Acknowledgements - Police Sector Council:...

Strategic Human Resources Analysis of Public Policing in Canada

The Steering Committee for the Human Resources Studyof the Public Policing in Canada wishes to express itssincere appreciation to all organizations and individualswhose time and efforts over the course of this study havecontributed to its success.

This study was commissioned by the Canadian Associationof Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Police Association,and conducted by the management consulting firm ofPricewaterhouseCoopers. The Steering Committee wascomprised of more than thirty members, representingstakeholders in the public policing sector such as policechiefs, unions and associations, provincial and federalgovernment departments, municipal authorities, andeducators.

The study was funded by Human Resources DevelopmentCanada (HRDC) and their role is gratefully acknowledged.

Finally, this report would not have been possible withoutthe participation of countless individuals who tookthe time to share their insights through an interview orfocus group, or by responding to a survey questionnaire.These individuals represented a range of sector stake-holders including police officers, civilians and volunteers,educational institutions, students, and government repre-sentatives. Their views are the essence of this study and itis for these people that the Steering Committee reservesits final thanks.

Acknowledgements


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................1

STUDY BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................................9

Objectives and Scope ............................................................................................................................................9

Study Approach.....................................................................................................................................................9

SECTOR CONTEXT..............................................................................................................................................11

Changes in the Population are Affecting Police Work in Dramatic Ways ...............................................................11

Crime is More Sophisticated, Organized, and Technically Complex ......................................................................13

The Role of Police Work is Changing – and so are Public Expectations ................................................................14

Paperwork and Regulations are Increasing the Police Workload ...........................................................................15

Economic and Fiscal Pressures: d oing More with Less........................................................................................16

Where are resource constraints being felt most acutely? .................................................................................17

The Use of Private Security in Canada is Growing ................................................................................................18

Summary of Changes and Trends ........................................................................................................................20

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT .........................................................................................................................23

Responsibility for Policing is Shared Among All Orders of Government ...............................................................23

The RCMP provides federal and national policing services ............................................................................23

How the cost of providing RCMP police services is calculated........................................................................24

The role of police oversight bodies ..................................................................................................................24

The “politicization” of policing is negatively impacting working relationships..............................................25

Amalgamation – Achieving Critical Mass of Police Services .................................................................................26

Competitive Bidding for Police Services Contracts ...............................................................................................27

Community Policing: a Return to Tradition as a Response to Change ...................................................................32

Community policing faces a number of challenges .........................................................................................32

Impact of Technological Change is Felt Throughout Policing Services ..................................................................34

Technology use in policing is still fairly limited..............................................................................................34

Technology use is not always standardized .....................................................................................................34

Technology implementation alone does not make police work easier or more effective ..................................35

Technology training – you have to know how to work it ................................................................................35

Table of Contents

THE HUMAN FACE OF POLICING IN CANADA .........................................................................................37

Changing the Organizational Culture ....................................................................................................................37

A Greater Role for Volunteers in the Community Policing Model..........................................................................38

Current Employment Levels in Policing ................................................................................................................40

Police Officers by Province, Territory and Police Service................................................................................40

Police Officer to Population Ratios .................................................................................................................41

Civilianization and Occupational Shifts in Police Services .....................................................................................44

Characteristics of the Police Workforce................................................................................................................45

Increasing Numbers of Female Police Officers................................................................................................45

The Number of Female Senior Officers is Increasing......................................................................................45

Accepting Employment Diversity in Police Services........................................................................................47

Representation of Aboriginals: a small but significant proportion of police ....................................................48

Representation of Minority Groups .................................................................................................................48

Representation of the Disabled ........................................................................................................................48

Police Officers are Attaining Higher Education Levels ...................................................................................50

The Age Factor: relatively high turnover due to retirements will continue .....................................................50

Reorienting Personnel Strategies in Response to Change.....................................................................................55

HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES ..................................................................................................................57

Human Resource Planning ...................................................................................................................................57

Initial Recruitment of Constables..........................................................................................................................59

Provincial Minimum Requirements for New Recruits......................................................................................61

Police services have a long and rigorous screening and assessment process ...................................................65

Career Progression ..............................................................................................................................................68

Career Development in Policing Organizations...............................................................................................69

Career Mobility Across Police Services ...........................................................................................................72

Retention of Personnel.....................................................................................................................................73

Rewarding Employees ..........................................................................................................................................74

Compensation and Benefits .............................................................................................................................74

Working Conditions ........................................................................................................................................77

Labour-Management Relations .............................................................................................................................82


LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PUBLIC POLICING SECTOR ..............................................89

Learning Paths in the Public Police Sector............................................................................................................89

The Learning Path of Sworn Personnel.................................................................................................................89

Sworn Personnel Education ............................................................................................................................89

Sworn Personnel Training ...............................................................................................................................94

Sworn Personnel Development and Continuous Learning ............................................................................109

The Learning Path for Civilian Personnel ............................................................................................................114

Civilian Education ........................................................................................................................................114

Civilian Training...........................................................................................................................................114

Civilian Development and Continuous Learning ..........................................................................................115

Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management .......................................................................................115

Training Function in the Canadian Public Police Sector ......................................................................................117

Planning and Needs Analysis........................................................................................................................117

Design, Development and Delivery ...............................................................................................................119

Administration and Evaluation .....................................................................................................................121

Learning and Development Requirements for Future Policing Issues..................................................................122

RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................................125

Future Directions for the Canadian Public Policing Sector .................................................................................125

Priority: Attracting the Next Generation of Talent for Policing Organizations ......................................................125

Priority: Increasing Sector-wide Efficiencies .......................................................................................................126

Priority: Improving the Police Sector’s Human Resource Planning Capacity .......................................................127

Priority: Improving Labour-Management Relations .............................................................................................128

Priority: Increasing Funding and Resources........................................................................................................128

APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................................129

Appendix A: List of Steering Committee Members ...........................................................................................129

Appendix B: List of Site Visits and Focus Groups .............................................................................................131

Appendix C: Human Resources Survey of Public Police Services .....................................................................134

Appendix D: Bibliography ................................................................................................................................141

ENDNOTES ......................................................................................................................................................149


Strategic Human Resources Analysis of Public Policing in Canada 1

The Legal Context for Policing in CanadaPolicing in Canada is governed by two separate levels ofgovernment – the federal and the provincial. Each level ofgovernment is granted authority over policing by theConstitution Act of 1867. Section 91(27) of the Act confersauthority on the federal Parliament to legislate in relationto criminal law (English common law) and procedure. Thepower to legislate in respect to “peace, order and goodgovernment”, bestowed at s. 91 also grants additionalfederal power that influences our policing structure. Thefederal government used this authority to enact legislationand create the country’s national police services – theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Most policing responsibility is under provincial jurisdic-tion. Provincial legislatures are empowered by virtue of s.92(14) of the Constitution Act to make laws in relation tothe “administration of justice”. The Supreme Court ofCanada ruled that the “administering of justice” providesjurisdiction over civil and criminal justice and thatpolicing is a part of the criminal justice responsibility. Thevarious provincial governments have passed legislationdefining the way in which they can provide policing intheir province. In general, provinces provide policing inone or more of following ways:

• Provinces can create a provincial police force throughlegislation. At one time or another all provinces havehad a provincial police service, however, only Ontario,Quebec and Newfoundland retain provincial policeservices at the present time.

• Provinces can impose a requirement on municipalitiesto provide adequate and effective police services withinthe municipality, and grant them the correspondingauthority to establish municipal police services.Newfoundland is the only province that has notprovided the authority to create municipal policeservices.

• Provinces can negotiate an agreement with the govern-ment of Canada for the RCMP to provide police serv-ices under contract. There are two such types ofcontracts. The first being when a province contractswith the RCMP to provide provincial policing servicesand the second being when the individual municipali-ties contract with the RCMP to provide municipalpolicing services.

Although municipal policing accounts for most of thepolice officers in the country, the federal government playsa larger role than might be expected. Regulatory statutesdealing with revenue, alcohol, immigration and customsand excise to name but a few, are federal responsibilities.The federal government has deployed a police presence todeal with some of these responsibilities that pre-datesthe RCMP.

In most jurisdictions in Canada, responsibility for policingusually falls under the Solicitor General or the AttorneyGeneral (or Minister of Justice). There are a few exceptionshowever. In Quebec, the Director of Public Security isresponsible for policing and in Ontario, responsibility isshared by the Attorney General and the Solicitor General.Provinces also generally provide, in their legislation, forthe governance of municipal forces by a local authority,such as a municipal board of commissioners of police andmunicipal councils and also, in certain cases, by a provin-cial police commission.1

Policing in Canada – a Focus on the Future of Human Resources To serve and protect. It’s a governing principle for policework everywhere in Canada, whether patrolling the water-front of St. John’s or walking the beat on the streets ofVancouver. The principle itself has never wavered. Howpolice can continue to achieve these results – that isbecoming more and more complex. It costs more to policeeffectively. It takes increased time and requires new skills.Frequently, it demands a new approach, a new attitudeand different preparation. How police in Canada can betterserve and protect has been the focus of this study.

