LINCOLN- Over the past three years, the Omaha Police Department has intentionally increased the racial and ethnic diversity of its sworn officers, a move that department leaders believe is helping to solve and prevent crime as well as improve local police-community relations. Since 2012, the number of Omaha police personnel who are not White has grown from 17% to 22% this year, with 87 Black police officers and 91 Hispanic officers this year.

However, despite this growth in diversity, Sen. Terrell McKinney, who has worked in the Nebraska Legislature for police reform, said the recent growth is beneficial, but not enough. "I will never be against diversity and making sure we have diverse faces in positions of power," said McKinney, "But diversity to me doesn't mean anything if the system doesn't change itself. We still have a lot of issues with law enforcement...Just hiring a bunch of Black people or Native people or Latino people doesn't change the fact that the system of policing still needs some change."

According to Todd Schmaderer, Omaha Police Chief, however, Omaha will continue to push for more diversity. Schmaderer stated that the Omaha Department is currently working with the Black Police Officers and Latino Peace Officers Associations, as well as the Nebraska Association of Women Police and the Omaha Police Union to attain this goal of diversity. Deputy Chief of the Omaha Police Department Anna Colon, who heads the internal affairs unit, also stated that Omaha's officers are attempting to create more deeply-rooted community relationships through events, volunteering, and coaching.

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