It's policing 101: Cops, in democratic nations at least, are always a small fraction of the general public and if, in times of strife, there's racial tension to contend with, you may get yourself a riot.

If, on the other hand, the average member of the community sees familiar faces on the force and can relate to some of the officers, it becomes a lot easier to diffuse a crisis. Which is, after all, what a police force should do best.

The Czech Republic is catching up, most likely with a little help via pressure from the European Union, together with lessons learned from past embarrassments. It's probably no coincidence that the city of Ústí nad Labem in north Bohemia has one of the first local police departments with Romany officers totaling close to 2 percent of the force, which reflects the percent of Roma population in the Czech Republic in general.

It was this town, after all, that got itself splashed across newspapers and television screens worldwide in the mid-90s when the city approved, then constructed, what officials rigidly referred to as a "fence" to separate the Roma and white population. That the fence was made of masonry and created a walled ghetto that reminded everyone of something out of the Third Reich seemed somehow lost on local officials.

They seem to have come a long way. And it wasn't long after this (the wall didn't last long, as it turned out, because politicians in Prague finally realized they'd have to step in and order it removed) that Officer Milan Huňák, who is Roma, got his big break policing in Ústí.

There are still very few cities in the Czech Republic where the number of minority police officers reflects that of the community at large.

But there's nothing wrong with gradual progress, as long as it's steady, in the recruitment, training and integration of minority law enforcement professionals. The process is too important to be rushed through without proper development. The lessons of affirmative action, which the United States learned in the 1970s, are clear: If you try to correct imbalances too hastily, you risk creating an environment of reverse discrimination.

It's a thorny issue, and likely to remain one for the foreseeable future. That's because you don't correct centuries of mistrust and prejudice with any single program or policy.

Just ask Huňák.

As unfair as it is, a Romany police officer, just like the first black college students or Latino board presidents in the West, probably has to be twice as good as a nonminority would be in the same role just to get by. That's because all eyes are bound to be trained on him and many of those observers will be skeptical, looking for any chance to fault those breaking new ground. If they succeed in finding the smallest flaw, they will seize the opportunity to argue that integrating minorities is bound to fail.

A Radio Prague report on the Czech police program intended to integrate more Roma into the ranks revealed just how far the state has to go in convincing ordinary members of the community of its merits. One Prague man-in-the-street interview engendered the following response: "... anytime there's a problem, it's because of a Ukrainian or a Roma. ... Those that are dark-skinned are causing the most trouble."

Sadly, that's an all-too-typical take on the issue, and this in the capital of a nation that information technology companies are pouring into because of the advanced average-level education.