Citizens have demanding expectations – they often want areturn of police on the beat, have strong views on alterna-tive justice/sentencing approaches, and are requesting thatpolice services across the country re-examine how theydeal with ethnic minorities, young offenders, and domesticviolence offenders. These pressures, and others, arecausing police services to fundamentally re-assess the waythey operate. This has a particular impact on how theymanage human resource policies, procedures and prac-tices. Staffing decisions, leadership approaches andmanagement frameworks in the policing communityrequire new attention and consideration if police organiza-tions intend to remain relevant and effective over the nextdecade and more.

Executive Summary

Recognizing that the skills, quality and management of itshuman resources are vital to its continued success, repre-sentatives of the Canadian public policing sector under-took a major study to identify the sector’s human resourceschallenges and priorities, and to craft strategies to addressthem. This study was directed by a Steering Committeecomprised of members from across the policing sector inCanada. Members represented a variety of organizationssuch as training institutions, police services, munici-palities, police boards, police associations, unions andgovernment departments. The study, prepared byPricewaterhouseCoopers, was funded through a costshared contribution agreement between the police sectorand Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC).Over 700 individuals from across Canadian police serviceswere consulted in order to identify the key humanresource challenges faced by police services across thecountry. These challenges formed the basis of discussionswith the Steering Committee in order to develop recom-mendations for action by the sector to address the humanresource issues.

New Demands are Being Made of PoliceThe changing face of the Canadian population, emergingand changing forms of crime as well as economic pressureshave had a significant impact on the public policing sectorin Canada. Some key pressures faced by police servicesacross the country are:

Changes within the legal environment: Changes in theadministration of the justice system as well as otherlegislative changes, new case law and jurisprudence haveimplications for both the development of new skills andknowledge and enhancing existing skills and knowledgefor police services. For example, alternative justice /sentencing measures will require a number of new skills(e.g., mediation and negotiation) and the need for strate-gies to guide interaction with other professional groupsplaying greater roles within the justice system.

Increasing fiscal pressures: While not restricted only topolice services, economic and fiscal constraint is makingthe delivery of polices services more challenging. Theincrease of national enforcement issues has placed addi-tional pressure on the delivery of police services. This isparticularly true of, although not limited to, the municipal

level where one source of revenue (through property taxes)cannot sustain increased policing costs required to combatlocal in addition to national and international criminalactivities.

Immigration patterns and changing demographics:Because the demographic face of Canada is changingdramatically, police recruitment processes must be revisedto attract members from representative cultural communi-ties. Operational policies which may be at odds with thesecandidates’ cultural or religious beliefs must be re-exam-ined. In addition, changing demographics of the Canadianpopulation are resulting in changing public expectations ofpolice services. Community policing has been used as onestrategy for responding to public expectations. Thisapproach can be more expensive (e.g., requiring moreoffice locations) and requires a true mindset/culture shiftthat can only occur with the support of effective stafftraining and demonstrated senior leadership.

Increased desire to meet the unique client needs ofequity groups (e.g., Aboriginal Peoples, People withDisabilities, Visible Minorities and Women): Whether thisinvolves a greater dependence on volunteers, or the adap-tation of new policing methods, a more sensitive clientmanagement style will have ramifications for policerecruitment and training approaches.

Increased geographic reach of Organized Crime:Longer and more complex investigations demand a widerrange of skills and collaboration among multiple policeforces, including the ability to lead and participate in morevaried teams.

Technological advances: Although technology can increasethe ability of police forces to be innovative, it also creates aneed to recruit skilled IT staff and to train both uniformedand civilian staff to use technology more effectively.

White-collar crime: Criminals are increasingly usingcutting-edge computer and telecommunications equip-ment and software. Policing organizations have found itdifficult to keep pace, largely because of budget reduc-tions, a lack of recruitment focus on candidates with thesespecific skills, and gaps in training availability. Policingorganizations often find it hard to retain computer profi-cient professionals because of more attractive compensa-tion packages available in the marketplace.

2 Strategic Human Resources Analysis of Public Policing in Canada

The Operating Environment for Policing is ChangingThe impact of the ageing police workforce, the need for arepresentative workforce, new policing skills required torespond to the changing environment and the increasedcompetition for some specialist skills will require policeservices to rethink and adapt their operations. Findingcommon operation efficiencies is made more difficult bythe jurisdictional framework for public policing inCanada. Although there are similarities in police servicesacross the country, there are distinct differences in howpolice services are organized and how they operate.Among the emerging issues:

Training facilities: In struggling to meet the needs of thepolicing communities, some training facilities are dramat-ically under-utilized, while others cannot handle thedemand. Although it is slowly starting to change, tradi-tional teaching techniques remain the norm in the policingenvironment. There has been only limited use of newerapproaches such as computer-based training, distancelearning programs and self-directed development.

High levels of recruitment expected: Demographicswithin police services point to an ageing police force,which means that the decade ahead will require intensiverecruitment activities to replace a retiring workforce. Inaddition, changing skill sets due to technology, newapproaches to police service delivery and emerging typesof crime are resulting in new skills and knowledge beingsought by police forces. In order to meet these high levelsof recruitment, police forces must consider changing tradi-tional means of recruiting and reducing economic barriers(i.e., high pre-hiring training costs) in order to attractcandidates from non-traditional recruitment pools.

Movement of personnel between police organizations:While this can be viewed as a positive development (e.g.,sharing of best practices and a better understanding ofothers’ procedures), for some “feeder” police forces theimpact can be dramatic as they invest significant funds intraining staff only to lose them to forces offering slightlybetter compensation packages. This situation is furtherexacerbated by the recruitment of highly qualifiedpersonnel by private sector security and investigativeorganizations.

Compensation: There are several competing factors thataffect the ability of polices services to provide attractivecompensation packages. The higher cost of living can be a

deterrent in larger urban centres (despite the resulting richercompensation packages), whereas smaller services, often inmore remote locations, present their own difficulties inattracting recruits. Traditional compensation models do notalways resolve these issues or support the needs of modernpolice organizations seeking a myriad of new skill sets.

The management of overtime: Budget reductions,unplanned events, leaves and unfilled vacancies allcontribute to significant staff overtime. In addition, pres-sures on overtime budgets can limit the length and scopeof investigations. These competing elements can negativelyimpact staff morale, resulting in increased burnout andgreater use of sick leave, thus compounding the problem.

How the Public Policing Sector Intends to Meet these Challenges This study includes a diagnosis of the human resourcechallenges facing the Public Policing Sector, both now andin the foreseeable future, and is intended to serve as thebasis for generating discussion and development ofconcrete recommendations for action. The main objectiveof this study is to provide a vehicle for positive change.The recommendations put forth by the Committee willprovide direction for the development of a humanresource strategy for the Canadian Public Policing Sector.It should be noted that the recommendations in this reportare intended to be useful and relevant to the various policejurisdictions in Canada and to be adapted by them fortheir use where relevant. They are not, however, intendedto be prescriptive or obligatory with respect to any partic-ular jurisdiction.


Highlights of the RecommendationsPRIORITY: Attracting the next generationof talent for policing organizations

Effectiveness of the attraction of talent to the police sectoris a critical factor in ensuring the on-going effectiveness ofpolice services. The impact of the ageing police workforce,the need for a representative workforce, new policing skillsrequired to respond to the changing environment and theincreased competition for some specialist skills will requirepolice services to rethink and adapt their recruitmentactivities.

In the past, police services easily attracted large numbersof candidates due to the high profile of the Sector and theappeal of policing as a career choice. In order to screen thelarge numbers of applications and to ensure that they wereselecting candidates who would be suited to a policingcareer, multiple selection mechanisms had been developedand tested to ensure their validity and reliability.Traditionally, the focus for recruitment in the Policing

Sector was one of selection – selecting qualified individ-uals from among many applicants. This meant that policeservices invested large amounts of time and money to sortthrough applications in order to identify qualified candi-dates. This focus on selection assumes there will continueto be enough applicants to satisfy demand and that theseapplicants possess the skills required. It is also based onthe assumption that police constables, once hired, can betrained to acquire specialist skills as the source for special-ized expertise within the police service.

Given the anticipated retirements over the next five yearsand the fact that, as with other Sectors, police services willincreasingly be competing with the broader labour market,there is a concern that the Police Sector will no longer beable to rely on recruitment methods that assume anadequate applicant pool. Competing in a dynamic labourmarket to attract specialist skills, visible minorities andwomen requires employing a proactive approach torecruitment that actively seeks out potential candidates,and requires an open and flexible work culture to attract adiverse range of candidates. The increasing need forspecialized skills will also require a more flexible andcreative approach to how police services obtain them. Theshift in focus will need to include employment of civilianspecialists as well as police officers, in a variety of employ-ment arrangements – full time, temporary, part time, or feefor service contracts.

