International news outlet Al Jazeera has called into question New Zealand Police's claims of diversity after their recruitment video went viral this week.
The three minute video, which cost around $350,000, was posted on the NZ Police Recruitment Facebook page last weekend, features police officers in a variety of different roles in the hopes of attracting more diverse faces.
Since being posted, the video has attracted over 5.4 million views and shared over 71,000 times has captured the attention of people across the world.
While the video has been praised for its humorous nature and production efforts, Al Jazeera has has taken aim at the video on their Facebook page, AJ+, raising the issue of racial profiling.
"This police force is bragging about its diversity," the news outlet's Facebook video states.
"While some people have praised New Zealand's police for their diversity, others say that the force has real problems, especially in the racial profiling of indigenous Maori people."
The video then shows screen shots of tweets by people who have commented on the police video, including one that reads, "would be nice if your attempt at being inclusive meant you stopped racially profiling Maori and Pasifika".
Al Jazeera then goes onto state: "many Maori say they often experience racist incidents with police and get pulled over for no reason" and then mentions the number of Maori in prisons across New Zealand.
Speaking about the new recuritment video after its release this week, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said: "Police want to attract more women, Maori, Pacific Islanders, and people from all other ethnicities and backgrounds to better reflect the communities we serve.
"There's never a better time in recent years to fulfill your dream of becoming a cop and serving your community," he said.
A massive 70 staff members, including Commissioner Bush, were involved in the video and shows a range of different career paths within the police force, including the Armed Offenders Squad, dive and dog squads, and youth aid officers.
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