New study probes impact of police diversity in Chicago by Christine Fernando And Marion Renault, The Associated Press Posted Feb 11, 2021 2:01 pm EDT Last Updated Feb 11, 2021 at 2:14 pm EDT CHICAGO — In the last decade, high-profile police killings — including George Floyd in 2020 — have shaken the nation and led to widespread protests and calls for reform, including hiring more nonwhite and female officers. But there was little research to back that up. Now, a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, suggests that diversity in law enforcement can indeed lead to improvements in how police treat people of colour. “It’s a system that very clearly needs reforming,” said University of Pennsylvania data scientist Dean Knox, a co-author of the study. “We just haven’t had good data on what reforms work.”