Proactive recruitment focuses on screening potentialcandidates into the applicant pool through increasingefforts to attract the new skills that are needed. This repre-sents a shift from the current method of screening candi-dates out of the applicant pool. Continuing to rely onpassive attraction activities will leave the sector at risk ofnot creating the workforce it requires.

The anticipated retirements over the next few years andthe resulting increase in the number of new recruits to behired to fill vacant positions, will also have an impact onthe training facilities across the country. Training facilitieswill have to re-examine their enrolment capacities toensure that they are able to train the number of newrecruits that police services will require in the near future.


As such the Steering Committee recommends that thepolice sector:

• Develop a sector-wide strategy to attract public policeand support personnel.

• Develop new mechanisms to attract candidates to meetrequirements for diversity and to retain these candi-dates once hired.

• Develop new strategies to retain talent in the policingsector.

• Develop new methods of acquiring specialist skills, toinclude civilians as well as police officers, through avariety of employment arrangements – full time, parttime, temporary, or fee for service contracts.

• Remove barriers to entering public policing, includingthe financing of initial training.

• Develop national standards for physical and otherentry requirements.

• Increase recruit mobility through initiatives such asmutual recognition of the equivalency of qualificationsfrom various jurisdictions.

• Develop a national media strategy to highlight thepositive aspects of policing to attract qualified recruits.

PRIORITY: Increasing Sector-wide efficiencies

The jurisdictional framework for public policing inCanada means that, although there are similarities inPolice Services across the country, there are distinct differ-ences in how police services are organized and how theyoperate. While recognizing and respecting jurisdictionaldifferences is essential, the Steering Committee has identi-fied that the sector has created barriers along these juris-dictional lines that have resulted in duplication of effortsand created some inefficiencies among the jurisdictions.

For example, requirements for police education haveevolved differently in each jurisdiction. Each jurisdictionhas developed its own approach to police education,including the creation of separate police academies, andthe responsibility for design, development and delivery ofpolice curriculum within each of the jurisdictions. Given

that the criminal code forms a common base for policing,there is significant similarity in core skill and knowledgerequirements for police across the country. However, eachjurisdiction spends a great deal of time and money onthe development and maintenance of police trainingand education that could otherwise be shared amongjurisdictions.

Other public sectors, such as the Health Care Sector, havefaced similar challenges in working in a jurisdictionalframework. For instance, nursing is governed by a varietyof legislation requirements across jurisdictions in Canada,however the various provincial governing bodies haveworked together to create a system that helps to maximizeefficiencies and reduce duplication of effort through thedevelopment of national competency standards.

Police academies and police services have been collabo-rating on an informal basis. For example, under theauspices of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, aproject was coordinated by the Ontario Police College, theCanadian Police College and the Learning andDevelopment Unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police(RCMP), which brought together federal, provincial andmunicipal police representatives. These representativesdeveloped a national framework for the use of force. Thework was supported by chiefs of police from across thecountry. To date, this type of collaboration has been theexception rather than the rule.

The absence of harmonized training and educational stan-dards limit the extent and actual economic benefits ofcollaboration. While standards themselves will not eliminateduplication, they provide police services and the variousjurisdictions with the foundation for sharing resourcesparticularly in, but not limited to, the design, developmentand even the delivery of education and training.

Increased collaboration across polices services can supportmore than training and development. In order to betterrecruit, police services can jointly develop attraction strate-gies, products and tools among jurisdictions and amongpolice services within a jurisdiction which will help todefray the costs of such new activities. In addition, collabo-


ration across jurisdictions can also support the developmentof strategies to address new and evolving types of crime,particularly national and international criminal activities.

The Steering Committee has identified a number of recom-mendations that are aimed at improving the sharing ofinformation, practices and methodologies across jurisdic-tions and police services. In particular the SteeringCommittee recommends that the police sector:

• Explore co-operative ventures between publiclyfunded training and education institutions.

• Develop a Sector toolbox or repository of best practicesin human resource management, which could bedrawn on by police services across Canada.

• Create a national human resource group under theauspices of the national police service to do futurework on the Sector toolbox and other Sector-widehuman resource initiatives.

• Develop competency profiles and training standardsfor all jobs in policing, including specialist andmanagement functions, executives, recruits, auxiliariesand volunteers.

• Increase collaboration across police services for thedesign and delivery of training for skills and knowl-edge that are common to policing across jurisdictions

• Develop protocols governing the human resourceaspects of police service takeovers in order to minimizeuncertainty and facilitate transitions.

• Develop an internet-based learning resource accessibleto police across Canada that would enable just-in-timelearning. This learning resource should be appropri-ately funded so that financial barriers do not limitaccess to content.

• Continue to provide assistance and support for thedelivery of training for police governance bodies andpolice personnel so they can understand and carry outtheir respective legislated roles effectively.

PRIORITY: Improving the police Sector’s human resource planning capacity

It was widely recognized throughout this study that publicpolice services in Canada would continue to face achanging environment. Changes in the demographicprofile of the population, new and emerging types of crimeand the impact of technology, for example, are, and willcontinue affecting public policing in Canada. Many in theSector have expressed concern over the accelerating paceof change and the ability of public police services torespond adequately and effectively. Changes to the envi-ronment in which police must operate will likely impactthe type of services, the mode of delivery and humanresources required in the Policing Sector.

The Steering Committee recognized the need and impor-tance of improving the ability of police services to respondand adapt to new and emerging service delivery models.The cost and time required for identifying new servicedelivery models and measuring their impact on HRrequirements can be overwhelming for individual policeservices. In addition, the primary focus for police servicesmust be on front line service delivery, which limits theextent of resources that can be allocated to adapting tochange.

The challenge is in balancing the resources betweenservice delivery for current needs and identifying andreadying resources in order to respond to future needs.While this is a critical dilemma shared with other sectorswithin Canada, it remains critical for police services to beprepared to respond to new and evolving environmentalchanges.

Developing and improving the capacity of police servicesto plan their human resources strategically is a key elementin ensuring that the Sector as a whole is ready and able torespond to a changing operating and external environ-ment. However, this requires more than just committing tobetter HR planning. There must be renewed importancegiven to the role of strategic HR planning, establishingvehicles for strategy development and developing tools tosupport HR planning, such as planning models, and infor-mation systems.


HR planning, at both local and national levels, requires anunderstanding of the current human resource configura-tions in the police service, including the ages, years ofservice, mode of employment, skills and experience,retirement entitlements, and employment equity charac-teristics of the human resource base. While few wouldquestion the necessity of HR strategy and planning, manypolice services are not well equipped with human resourcedatabases that will provide the type of information neces-sary for effective HR planning.

Another key element of HR planning for police services isensuring the adequacy of deployable resources. Like manyother Sectors in which emergency response is a keycomponent of the work, police services are continuallybeing challenged with what is the appropriate level ofresourcing. While there has been some progress on thedevelopment of personnel strength assessment tools insome regions, the Sector is not yet equipped with anyformal personnel strength assessment guidelines andmethodologies to assist in HR planning.

The Steering Committee has identified a number of recom-mendations that are aimed at improving planning withinpolice services. In particular, the Steering Committeerecommends that the police sector:

• Develop strategies for succession planning and execu-tive development that can be drawn on by policeservices across the country.

• Develop a computer model to project attrition / retire-ment that can be used by police agencies to projecthiring needs.

• Conduct an overall review of the ability of policetraining institutions to accommodate projectedtraining demands including supply / demand forecast.

• Develop models for determining police staffingrequirements.

• Ensure that changes to cost-shared policing agree-ments (for example RCMP 90/10 or 70/30) are negoti-ated in a timely manner to ensure that the humanresource impacts are addressed.

• Resolve issues of quality and consistency in statisticsabout policing, including human resource informationand other data relevant to planning and performanceevaluation.

PRIORITY: Improving labour-management relations

Although the labour-relations climate in most police serv-ices has changed very little in the past few years, there havebeen some significant improvements in some organiza-tions. These improvements can generally be attributed toincreased communication between management andlabour and to proven approaches to contract negotiationsuch as interest-based bargaining and other similar tech-niques. Many police services have established a joint-labour management committee to try to improve commu-nications between management, the rank-and-file officersand in some cases, civilian employees. These committeeshelp to create a more collaborative approach to solvingproblems. New bargaining approaches such as interest-based bargaining have also proven helpful in improvingunderstanding and cooperation between labour andmanagement. Some police services have used thisapproach in the latest round of contract negotiations withsome success.

