There is richness in diversity. And it took me years of personal and professional experience to appreciate its value.
I have been honored to serve the people of Montgomery County, here in Ohio, as a law enforcement professional for over 29 years. In recent years, our communities have experienced many changes, some of them due to migration.
Take Dayton as an example, which now proudly is called “an immigrant friendly city.” Certainly, with over 25,000 immigrants in Montgomery County, our cities have grown and diversified. This has been positive, since other factors such as birth and mortality rates, as well as domestic migration, have steered our population downward.
This is why it’s been difficult to hear recent negative narratives around immigrants here in Ohio. As a law enforcement professional, I sincerely believe public safety is enhanced by positive, authentic connections within the community. This includes the relationships between our officers and the community, as well as the relationships among neighbors.
Relationships are built through trust, respect and a collective commitment to our community wellbeing. Divisiveness and fear only hurt our communities.
I would like to encourage people in our state — and across the country — to try to see the great things that diversity brings to our neighborhoods. From my own experience I can say, if you do this your heart and your world will be much brighter.
As a typical white American who grew up in a mainly white community, I know that changing one’s perspective doesn’t happen overnight. An event that marked my life was when my wife and I adopted our oldest son from the Central African Republic in the 1990s. My son worked to achieve a high school and college education, studying until the wee hours of the morning almost every day, learning to speak English and striving to pass his classes simultaneously.
The whole time he was humble, kind, and lifted everyone around him. Even when he faced challenges because of the color of his skin and where he came from, he continued to shine despite the misguided and cruel words meant to stop him.
While you may think this is just the musings of a proud father, his story and efforts are no different from many other immigrants in Montgomery County. Most newcomers are just looking to build the best lives they can while becoming active members of their community.
But let me affirm that in Montgomery County, immigrants have strengthened our communities, our schools, our industries, and our culture. Beyond that — along with other immigrants in Ohio — they have also added hundreds of millions of dollars annually to our economy.
Over the past few decades, my wife and I have had the opportunity to meet and learn from many of our immigrant neighbors. We were so touched by their journeys and stories that we started a non-profit serving the immigrant community in the area, with more than 6,000 immigrant clients to date. No murderers, no rapists, none were criminally insane and preying on our communities, and none were stealing and eating the pets in their neighborhoods. Mainly hard-working families trying to navigate language and cultural barriers to have what we all want to have, a safe and healthy life.
Don’t get me wrong. As a law enforcement professional, I know that all human beings have potential to do harm to others, but evidence shows that crime rate is much lower within the immigrant community than it is among native-born Americans. I have investigated thousands of crimes: murders, rapes, and any other crime you could imagine. Only once in almost three decades have I investigated a crime committed by an immigrant.
So, here is my plea for our communities, as a neighbor, a father, a husband and a law enforcement officer. Let’s focus on supporting each other. Let’s dissipate divisions and hostility. Let’s have the courage to recognize the value of our neighbors regardless of where they were born.
Thomas Thompson is the Chief of Police at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.
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