Heightened police community relations have made it more difficult for departments to hire new recruits in recent years.

But some reform advocates see it as a chance to reimagine policing.

Montclair University recently hosted an event exploring the role of diversity in law enforcement and why representation is so important.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis has that story.

We're here to Inspire you guys broadening your horizons and being able to serve your community.

Through law enforcement or law.

High school and college students got to hear directly from law enforcement officers on the campus of Montclair State University recently about what it means to be Black and brown serving in blue.

Whenever someone is young, Black and female and in charge, you get that, Oh, you got that diversity vote and you're in.

And I overcame all of that by just maintaining and being myself.

I didn't like law enforcement growing up.

I still don't like on a certain level, even though.

I am one.

The goal of the conference is to engage high school and college scholars in very important conversations about their community relations and the lived experiences with Black and brown officers.

We've invited Black and brown officers from across the country to share their lived experiences, share the highs and lows of their professions, and engage these scholars in being the change they want to see as it relates to improving their communities.

It's also important that they receive opportunities like this to sit down and interface with law enforcement professionals, and particularly law enforcement professionals that looks just like them, that comes from their community with that lived experience.

You have to grow with the times and realize that the times are growing.

You need to evolve with the times.

So I would tell anybody that is one of the positive things.

One of the things that helped me to grow and help my people.

The conversation ranged from the impact of police community relations, especially on young Black and brown people, to the opportunities that exist for those students who want to pursue a career in law enforcement.

If you guys have trouble paying for undergrad, you guys could start working and these agencies and departments will pay for your degrees.

So you want to make sure that you know what you put out there on the Internet is like not going to come back to haunt you and that you're effectively conveying your thoughts in such a way, even if you disagree.

60% of the scholars here are interested in law professions and law enforcement as a career.

Students like Ryan.

Smith.

My goals professionally is to go into the FBI ultimately as a special agent working in counterterrorism.

The reason being is that I. I love to investigate.

I want to fight crime.

I want to be able to be the boots on the ground that's investigating these crimes and bringing justice and peace to our world.

I'm definitely leaving here with the fact that being a minority is a huge thing in law enforcement and being comfortable being a part of that minority.

I come from a perspective where law enforcement is not really for us.

It's not really supportive of our community or anything like that.

So to hear what like what they go through and how they try to be with us, it's just like we have to meet each other.

We have to meet each other at the center, and this kind of helps.

We're here to change that narrative, to show them that it's a lot more than what they see on the media.

Just to let them know that us as law enforcement are actually a part of the.

Community, even those not interested in a law enforcement career.

Walked away, moved by what they heard.

Just hearing the different perspectives from different officers in different fields and just like knowing that they are individuals in themselves and they have families they want to come home to.

It's so profound what they have to say.

So I'm always with an open mind, with open ears, just because I know that their words are expensive and at the cost of their experience, they're here to tell us all about that.

Experience that these panelists hope will translate into the next generation of young Black and brown recruits joining their ranks in Montclair, I'm Joanna Gagis.

NJ Spotlight News.