Study: Diversity in law enforcement may improve policing Updated Feb 11, 2021; Posted Feb 11, 2021 In this Aug. 15, 2020, file photo, police officers stand beside a mural for George Floyd in the Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville during an anti-police brutality protest. (Chicago Sun-Times via Associated Press/file) AP Facebook Share STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The high-profile deaths of Eric Garner on Staten Island in 2014 and George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 at the hands of law enforcement officers prompted fervent calls for police reform, including efforts to improve diversity within departments in an effort to improve cops’ treatment of minorities. A study published within the journal Science on Thursday provides support for that push with its massive analysis of police patrols and officer behavior.