Superintendent Karl Steinar Valsson believes the Icelandic police force has to mirror the increase of foreigners in society by recruiting immigrants.
According to Fréttabladid, Valsson said in other countries there are ethnic minorities within the police force to reach out to the ethnic minorities in society.
Gunnlaugur Snaevarr, a chief constable on the Police Academy’s selection committee, agrees. He told Fréttabladid that he would also like to see more foreign-born students enrolling to the Acamdemy.
But Snaevarr said the parliament needed to change the laws on admission conditions first, as good knowledge of written Icelandic is now required from applicants to the Academy.
Minister of Justice, Björn Bjarnason, said it was important to take the increase of immigrants in Iceland into consideration when making future decisions.
But, according to Fréttabladid, Bjarnason had not officially considered recruiting immigrants to the police before.
