ethnic population of the cities and communities they serve. In this day and age, it is crucial that criminal justice professionals understand the people they serve on a more cultural level. America has become a melting-pot of different races and cultures and in order to effectively protect and serve our people, we need to understand our people. In my Diversity Issues class, the current reading, Chapter 4- Justice on the Street?, from the Color of Justice by Walker, Spohn and Delone, relates directly to Harrington’s work. The chapter talks about the different racial and ethnic minorities and how they view police and police practices and their trust in police. Harrington has created a more positive image and more trust in the St. Paul Police Department by working hard to understand different ethnic groups in St. Paul, and creating a police force that looks like the population of St. Paul. The is key to effective police work is understanding it’s community and the people they serve.
Great post Bryt Tyner, I agree with you about Harrington. He has always been involved within the community especially when it comes to the topic of diversity. Now in the twenty first century we see diversity becoming more involved within the criminal justice field. But on one hand diversity is still an issue that needs to be dealt with. Several individuals from different ethnic backgrounds do not trust the police. Why might this be? Well, it might be because the individual does not speak English, because they fear the police (which leads to them not want to report crime), or because they do not nderstand the role police officers play (See Walker, Spohn, and Delone, pg. 135, 2012). Harrington has gone out within the community and tried to unite individuals. I believe with all the efforts that he has made has increased the amount of ethnic backgrounds displaying positive outcomes with the police. It is key for effective policing. It is important to have a changing America. This means bringing police and individuals with ethnic backgrounds together. One way to do this is COP (community oriented policing). I believe that community oriented policing is a great tool that should be used in all departments. What do you think?
This article was very moving. I think it was very touching that Harrington influenced Yang to grow up and want to serve his community as a Hmong officer. I think it is important that the police force’s diversity reflect the population of the community that they serve. In the book The Color of Justice, it talks about how there are fewer victimizations in the Asian population than any other. This makes it difficult because when they are victimized, they do not necessarily feel comfortable or a good rapport with the police force. The Color of Justice also talks about how minorities are seriously underrepresented in supervisory ranks. It was interesting that Harrington stated that regretted the fact that no Asian officers were promoted to the rank of sergeant under his watch. It shows that he wished they had, but for whatever reason didn’t. I think it is important that minority races stick together to help each other advance in positions of power and employment in general because they can relate to each other. Not necessarily by culture but by the discrimination factor, as well as being a minority. I think this article shows how our culture is trying to move forward and represent us as a whole and not just one group representing us all.
Great to hear this about Chief Harrington . I know first hand how important it was for the Chief to be more responsive and reflective of the communities in St Paul. Just like in the book ” The Color of Justice” outlines how important it is to have a diversity with in law enforcement. New immigrants often have reluctance to report crime and have fear of the police because of cultural differences. If we had more Harringtons in the world, Walker, Spohn and Delone wouldn’t be making a Sixth Edition of their book.
This is great to hear about Chief Harrington being acknowledged for his continuous efforts in the law enforcement community. By Chief Harrington receiving this award it shows that police agencies can work with the community to break down cultural barriers and misunderstandings. As explained in chapter 7 “Exclusion, Inclusion, and Crime: Immigrants and Criminal Justice” that Asains are looked upon as immigrants and inferior and whites are not because “whites were here first.” The Asain population is growing greatly, and there is a need for Asain police officers to help people of their same culture understand the laws and procedures of law enforcement which in return lower the rate of Asain immigrants becoming offenders or victims.
This is a great story of how Chief Harrington worked towards a more diverse police force. Having a more diverse police force can help translate into less biased policing from officers of that force. It can also improve the relationship that a police force has with the communities and populations that it helps to serve. Having diverse officers can also impact how individuals are treated by police and can impact how those individuals enter into the criminal justice system from the very first phase. That initial interaction can have lasting effects on an individual and the way that their case is handled all the way until their court trail.
I agree with you. John Harrington labored relentlessly to bring the old traditional mind set of the st.Paul police department to modern way of policing. He was very good in respecting people and his students. He was my instructor a couple of years ago before he resigned as a chief of St.Paul Dept.