While labour-management relations have improved insome police services, there is evidence that in others, rela-tions between management and labour have becomeincreasingly strained and adversarial. These strained rela-tions are due to a number of factors that vary from onepolice service to the next, but in general, they can beattributed to contract disputes, externally imposed budgetrestraints and disagreements over management appoint-ments and adequate staffing.

The Steering Committee recognizes that while someprogress has been made in improving labour-managementrelations, there still remains some work to be done tocreate a less adversarial climate in contract negotiations.The Steering Committee members therefore recommendthe following:

• Develop mechanisms to aid police, management andassociations in moving their labour relations from amore adversarial to cooperative relationship.


PRIORITY: Increasing funding and resources

The Canadian public policing sector, like many othersectors, has experienced a considerable number of inter-related economic and fiscal pressures over the past fewyears. These pressures have culminated in resourceconstraints for police services across Canada. At the sametime, both the amount and the complexity of police workhave increased due to a combination of influences such asnew technology pressures, increasing administrative work,changing roles demanded by community policing andother trends. When these influences are combined withthe budget freezes and/or cutbacks that have affected thesector over time, this increased scope of policing meansthat “everyone is doing more with less”. The Federation ofCanadian Municipalities has raised the concern that withone source of revenue (property tax), Canadian munici-palities cannot sustain increased policing costs ofaddressing national and international crime, as well asproviding policing service at the local level.

The Steering Committee members therefore recommendthat the policing sector:

• Conduct a review of mechanisms for financing publicpolicing across Canada, including the roles of thevarious levels of government in providing funds.

In addition to the other recommendations in this report,the Steering Committee recognizes that implementing anyrecommendations stemming from this Human ResourceStrategic Analysis will require dedicated and specializedresources. As such, the Steering Committee recommendsthat:

• A working group be established in order to promotethe implementation of these recommendations onbehalf of the sector;

• Funding be provided for the working group in order tohelp them implement the recommendations proposedin this report.



Objectives and ScopeThe main objective of this study is to provide a vehiclethrough which the public policing sector can leveragechange in its human resource practices and address itscurrent and future human resource challenges.

This study includes a diagnosis of the human resourcechallenges facing the public policing sector, both now andin the foreseeable future, and serves as the basis for thedevelopment of concrete recommendations for action. Thestudy provides information on both a provincial andnational level and looks at the future trends of the sector.

Specifically, the study:

• provides a comprehensive analysis of elements of thecurrent operating and public policy environment inwhich police services function;

• identifies emerging trends provincially, nationally andinternationally which will have an impact on the sector,particularly its human resources, and explores the likelyimpacts on police services in Canada;

• develops an employment profile;

• explores human resource issues of importance acrossthe sector;

• provides an analysis of the flow of potential recruitsand employees (sworn officers and civilians, includingmanagement) through the education and trainingsystem and examines the linkages between the sectorand the police training institutions;

• develops, based on an analysis of findings, an under-standing of the likely directions for the sector in thefuture; identifies barriers and recommends actions to betaken to meet identified human resource challenges; and

• examines any other human resource issues germane tothis project.

The study focuses on publicly funded organizations with aprimary objective of providing police services, includingpaid and unpaid members of public police forces, volun-teers, auxiliaries, civilians and special constables. It alsoincludes police officers and civilians involved in FirstNations policing through the RCMP, the Ontario ProvincialPolice (OPP) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

However, the specific human resource challenges relatingto Aboriginal policing on reserves by stand-alone, self-administered First Nations police services are excluded

from this study as they are part of a parallel study currentlybeing conducted. Private security sector; railway police,military police; and peace officers employed in govern-ment departments/ ministries or any other organizationnot primarily engaged in policing are also consideredoutside the scope of this study.

Study ApproachA key element of the study was to draw on the perspectivesand expertise of a range of sector stakeholders including:police chiefs and senior managers of police services, sectorassociations and labour representatives, workers in thesector including police officers, civilians and volunteers,educational institutions, students and government repre-sentatives. The major data methods are outlined below.

Study Background

the 1996 Census of Canada, data from several years of thePolice Administration Annual Survey (PAAS) collected bythe Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, and a specialsurvey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers for thisstudy in the Spring of 2000. The PricewaterhouseCooperssurvey adopted the occupation definitions of the PAASsurvey to minimize confusion for respondents.

Some of the demographic information within this report isdrawn from the 1996 Census of Canada. While undoubt-edly the most extensive and detailed source of informationon the Canadian population, the drawback of the Censusfor this study is that it does not break out public policingservices as a separate industry. Instead, policing servicesare included in the general categories of municipal,provincial and federal government service industries. Theonly way to extract information on the policing sector is tofocus on occupations, and there we are limited to two

occupational groups whose members are employed prima-rily by police services – commissioned police officers andnon-commissioned police officers.

A look at the employment totals from the Census comparedwith that from the PAAS suggests that the census definitionof commissioned officers is roughly equivalent to theSenior Officer category as defined in both the PAAS andthe PricewaterhouseCoopers HR Survey of Police.


Data Limitations

A note on the nature of the data before reading this report may avoid some unnecessary confusion. By using data fromseveral sources, a composite picture emerges. Readers should note however, that each data source has its own strengthsand weaknesses, and differences in collection methods and definitions mean that total employment measures for example,do not necessarily come out equal across all data sources. The primary sources used within this report include data from

Research Methodologies

METHOD DESCRIPTION

Document review and Review of published articles, books and documents about the sector as well as a review of police sector data base analysis employment and demographic data.

Interviews and Telephone and in-person interviews and focus groups were conducted with sector representatives including focus groups police associations and labour representatives, trainers and educators, students, police officers, civilians and volunteers,

representatives from municipal, provincial and federal government and senior management from police services acrossCanada. During the first phase of the study the interviews were at a strategic level, focusing on global issues.Subsequent interviews and focus groups concentrated on the issues in the Canadian public police sector, and morespecifically, human resource challenges.

In depth site visits Visits to police services and educational and training facilities located across Canada to talk to police officers, civilians andvolunteers to see how their work is conducted and with students to determine their career goals and expectations. Thisresearch included interviews with police chiefs, human resource executives, union and police association officials, andeducation and training practitioners on major issues facing the industry.

Mail survey A mail survey of police services in Canada, which focused on employment, human resource and training. The response rateattained was 50% (135 of the 270 police services surveyed). Responding services employ 47,477 sworn officers, 86% ofthe 55,300 total strength in 1999.

Responding services reported employment of 18,915 civilians, 94% of 1999 CCJS estimates. Employment amongresponding services totalled 66365, or 88% of 1999 CCJS estimates. In addition, we received data from 252 RCMPdetachments via a modified questionnaire.

Details on the geographical breakdown of the number of site visits, focus groups and interviews and a copy of the mail survey are presented in the Appendices of this report.


The Canadian public policing sector provides law enforce-ment and community services that directly contribute toCanada’s high quality of life by helping maintain a safe andsecure environment. Currently, Canadian police are wellregarded both domestically and internationally. However,the public policing sector is facing significant change as itseeks to respond and adapt to continually evolving societaltrends.

This chapter discusses the changes within Canadiansociety that are impacting the nature of police work andworking conditions. It examines the role of police work,the impact of public expectations and the significance ofeconomic and fiscal pressures on the public police sector.

SOCIETAL AND ECONOMIC TRENDS ARE CREATINGNEW EXPECTATIONS FOR POLICE IN CANADA

– AND POLICE WILL HAVE TO ADAPT

The law, the public, the media, politics, socio-demographicchanges and other external influences all have an impactupon the police. While changes in the outside world have

always affected the policecommunity, many of theindividuals interviewed aspart of this study wereconcerned about theincreasing pace of change.

As key representativesand service providers ofthe communities in whichthey live, police areexpected to reflect currentsocietal values and priori-ties, and adapt theiroperational and humanresource practices tochanges in the external

environment and find newways to measure and communicate their effectiveness andimpact. For example, a more diverse population benefitsfrom having police members who reflect the diversity inthe population.

This chapter aims to provide an understanding of how theCanadian public police sector is being influenced by thechanges in the world around them.

Changes in the Population are AffectingPolice Work in Dramatic WaysGiven the continued emphasis of the community policing2

philosophy in Canada, it is important that police under-stand emerging demographic trends of the communitythey serve. Police in Canada are interacting with an ageingpopulation (particularly in rural areas) as well as a publicthat is increasingly diverse (particularly in urban areas).Both Canada’s proportion of Aboriginal people in generaland Aboriginal youth in particular are growing at fasterrates than the rest of the population. Each of these trendshave some human resource impacts on police services.

