Belgium, like many European nations is experiencing an influx of thousands of immigrants. The history of immigration is usually characterized by gaps between newly arrived people and existing power structures such as the police and judiciary systems. The European Union has launched a EUR 600,000 campaign which is aimed at increasing the number of immigrants in police forces on the continent. Despite the campaign, the Belgian police force is only comprised of about 2% of its members who derive from immigrant backgrounds. The latest recruitment of 45 officers and inspectors only has one police officer who is of immigrant descent. However, 20% of those who applied for the police force were of immigrant background.
The most crucial factor in failing to hire more police from immigrant backgrounds remains the language factor. Perhaps, Belgium can learn from the US Army language school in Monterey, California which historically has done an excellent job in developing language skills in a short period of time. Belgium might make use of this approach to handle the problem.