I may be biased towards this comment but I have had the privilege to having chief harrington as an instructor. He made many good points on why it is a good idea to implement a diverse police force. Communities such as St. Paul, Minneapolis, Bloomington, and many more have very diverse and ethnic communities. Some of these communities find it hard to trust police officers and the criminal justice system. Having a diverse police force bridges these gaps, and builds stronger relationships within the community. These relationships can be vital to building trust, crime deterrence, and overall safer communities. I forsee police forces taking Chief harringtons approach on building up their work force with more diverse members to meet these needs. The criminal justice system needs to look at this and apply to all aspects to within the system.
FBarukzoy
Sept 09, 2013
From 2002 to 2005 I worked as a parking enforcement officer for the City of St.Paul under the direction of chief John Harrington. His dedication in the field of community oriented policing is unparalleled . He assigned a task force to deal with diversity issues within the police department. I received an award from him for the top tagger , I issued more than 15000 citations in 2004 as a parking enforcement officer; he recognized me for it and encouraged me to continue working with St.Paul Police department. He was not only a great chief but a great leader in miminizing prejudicial treatment in the community. His method of dealing with crimes without preferential treatmen or bowing down to the rich segement of the society. He played a major role in the reconciliation of oppressed neighboors with the department. Community oriented policing came into practical existence during his tenure. He played as a ” gatekeeper” to the criminal justice system that is outlined in chapter 4 of the diversity in Criminal justice . He accomplished a lot of what he promised to do for the city of St.Paul through his transparent, skilled communication and that what is needed today to solve many diversity related crimes. I congratulate him for his award for his superb service and work with the Asian community.
It is great to read something positive in the news! I’m happy to see Chief Harrington be recognized and honored for his achievements in diversity. It is so important that we continue to learn about each other, different races, cultures, etc. This country will only continue to grow more and more diverse so we might as well get used to it and learn how to get along, sooner than later. Having police departments continue to train in diversity issues and be aware of others is a very positive step. I hope that all communities, big or small, will take Chief Harrington’s example.
This article really did have a huge impression on me. I think one of the most important things for a police department to have is diversity among the force. By having a diverse police department it is a fantastic way to become closer to the community. Our community is built up of many minorities with different cultures and for the community to have someone in the law enforcement to relate to can make community policing even more effective. I commend Harrington for his efforts as well as success in creating a more diverse police force. He should be set as an example and role model to all. It is acts and ambitions like the ones Harrington accomplished that will make our community come together as a whole.I commend Chief Harrington for his outstanding acts and hope that we all can learn that everyone can make a difference.
With Chief Harrington having the time to talk about the Asian-American community it is very astonishing about how much he appreciates the Asian community. Knowing the Hmong, Yang and his family came from a place where there was no ideal image of policing the way America polices. With Minnesota being such a diverse and having one of the largest populations of minorities, it is interesting how he brought to mind about how much he appreciated the Asian community. I believe without the Asian community there to help out, it would be a challenge for Harrington to achieve his goals with dealing with the Asian community. I can see this have a great progression by seeing more and more minorities in the law enforcement field. I hope to see much more change in the future. I am looking forward to seeing this happen.
This article stood out to me because as a role model, the tried his best to reach out to as many communities as he can to get everyone involved in what he was trying to accomplished as his time being Chief. If he was able to make an impact on Jimmy Yang, I am pretty sure that he has made an impact onto most of the communities that he has served. I think that his doing of trying to reach out to the communities to try to reduce the amount of crimes and misunderstandings of the police officers and the communities that are having a hard time speaking English to understand that the police are there to help and not to harm.
I am very proud to hear about Chief Harrington success with the Asian Community. I took his Gang class and enjoyed it. Harrington is such a great person and the work that he has done within the Asian Community is impressive. I live in St. Paul and I am also a Hmong Woman, I appreciate what Chief Harrington has done to better my community and hope that one day I can do the same. Yang’s story was very touching also. I am glad that he took a different route growing up because of Harrington speech.