That’s progress

Rules change could help law enforcement

AMarshallese proverb suggests there’s an essential connectivity in life. “Drops together make the ocean, and grains of sand together make an island,” the saying goes.

The phrase is a gentle reminder that the whole does not exist in and of itself, but of all the parts that make it up.

That was also the spirit behind recent proposals in the Arkansas Legislature that would have created a path by which Marshallese individuals could become law enforcement officers in the state.

Arkansas is home to some 15,000 people from the Marshall Islands, many of them living in Northwest Arkansas. They’re here, like so many of us, in pursuit of better lives for themselves and their families. In the case of the Marshallese, there’s also a special diplomatic relationship that exists between the sovereign island nation and the United States. Marshall Islanders can work, live and study in the United States without need of a visa. Many of them even serve in the United States military.

No man is an island, English poet John Donne told us. Even though the Marshall Islanders are a tightly knit community, they are and will be part of the greater Northwest Arkansas region. Without diminishing the wonderful connection they have to their islander culture, no person or group can long reside somewhere without becoming interwoven into the fabric of their new location.

Local law enforcement deals with everyone in the community. Language and cultural barriers notwithstanding, it’s vital that law enforcement is capable of understanding and responding to the needs of all population groups. One way to do that is to integrate members of the diverse populations within the region into law enforcement agencies. Legislation to make that possible has, so far, foundered, in some part due to questions about whether legislation is necessary to make it happen. Last week, word came from the state Department of Public Safety that a change in its rules, not legislation, could make it a reality that Marshallese candidates could become officers or deputies with local police departments and sheriffs’ offices.

It may not be a perfect fit, but it happens to address the primary concern of local leaders, who believe Marshallese officers can, through language and familiarity, bridge the gaps that have existed between the region’s more established populations and Marshall Islanders.

It’s great news for the efforts in Northwest Arkansas to create public services that reflect the communities they serve.