PROFILE: Captain Kamran Afzal – Arlington County Police

Captain Kamran Afzal is the face of a changing police force in Arlington County. The soft-spoken, Pakistani American has been part of the police force for over 20 years. He started off as working with the US Capitol Police in the 1990s before moving to the Arlington County police department.

But Afzal hadn’t started out in law enforcement. He studied economics in college but after some soul searching decided that he wanted to explore the possibility of law enforcement.

“I couldn’t visualize myself doing anything long term with economics,” said Afzal. So when he saw an advertisement for the Prince William County police department, he seriously considered changing his career path.

Not that law enforcement is that far out for him. Afzal’s grandfather was a British police officer and his father was a military officer in the Pakistani army.

Plus, Afzal recalled how professional his own encounters with police officers in the US was. “Once I’d had my car stolen and I remember being very impressed with how professional the police was,” Afzal said.

Now Afzal works as the head of recruitment at the Arlington County Police Department and from his point of view, he tries to create a diverse and transparent force.

“I always think about the community I’d like to live in when I’ve taken off my uniform,” Afzal said.

Afzal says that law enforcement has never been more transparent.

“Our captain right now has an open door policy and he encourages us to come to him with problems. When I started, that would have been unheard of,” Afzal said.

During his years in the recruitment division, Afzal has implemented special operations training across the board (as opposed to just the special operations division). He has also started interviewing for police officers on a continuing basis so that they will always have a surplus to choose from.

In addition, Afzal has made an effort to build a more diverse police force. “Some things are cultural differences,” Afzal said, “and even though we don’t just send an Asian police officer to meet an Asian family, we might have a white police officer who works with officers of different racial backgrounds and are sensitive to cultural differences,” Afzal said.

In addition, when there is diversity there is less of a possibility of groupthink, which Afzal says is dangerous especially when the police department is seen as authority figures in the community.

“Different ideas is the most important part,” Afzal said. “Otherwise it will be like the Titanic.”

Afzal is part of a changing police department that is aiming for more trust between police officers and the community. “”Some people come from countries where there isn’t a lot of trust between police and the community,” he said. “Also…of course, the police rely on the community for tips and if there isn’t that trust then that won’t be possible.”

If you’re interested in learning more about careers with the Arlington County police department, visit: http://sites.arlingtonva.us/policejobs/