In May 2014, a new Foreigners Act was passed, making the process of settling in Poland easier for foreign nationals. Police officers frequently lack culture training required when in contact with foreigners. Cases of police officers using stereotypes and reluctant to classify acts against foreign nationals as “hate crimes” are not unknown. The “Diagnosis of Białystok Residents’ Tolerance-Related Attitudes” study has proven that the police ought to be playing a key role in eliminating racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic behaviour.
The purpose of the project was to improve the police officers’ knowledge of the culture and religion of foreigners resident in Poland, and to change their attitudes to less discriminating.
Project activities contributed to an expansion of the knowledge of uniformed service officers and public officials. Stereotype ways of thinking were altered in the case of approximately 2,500 police officers.
Fourteen “Living Library” meetings (126 hours), 42 field “Multi-Training” multi-culture training courses (420 hours), and 6 “Shalom, Poland!” meetings (38 hours) were organised. A 3-day multi-culture workshop was delivered during the “Woodstock Station” Festival as part of the “Tent of Tolerance”. Twenty issues of the “MultiNews” newsletter were drafted and distributed.
“Shalom, Poland!” and “Multi-Training” workshops were attended by 295 police officers and 1605 participants, respectively. “Living Library” meetings were attended by 672 participants. Around 600 persons participated in “Tent of Tolerance” meetings. The newsletter reached 2,000 recipients, including 250 authority agencies and the media.
The project was implemented jointly with the Muslim Religious Municipality of Kruszyniany, responsible for drafting the Islam-related part of the activities. The Plenipotentiary of the Commander-in-Chief of Police for Human Rights Protection was the other partner, responsible for newsletter distribution, delegating police officers to training courses, and providing lecture halls and equipment.