A new program in Bowling Green is aimed at increasing the diversity of the city’s legal and law enforcement communities.
The Legal Diversity Pipeline Project involves the Bowling Green Police Department, Warren County Courts, a Bowling Green law firm and two local high schools.
About 60 freshmen from Bowling Green High and Warren Central will meet Friday with Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton, Jr. and U.S. District Judge Robert Stivers, visit the 911 dispatch center at the city’s police department, and tour the Warren County Jail.
English, Lucas, Priest, and Owsley managing partner Bob Young, who’s helping lead the program, said the city would benefit from more diversity within its legal and police ranks.
“Because if it does we believe that folks who interact with law enforcement or interact with the judicial system would have a lot more trust in the judicial system because the makeup would be very similar to the community,” Young said.
Young says Bowling Green and Warren Central were chosen to take part in the program because they’re the most diverse high schools in the area. He hopes the diversity pipeline project will be expanded to other area high schools in the coming years.
In the interest of disclosure, English, Lucas, Priest, and Owsley is an underwriter with WKU Public Radio.
