NYPD Working to Improve Its Diversity

The New York Police Department says it’s attracting a growing number of officers who were born outside the United States.

The department has been working to improve its diversity. It began tracking officers’ nationalities in July 2006.

Of the 5,593 hired since then, 1,042 were foreign-born.

They came to the U.S. from 88 countries.

The Dominican Republic leads with 263 officers. Other contenders: Haiti, 78; Jamaica, 59; Pakistan, 29; and Russia, 18.

Commissioner Raymond Kelly says understanding different languages and cultures makes it easier for officers to do their “complex and demanding” work.

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