Canadians are growing older: The baby boom generationcontinues to grow older; as shown in the chart below, theproportion of Canadians over 65 years of age has alreadyrisen by half over the last 30 years, and is forecast todouble over the next 30 years.3

An older population hasseveral influences onpolicing. With a statisticallydemonstrated correlationbetween age and crime, wecan project that as thepopulation ages, the rela-tive proportion of thosemost likely to commitcrime decreases. The result:a continued decline in thenational crime rate isexpected. Already, thenational crime rate has

declined by 21.7 per cent

Sector Context

An ageing populationrequires a morepersonal touch

Older Canadians aremore likely to feel unsafein their neighbourhoods.As expressed by oneofficer, many police haveobserved that the elderlyhave “different wantsand needs” than theiryounger counterparts.

Police services are underpressure to accommodatechange from all sides

“One of the biggest

challenges for police, is

in keeping up with the pace

of change, not only in the

area of legislation but espe-

cially in the areas of tech-

nology and demographics.”

Comment of the commandingofficer of a large urban agency

FIGURE 1

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

01971 2000 2031

Source: Linden, 2000.

8%

12%

24%

Percentage of Canadian Population Over 65 Years of Age

since its peak in 1991.4 While a baby boom echo genera-tion (consisting of the children of the demographicallydominant baby-boomers) is expected to marginallyincrease the proportion of 15-34 year olds (the age groupwith the highest crime rate), this will likely not be signifi-cant enough to offset the impact of the much largerproportion of their ageing parents in the population.5

Secondly, an ageing population makes different demandsfor police community presence. Older Canadians are morefrequently the victims of certain types of crime and typi-cally require more intensive, personal attention thanyoung adults when they have been affected by crime. Thistrend has already affected how police deal with older citi-zens, requiring more emphasis on having police acquireand demonstrate softer people-skills (social support,counselling and negotiation).

In recognizing the need to deal with citizens in a morepersonal way, many police services have already adoptedinnovative and sensitive techniques, including the estab-lishment of Victim Services Units in many jurisdictions.Usually staffed by volunteers, these Units assist victims ofcrime in many ways, usually including information, guid-ance, and referral to other social agencies. More emphasisis also being put on developing the skills of officers them-selves in how to better handle the public, as discussed inthe Learning and Development section of this report.

The ageing population will have an adverse impact onrecruitment, as the pool of potential applicants declines innumbers. Police services outside Québec (which has aunique approach to training, selection and development)have already modified their recruitment and selectionprocesses by placing a premium value on life experience.The result has been a rise in the average age of policerecruits; recent figures and estimates indicate that theaverage age of new recruits is now between 27 and 28years of age. The additional life experience that a newrecruit has acquired in their 20s adds not only to theirconfidence in dealing with people, but enhances theircredibility in the eyes of many older Canadians. However,this trend toward hiring older recruits also raises thespectre of potential difficulties toward the end of policecareers. For example, officers may have to work later in lifein order to qualify for full pension benefits, or there maybe increased concerns about workload and stress for olderpersonnel. The Human Resources Practices section of thisreport provides a more detailed discussion of the evolvingrecruitment trends.

The population is more diverse: The Canadian popula-tion has become more ethnically and linguistically variedover time. Across Canada, the proportion of the popula-tion that spoke a non-official language in the home almostdoubled between 1971 and 1996. Toronto had the highestproportion of individuals (25 per cent) who spoke a non-official language at home in 1996, followed by Vancouver(22 per cent) and Montreal (12 per cent). Given the crit-ical importance of effective communication in policing,these linguistic trends represent a significant challenge tocreating strong community relationships.

The impact of ethnic diversity is particularly acute inCanada’s large cities. Toronto was the preferred destinationof almost half of Canada’s most recent immigrants. Torontohas become home to the largest numbers of immigrantsfrom Asia and the Middle East (six out of 10 of all recentimmigrants), as well as Central and South America, theCaribbean and Africa – in fact, Toronto had more recentimmigrants from Asia and the Middle East than Vancouver.Vancouver attracted 18 per cent of all recent immigrants toCanada, the majority of whom were Asian-born; half of allnewcomers to Vancouver were from Hong Kong, Chinaand Taiwan. Up to 50 per cent of recent immigrants havelittle or no English or French language skills.6

One response to these population changes has involvedmaking police services more representative of the commu-nities they work in, compelling administrators to employtargeted recruitment of minority groups to encourage amore demographically representative candidate pool.7

That is, many police departments are actively encouragingmembers of under-represented groups to consider a careerin policing in an attempt to build better relationships withtheir communities. Entrance procedures and qualificationshave also been examined and modified in many jurisdic-tions in an effort to eliminate practices which may beperceived to be discriminatory or impede equal opportunity.

A second response involves training police officers inenhanced cultural sensitivity. When the traditional tiesbetween police agencies and the community becomestrained by cultural and language barriers, police must beable to not only accept and understand other cultures,they must also be able to appreciate subtle cultural differ-ences and communicate empathetically with members ofdisparate ethnic groups.8 In response to this need forimproved understanding, some police personnel havereceived training in understanding the non-verbal


communication of different cultures. Other police servicesare making greater use of volunteer personnel to create apresence and forge relationships with community groups.

The Aboriginal population is growing: The size of theAboriginal community continues to grow at a more rapidrate than the total population. Further, the proportion ofyoung people aged 15 to 24 was also greater among the

Aboriginal population than inthe total population.

Aboriginal youth repre-sented almost one-fifth(18 per cent) of all agegroups within their popu-lation segment, comparedwith 13 per cent in thegeneral population. Theoff-reserve population isgrowing at a rate of 2.7per cent, which is abouttwice the average growthrate for the rest of theCanadian population.9

The demographic impact isparticularly pronounced in the

western provinces, since 63 per cent of all Aboriginalpeople in Canada live in the four western provinces.10 Inboth Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Aboriginal childrenunder 15 accounted for 20 per cent of all youngsters inthis age group living in these provinces. It is projected thatup to 25 per cent of all children living in Manitoba andSaskatchewan in the year 2016 will be of Aboriginaldescent.

Because police services in Canada have traditionally haddifficulty attracting Aboriginal applicants, it becomes diffi-cult for the police to build the kind of relationships withAboriginal communities that make it easier to understandtheir concerns. In lieu of successfully attracting a greaternumber of Aboriginal police recruits, several police serv-ices have established formal working relationships withthe leading Aboriginal groups in their communities. Insome services, when Aboriginal candidates express aninterest in pursuing a career in policing, the police HR staffwork directly with them to help them prepare for theselection process and ensure they meet the physical skillsand training requirements. However, continued effort willbe required to build and maintain these strategies as theproportion of Aboriginals rises across Canada.

Crime is More Sophisticated,Organized, and Technically ComplexThe range of crimes and types of people drawn to criminalactivity is becoming wider and increasingly complex. OPPCommissioner Gwen Boniface has described “the tentaclesof organized crime” as ranging from telemarketing schemesthat fleece seniors to credit-card scams to money laundering.Drugs, prostitution, murder-for-hire, home invasions, alienimmigrant smuggling and even the production of fakeMedicare cards and provincial driver’s licences are increas-ingly lucrative businesses for criminals.11 Organized crimi-nals move every illegal commodity, including human cargo,through provincial border towns. In addition to biker gangs,

active crime syndicates haveemerged under the coverof mainstream legitimateethnic and visible minorityimmigrant communities.

Technology advancementshave also enabled new andmore sophisticated types oforganized crime. Significantincreases in technology-

based crime such as creditcard fraud, money laundering

and crime on the Internet are increasingly an internationalissue.12 Criminals are using cutting-edge computer andtelecommunications equipment and software. Both policeand prosecutors have spoken of the frustration of keepingup with criminal operations that use this country’s highlevel of electronic access to do their illegal business andhide profits.13

In general, most people interviewed throughout this studybelieved that police services are at a disadvantage in termsof technology. Many police services are still trying tosimply catch up to the current technology and mustcontinue to work with outdated computer systemsbecause they cannot afford to upgrade at the same rate thattechnological change is occurring. Many officers expressedfrustration over their lack of access to technology andpointed out that criminals frequently have better equip-ment than the police. Police Association representativesbelieved that computer-based crime was increasing butthat police services lacked the necessary expertise tocombat it. Policing organizations often find it hard toretain computer proficient professionals to battle this kindof criminal activity because of more attractive compensationpackages available to them in the competitive marketplace.


Challenge ofAboriginal Policing

The rapidly increasing

Aboriginal populace will

present challenges for

police services, especially

in terms of human

resource planning.

Comment by police officercurrently working for aPrairie police service

Keeping up withComputer Crime

“Police are forced intoplaying catch-up asthey attempt to detectand solve these cases”

Police AssociationRepresentative

As various individuals from throughout the policing sectorindicated in interviews, the police must become moretechnologically adept if they are to protect the public fromsuch crimes.

