The Farmville Police Department and Prince Edward County Sheriff’s Department have recently placed an extreme emphasis on integrating diversity into their forces following the transition of leadership in the departments.
Chief Curtis Davis was instated as the chief of police for the Farmville Police Department in March 2015, and Sheriff Wesley Reed was re-elected sheriff in 2015, having served as sheriff in Prince Edward County since 2012.
Davis had a broad opinion on diversity concerning not only race, but ideas and thinking. Davis believes he holds his force to a high standard, enforcing his officers to think diversely, encouraging them to deal with people fairly no matter what culture, race or personal lifestyle they prefer. All groups of people in the town are to be treated as one, and not discriminated against because of some factor such as race, a certain background, culture or way of living.
Davis said, “In policing, you must have officers that are going to be respectful and diverse in their thinking so you don’t come to the table thinking this is right and this is wrong. There are laws, but then there are certain ways that people live and ways things are conducted that vary, and you have to have respect just like with culture.”
Davis’s opinion on diversity revolved around diverse thinking, meaning he expected his force to be respectful and fair in the way they policed and connected with the community of Farmville, considering all different backgrounds of individuals.
Davis felt that while some may believe that race creates a divide in the community, trust between the police force and community comes from individual regard with dealings between the police force and the community.
To Davis, equality in thinking, and not race, was the element which mattered when it came to the police force and the way the department policed in Farmville.
“To me, that’s the best part of diversity is the fact that you can be from a different lifestyle and different viewpoint, but in the job you are in, your professional opinion and professional approach may be separate than what you would be personally, and that is something that we would expect,” said Davis.
Similarly to Davis, Reed’s idea of diversity involved having the willingness to treat everyone equal.
“At the sheriff’s office, you gotta be well diverse in all aspects. You have to be a well-rounded person willing to treat everybody equal and still uphold the code of Virginia,” said Reed.
However, unlike Davis, Reed did feel that race had to be factored into the role of diversity in his force, especially when it came to hiring and the dealings with the community.
“In this area, I would be ignorant to the fact to say that race isn’t a part of it, because you have to be very diverse when it comes to that,” said Reed.
Reed stated that he preferred to keep his team balanced in race, preferring to replace a white officer with a white officer if one should leave, or a black officer with a black officer if they should leave.
However, despite his attempts to keep his force as balanced as possible to avoid perceived prejudices, he did feel that above racial diversity was the importance of hiring the most qualified candidate who would serve the community in the best way. For this reason, Reed stated that though he attempts to keep the force balanced, they are in no means 50/50, because his first priority is ensuring the most qualified deputies make up his team.
Reed identifies himself as “old school,” having little tolerance for racial discrepancies involving his team and the community.
Reed stated, “I won’t accept anything less, that’s just the way I am,” referring to respect and professionalism expected of his deputies in dealings with the diverse makeup of the Farmville community.
To Reed, his department is responsible for dealing with “all walks of life” in the community, but despite how different each group of people is, they all deserve to be treated equally and fairly.
Both Davis and Reed feel that their departments have done well in maintaining diversity and a strong relationship with the community.
