“It is very important that law enforcement reflect the community they serve, so with communities of color subject to many crimes, we want to ensure that the face of the FBI and ODA reflect those communities” , said Dr. Harold Bailey, president of the NAACP of Albuquerque.

The numbers show why. The department is made up primarily of white, Hispanic, and Latino workers. It’s not just the APD, it’s the representation of FBI Special Agents.

African-American men represent only 3.5%, African-American women only 1%. There was a small turnout at Saturday’s recruiting event.

APD officer Williams says, therefore, is an example of the challenges law enforcement faces in recruiting African Americans.

“It just says that. We have challenges and it’s not by accident. It’s not by chance. It’s that we need to do a better job recruiting people of color. It’s not easy , I think there are myths, I think there is a story that definitely hasn’t been positive and would make people worried,” Williams said.

Raul Bujanda – FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Field Office – explains how they are working to change that.

“It has a lot to do with bringing in the people that we’ve already recruited – we have a lot of individuals who already have that diversity talking about their experiences of how they got into the FBI because a lot of it’s kind of our own perceived barriers – it’s not something I can do, so we can kind of start to break down our own personal experiences I think that will open the door for others to apply and see the FBI as an opportunity and a career for them,” Bujanda said.