This struggle has been recognized in many jurisdictions,and some strategies have already been initiated. Forexample, the federal government implemented its inte-grated proceeds of crime (IPOC) strategy beginning in1996-97, bringing together multi-disciplinary teams,including provincial and municipal police, in 13 Canadiancities to remove the profits of criminal enterprises. InAugust 2000, James Flaherty,14 then Attorney-General ofOntario, stated his view that the current Criminal Codeprovisions for seizing the proceeds of crime after asuccessful prosecution “hadn’t done very well in terms ofdiscouraging organized crime in Canada” and promised tofund special forces of police officers, forensic accountantsand special prosecutors to attack the growing problem.Antonio Nicaso, a lecturer on organized crime andconsultant for the FBI, the RCMP and Italian police, hadseveral suggestions for the policy-makers, including:

• Creating a national, integrated policing strategy that seesall related agencies working as one to attack gangsters;

• Enacting a broad law, similar to the U.S. RacketeeringInfluenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute,that helps government agencies dismantle an entirecriminal enterprise;

• Directing the courts to pay special attention to organ-ized crime, including additional sentences for criminalassociation and eliminating parole for drug traffickers;

• Entrenching a better definition of organized crime infederal law;

• Vigorously seizing criminal assets and giving the moneyto police to fund the fight against organized crime.

Subsequently, legislative changes were introduced thataddressed a number of these points.

But responses, recommendations and commitments ofthese kinds contribute as much new change andcomplexity to police jobs as they propose to address.Police are required to manage increased amounts of infor-mation, understand and administer more difficult regula-tions concerning criminal assets, technological and organ-ized crime and acquire new levels of technologicalexpertise and abilities – frequently on their own initiativeand with limited resources.

The Role of Police Work is Changing –and so are Public ExpectationsThe role of the police in Canadian society has changedsignificantly over the past few decades. Traditional policemethods may have been perceived as reactive – the phonerings and the police respond/react. Contemporary policingmethods acknowledge that the community is a stake-holder in regard to community safety. This style of policingdemands far greater involvement of the community withthe police. In addition to such traditional police activitiesas responding to emergency calls and enforcing trafficviolations, the public is now expecting increased socialsupport services (e.g., drug awareness programs) andcommunity participation from police.

Police have been workinghard to acknowledge andaddress the widelydiffering interests anddemands of the publicwithin the confines of theirfinite resource allocations.The need to develop part-nerships to resolve mutualissues may vary fromcommunity to community,but even within relativelyhomogeneous communi-ties (from a demographicsviewpoint) police have hadto address citizen concernsthat can vary considerably.

Changes in the social orderhave contributed to complexity

in the relationships between police and their communities.Such influences as greater income polarization (the gapbetween the needs of the rich and the poor), homeless-ness, the de-institutionalising of the mentally ill and, insome communities, social activism can often dividecommunities, requiring police to further intensify theirefforts to communicate with citizens and understand theirconcerns and issues. Even relatively routine issues such asincreasing traffic problems (due to population growth) andvandalism create demands for police action that mustcompete against larger-scale social order issues.


The taxpayers aremore demanding

“The public is demandingmore from their policeservices. They want thepolice to be accountablefor the tax money theyreceive from the govern-ment and they want themto be very professional.”

Comments from thePolice Chief, largeurban police service

Public expectations and scrutiny of the police have risenin recent years: In response, police services have felt somepressure to become more open in their dealings with thepublic and accountable to the people they serve andprotect. This has created a need for professional manage-ment teams that can respond to data requests, coordinateand justify policies and budget requests and even providepublic and media relations liaison. Many large police serv-ices now require some level of professional managementtraining for its most senior personnel.

One approach to integrating these skill sets has been thecivilianization of management positions in areas such asfinance and human resources. More information on thesetrends can be found in the Human Face of Policing sectionof this report.

Police are frustrated with their depiction in the media:The increased level of public expectations and scrutiny ofpolice activities may have been partly fuelled by mediascrutiny. Crime and justice have long been popularsubjects for the media and the public they serve. As with

most public sector activities,bad news tends to makefor a better news storythan good news.However, this frequentlyresults in a perceivedover-representation ofnegative reports on policeactivities and not enoughcoverage of the positiveimpacts that police haveon their communities.There is a feeling withinthe police communitythat the media is notaware of the negativeimpact that they have onpolice morale.

Many intervieweesexpressed frustration withthe perceived negativecoverage they receive fromthe media. It wasfrequently suggested thatpolice leaders should bedoing more to develop

positive relationships with the media in order to deflectcriticism from front-line police personnel. Some organiza-tions, such as the RCMP and Vancouver Police, havecreated dedicated media relations units in an effort toincrease understanding between members of the press andthemselves. Police Associations also play an active role inliasing with the Press and defending the actions of theirmembers (as well as praising their positive contributionsto the public).

Paperwork and Regulations areIncreasing the Police WorkloadThe workload of police officers across Canada has morethan doubled over a 36-year period, according to figurescompiled by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.15

Even though Canada is experiencing lower crime rates, theaverage caseload for a Canadian police officer hasincreased from 19.7 Criminal Code cases a year in 1962 to46.2 cases in 1998. One contributing factor to the increaseon police workload was the Supreme Court of Canada16

decision that obligated Crown attorneys to make fulldisclosure. In the past, police would need to prepare onlyenough documentation to make the Crown’s case; as aresult of the change in legislation, they must now preparemuch more detailed reports. At the same time, the numberof police officers per capita dropped for the seventhconsecutive year in 1998, to 181 officers per 100,000population – the lowest level since 1970. (for the humanresource implications of this trend, see the Human ResourcePractices chapter of this report).

Alternative justice and sentencing measures are timeconsuming for police staff who must interact morefrequently with other professional groups (e.g., socialworkers), and can put pressure on police officers toacquire new skills (e.g., mediation and negotiation). Policeofficers of varying rank frequently expressed frustrationwith the impact of current legislation, such as the YoungOffenders Act, and the subsequent impact on their duties.

The shift toward the community policing model, whichis based on a greater level of proactive problem solving,also contributes to workload pressures. Many proactive,but labour-intensive policing initiatives, such as the RIDEprogram, have been implemented without the provisionof any additional resources. However, police must stillrespond to calls for service and process resultant paperwork.


Police rank and fileare tired of beingpilloried in the press

“Critics of the policesuddenly seemed to beeverywhere, undermining(police) as they wentabout their daily work.For the last 10 years orso, it seems we’ve beenin the news a lot more –negative news.That affects everybody.There just seems to beso much negative talkabout us when thereshouldn’t have been. Ithink it affected a wholegeneration of policeofficers in the city.”

Police Association, seniorexecutive member, in aGlobe and Mail interview

Economic and Fiscal Pressures: Doing More with LessThe Canadian public policing sector has experienced aconsiderable number of inter-related economic and fiscalpressures in recent years, which have culminated inresource constraints for police services across Canada. Asshown in Figure 2, constant dollar spending (spendingadjusted for inflation) on policing has plateaued duringmost of the 1990’s, as was the case for most of the publicsector. It is worth noting, however, that spending didincrease in 1998 by 4.4 per cent (3.4 per cent adjusted forinflation).17 Per capita spending figures, not shown here,illustrate very similar trends.18

Governments at all levels have come through a number ofyears of fiscal restraint and efforts directed at operationalefficiencies. The public police sector has not been exemptfrom this phenomenon.

At the same time, both the amount and the complexity ofpolice work are increasing (as discussed in previoussections of this chapter). As a result of a combination ofinfluences (including new technology pressures,increasing administrative work, changing roles demandedby community policing and other trends), many policeservice representatives from across Canada observed thatpolicing has become much more complicated and labour

intensive than it was in thepast. When combinedwith budget freezesand/or cutbacks that haveaffected the sector overtime, this increased scopewith respect to policingmeans that ‘everyone isdoing more with less.’The Federation ofCanadian Municipalitieshave raised the concernthat with one source ofrevenues (property tax),Canadian municipalitiescannot sustain increasedpolicing costs requiredto combat local, nationaland international crimeactivities.

While the range of dutieshas expanded for Canadian

police, the increase in the number of police officers has notkept pace with the rate of population growth over most ofthe last decade.19 The effects of budget constraint are felt inevery aspect of policing, from training to occupational


Trying to do morewith less

In personal interviews,two commanding officers,one from a detachment ofthe RCMP and one from asmall Western policeservice, remarked on theincreased financialresources needed toconduct investigations.Also, two representativesof a Québec police associ-ation stated that policeservices are struggling tomaintain the standardsthey upheld in the pastwhile currently receivingless funding.

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Dol

lars

(Bi

llion

s)

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Source: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 1999.

Current and Constant Dollar Spending on Policing in Canada (1985-1998)

Constant Dollars (billions)

Current Dollars (billions)

FIGURE 2

health and safety, and is intensified by rising costs andexpectations. Fiscal pressures appear to have the greatestimpact on general patrol officers. As the specialization ofpolicing tasks increases, resources are drawn from the patrolunits. This places increased pressure on the remaining“front-line” personnel, contributing to stress and moraleissues. It may also compromise the ability of police servicesto meet public expectations and internal service level stan-dards. (For more on the human resource impact of this, seethe Human Resource Practices chapter of this report)

b Where are resource constraints being felt most acutely?

Technology availability and upgrades: One frequentlycited consequence of economic and fiscal pressures is aninability to adequately invest in technology, despite theneed to keep up with both technological advancements inlaw enforcement and administrative software tools. Mostpolice services find technology valuable to fulfilling theirvarious responsibilities and ideally would like to eitherpurchase or upgrade their technological capacity, but areoften unable to do so because of limited resources. As wellas lacking the funds to afford advanced technology, somepolice services are unable to provide appropriate techno-logical training to their members. As a result, the techno-logical tools that have been purchased by police agenciesare sometimes under-utilized, resulting in inefficiency.

This problem is further compounded, according to agroup of civilian workers for a major urban police serviceduring interviews, by the high market demand for peoplewith technology expertise. Police service employees whopossess or develop high levels of technological skills mayleave for better paying positions in the private sector soonafter they are fully trained. This puts police servicesHuman Resources staff in the position of having to re-invest in the same types of training for new personnel.

Because police services lack the funds to acquire new tech-nology, police will continue to lose ground to criminalswith greater technological resources. Being made to feelineffectual can have a highly detrimental effect on morale,and may contribute to recruitment and retention issues.(For more on the human resource impact of this, see theHuman Resource Practices chapter of this report)

Training and professional development: Fiscal pressuresimpact not only technology skills, but other types oftraining as well. Many police associations, unions, officers,HR representatives, and students from across the country

described their situation similarly – as one in which thenecessary resources to properly train employees, recruits,and volunteers are simply not available.

There are many different approaches to financing trainingand development efforts. Some police services will pay thefull cost of a limited amount of external job-relatedtraining and, in some cases, even provide their employeeswith paid leave for educational purposes. Within otherpolice services, the financial responsibility of training isshared between the employee and the organization. Aspolice services attempt to keep costs low and maintainstandards, the selection of appropriate training mayinclude looking for no-cost training programs, researchingfederal grant opportunities that provide training, andconsidering training sources external to the policeservices.20 Another response is to shift training costs to theemployee. New recruits will likely be expected to payincreasing portions of their own training costs in somejurisdictions. (For more on the human resource impact ofthis, see the Learning and Development chapter of this report)

Police costs need to be managed more strategically.Most organizations consider expenditures on training andtechnology to be investment costs. However, many policeorganizations are diverting funds from these areas to meetoperational demands. While this helps address short-termneeds, it decreases their ability to meet their long-termobjectives. Some police agencies, such as the RCMP, OPPand Edmonton Police Service, have recently undergonecomprehensive resource reviews in an effort to identifyefficiency opportunities and strategic investment needs.Such approaches also assist police in meeting increasedfinancial accountability requirements. (For more on thehuman resource impact of this, see the Human ResourcePractices chapter of this report)


The Use of Private Security in Canada is GrowingIn the 1990s, while the number of sworn police personnelper capita decreased, the use of private security in Canadaincreased. (It is also important to note that the issue ofprivate security is currently of greater importance in large,urban centres than it is in rural jurisdictions.) It has beensuggested that private security has grown in Canada as aresult of greater citizen demand for a visible security pres-ence. Due in part to increased media coverage of violentcrimes, and despite an overall decrease in the crime rate,Canadians have continued to be concerned about theirsafety. These fears have led to at least some of the growthin private security. There is also a belief that the use ofprivate security has grown as a result of due diligence, riskand loss management on the part of property owners andsharp increases in insurance premiums. Property and busi-ness owners are increasingly hiring private security in aneffort to protect their property from theft and damage.

There is a common, though not universal, view within thepublic policing sector that the objectives of private securityand public policing cannot be fully reconciled. Privatesecurity’s obligation is to protect their client’s interests(minimize loss, protect property), and as a result their

decisions are based onprofits and service differsbased on ability to pay. Incontrast, publicly fundedpolice services operate toguarantee equal access toorder, peace and justice.

While determining theexact number of privatesecurity personnel is opento some dispute, recentestimates by the CanadianCentre for JusticeStatistics indicate thatthere are 56,020 swornpolice personnel and82,010 private securityguards and investigatorsin Canada.21 Of course,the simple numbers donot tell the full storyabout private security inCanada. The truth is thatthe private security sphere

is very diverse, rangingfrom people performing rela-

tively simple static guard duty to professionally trainedindividuals undertaking quite complex forensicaccounting and computer investigations.22

While there exists little conflict between public police andprivate security at the extreme ends of the spectrum, thereis some concern over the increased private security pres-ence providing service to the broader public. For example,some private security firms have now been contracted toperform patrols of gated communities, housing projectsand even business and industrial developments. Somelocal authorities have contracted out bylaw enforcementactivities to private security firms to reduce the workloadon their patrol ranks. Similarly, public police personnel areoften hired on a contract basis for private events, such asexhibitions or stadium events, thereby competing withprivate security firms. In all these common examples, theroles, functions, jurisdictions and interests of public policeand private security begin to overlap and distinctionsbetween them become blurred. It is in this emerging spacethat conflict arises between the two sectors.


Some serviceshave already beencontracted out

“I can see departmentscontracting out theissuing of speedingtickets, as in Alberta,where commissionairesoperate speed traps (note:commissionaires are notconsidered private secu-rity). I can also envisioncontracting out courtsecurity as well. Thesechanges would bebudget-driven becauseofficers are overqualifiedand too highly paid toperform these routinefunctions.”

Comment by the seniorofficer of a centralurban service

The reaction within the public policing sector to increasedprivate security has been mixed. Some public policebelieve that private security has a legitimate role, whileothers feel threatened by private security. The reasonsassociated with positive and negative perceptions ofprivate policing/security forces are complex.

For many, the largest problem associated with anexpanded role for private security is the impact it has onthe job security of public police personnel. Many in thepolicing sector believe that the growing presence of privatesecurity in proportion to the number of public police isnot coincidental. They worry that, if the trend towardmore private security continues, public police jobs wouldbe lost in the future.

Though job security is a cause of concern for some, othersfamiliar with the situation of contemporary Canadianpolicing assert increased private security will not affect thenumber of jobs available for police officers. In a paperdelivered at the National Conference on Police and PrivateSecurity in 1999, it was reported that “there is no empir-ical evidence to substantiate the claim that private securityis parasitic on public policing in Canada (or vice versa).”23

In fact, some within the sector argue that private securitycan free police from routine and mundane tasks, allowingthem to focus on more complex functions requiringspecialized police training and expertise.

There is considerable concern among police officials, partic-ularly association members, that private security personneldo not possess the same level of accountability or trainingthat sworn officers do. This raises questions regarding thecapability of private security to perform the same tasks aspublic police personnel. Training standards for private secu-rity personnel, where they exist, are almost always consid-erably lower than they are for police, though the actualamount of training provided or required varies by firm.

Some members of the public policing community believethat the potential for causing confusion in the public mindin differentiating between public police and private secu-rity is quite high. Because their uniforms can be similar inappearance, it would not be difficult for citizens and crim-inals to mistake private security for sworn police officers.Some public police view this potential for mistaken iden-tity as a legitimate safety issue. Others believe that theactions taken by less stringently trained private securitypersonnel may adversely reflect upon public police.

However, private security firms argue in response thatbecause uniforms for public police personnel are not stan-dardized, it makes it difficult for them to select clearlydifferentiated uniforms.

Economic factors are a significant reason for the prolifera-tion of private security services, especially given recentresource constraints upon public police services. In someinstances, using private security services can cost consid-erably less money than public policing. Within the sphereof computer and other technological crime, especially, itmay make financial sense for police services to contractout to private firms that have access to better resources,expertise and equipment. However, these services tend tobe expensive, and therefore available only to those that canafford them. Given financial considerations, many in thepublic policing community concede that private securitydoes have a legitimate role in policing with one of the keyinterviewees of our study stating: economic realities haveled to a “reluctant acceptance” of private security by thepublic policing community. However, these individualsalso stress the importance of reviewing the limits regardingthe role of private security.



External EnvironmentSECTOR CHANGES IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

Crime is more sophisticated The demand for specialized knowledge within policing is increasing. While many police services are focused on developingnecessary expertise within their current ranks, others are starting to recruit and hire staff directly into specialist roles(sometimes as civilians). There is also increasing competition for specialized resources, which may impact retention.

Crime is more sophisticated It is becoming increasingly difficult to rotate highly specialized staff out of their specialist functions. Police agencies willlikely have to start accommodating staff who wish to stay in specialist roles longer.

Human resource planning will allow police agencies to better identify what skills they are currently lacking and what skillsthey are likely to be lacking in the future, so that they may begin addressing skill shortages before they occur.

Public expectations and Police management teams must ensure that they have adequate skills to provide accountability information in scrutiny is increasing meaningful formats.

Relationships with media establishments are not well established in many areas of the country, which impacts morale.

Paperwork and regulations The increasing workload may be contributing to stress and increases the importance of time management skills are increasing the workload and support services for staff.

Resources are constrained Resource constraints affect most parts of the HR regime.

Police agencies need to manage overall costs strategically, rather than tactically (e.g., view training as an investment).

The use of private security Some HR managers are exploring potential for cooperation and/or collaboration with private security firms.is growing

DemographicsSECTOR CHANGES IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

As Canadians are growing The pool of potential applicants is expected to continue to decline over the next 10-15 years, creating more competitionolder, the pool of potential among police agencies (and other occupations) for skilled recruits. Increased lateral movement of experienced officersapplicants is declining between agencies is expected to result.

The population is There will be continued pressure to increase the diversity of police services to ensure adequate representation of themore diverse communities they serve. Continued emphasis on establishing positive relationships with visible minority communities,

particularly new immigrants, should assist recruitment efforts.

Recruitment and selection practices need to be examined to ensure they do not contain systemic biases against anyminority groups. Several jurisdictions have already completed such examinations.

The Aboriginal population There will be continued pressure to find and hire Aboriginal personnel to ensure adequate representation. Some policeis growing, with particular services have already started targeted recruitment and applicant development programs. The rising proportion of Aboriginalgrowth of Aboriginal youth youth presents a rare demographic opportunity to increase Aboriginal representation in policing.

Cultural awareness training is needed for non-Aboriginal personnel, particularly for those living in areas with highAboriginal populations.

Summary of Changes and TrendsThe public policing sector in Canada is increasing dealingwith an older, more diverse population. They are oper-ating under increasing public scrutiny and expectationswhile resources are constrained and workload is rising dueto paperwork and regulatory changes. At the same time,police must react and adapt to more sophisticated types ofcrime, as well as an increasing private security presence.

To improve its professional capacity in response to thesechanges and trends, the public policing sector is pursuingbetter communication techniques, human resource devel-opment and pursuing a strategy of lifelong learning skillsin adapting to this continually evolving environment. Thetable below presents the sector changes and their respec-tive implications for human resources development in thepublic policing sector. The following chapters on theOperating Environment, the Human Face of Policing inCanada, Human Resources Practices and Learning andDevelopment explore these implications further.


Sector Structure

SECTOR CHANGES IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

Police services are Amalgamations create greater opportunity for staff skill specialization, but can also cause great anxiety and affect morale.amalgamating

Human resource teams of amalgamating police services must work closely to harmonize their respective HR policies andpractices. Police associations also need to be involved in this process to ensure that collective agreements are harmonized.

Competitive bidding for Competitive bidding processes create great uncertainty for existing staff. Internal communication becomes extremely police services contracts important during such times.

Provincial policing Human resource practices should be analyzed and modified where necessary to comply with provincial policing standards.standards are being implemented and refined

Training


Use of new technologies As in other sectors, police are starting to gradually move away from traditional classroom-based learning.for training delivery Staff will have to be supported in their use of new learning technologies.

Continuous and structured The increasing pace of change occurring in the public police sector requires good knowledge management training to update the and continuous learning support. Many police services are already adopting continuous learning principles.skills and versatility of the overall personnel

Service Delivery


Continued transition Competency profiles need to be examined to ensure that they reflect community policing needs.to community policing Many agencies have already done this.philosophy

Promotional and occupational development practices should be examined to ensure that they place proper emphasison community-policing skills and philosophies.

Front-line staff need to be empowered to solve problems. However, clear lines of authority must be maintained fortimes of emergency.

Increasing use Technology skills are currently underdeveloped in the public policing sector.of technology

Technology training is not currently adequate in most jurisdictions. This needs to be viewed as an investment. Withoutproper training to teach staff how to use it, technology will fail to deliver full return on investment.

Technology skills are a core competency for the future of policing. Hiring and promotion practices should be examinedto ensure that they adequately reflect the importance of technology skills.

New technologies can be used to support human resources practices and ongoing learning. Knowledge managementtools possess good potential for success in the public policing sector.


Workforce Organization and Qualifications


Increasing civilianization There is still some cultural resistance to civilianizing these positions. Civilians with management/professional of management / duties need support from senior officers to ensure the co-operation of front-line personnel.professional positions

Civilianization eliminates “light-duty” positions for sworn personnel that need to be accommodated due to injury or stress.New strategies need to be devised to effectively meet the duty to accommodate.

A greater role for Volunteers need to have adequate training.volunteers in the com-munity policing model Sworn personnel should be made aware of what volunteers do and how they can best work together to serve

the needs of the public.

Increasing number and Any and all systemic biases in HR policies and practices need to be identified and removed.role of women and minority personnel In most police services outside of Québec (which uses temporary officers), there is no mechanism to replace sworn

personnel on parental leave. As the number of women increases and the length of maternity leave provisions are extended,this will become a significant challenge for HR managers.

Flattened organizational In most cases, there now exist fewer promotional opportunities for sworn personnel. This increases the hierarchies need to create meaningful lateral career development opportunities to keep staff motivated.

Increasing educational Increased educational levels may create greater expectations for advancement and development.attainment of new entrants Police will have to keep these staff challenged in order to maintain morale and retain staff.

Large number of HR and succession planning is needed to ensure that police services will have the skills they need once impending retirements personnel retire. This is particularly important for the senior ranks.

Fewer senior personnel will be available to act as mentors and in-field trainers. Those remaining in these roles willrequire adequate support.

Some police services have started to hire senior personnel from other services to replace skills lost due to retirements.There will likely be increased lateral movement of sworn personnel above the constable rank in the future.


The way that the police sector is governed and structuredis a critical influence on how it adapts to external influ-ences. Governing authorities provide a filter for evolvingpublic expectations that may then be translated into prac-tical police strategies. Often, this necessitates structural ororganizational change as well.

This chapter presents some of the key trends occurringwithin the police operating environment to which policemanagers and personnel must react and adapt. Thisincludes the evolving nature of governing authorities, thestructure of police service delivery across jurisdictions, andthe quality and nature of relationships within the sector.

SUCCEEDING IN THE NEW SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT MEANS CREATING A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR POLICE WORK

Responsibility for Policing is SharedAmong all Orders of GovernmentResponsibility for policing is shared in Canada betweenthe federal, provincial and municipal orders of govern-ment. Constitutional responsibility for policing in Canadais shared among the federal and provincial/territorialgovernments, while most of the service delivery occurs atthe municipal level. Each level of government is grantedauthority over policing by the Constitution Act of 1867.This Act confers authority on the federal Parliament tolegislate in relation to criminal law and procedure as wellas the power to legislate in respect to “peace, order andgood government”. The provincial governments are alsoempowered by virtue of the Constitution Act to make lawsin relation to the “administration of justice”. This givesthem jurisdiction over civil and criminal justice in theirprovince, which includes responsibility for policing. Thisresults in most police services having parallel responsibili-ties to multiple governing bodies, usually including someform of local oversight, a provincial authority, and in thecase of the RCMP, the federal Solicitor General. There arealso provincial and federal civilian oversight bodies whichhave some influence.

b The RCMP Provides Federal and National Policing Services

As Canada’s national police agency, the RCMP providesfederal, national and international police services, in addi-tion to responsibility for providing contract policing serv-ices delivered at the provincial and municipal levels.Federal police services include the enforcement of federalstatutes in each province and territory. Specific dutiesinclude (but are not limited to) combating organizedcrime, the illegal drug trade, and customs and immigrationviolations. The RCMP also provides protective services aspart of its federal policing responsibilities.

National police services, on the other hand, include technicalservices that complement and support the efforts of theentire law enforcement community in Canada. This includesforensic laboratory, identification, computerized police infor-mation, intelligence, and training (through the CanadianPolice College). These common services provide conti-nuity throughout Canada’s law enforcement community.

The RCMP international police services consist primarilyof its peacekeeping business line, though the agency doesalso provide some international liaison services as well.

The RCMP provides shared-cost provincial police serv-ices in most provinces. The policing agreements betweenthe RCMP and the provinces and territories were lastrenewed in 1992 for 20-year terms. The agreement for therecently created territory Nunavut was signed in 1999,and will also terminate in 2012. Provincial policing dutiesinclude enforcement of the Criminal Code and provincialstatutes in rural areas and towns that have no municipalpolice presence. Provincial duties also include trafficenforcement on provincial highways.

The province of Newfoundland has its own provincialpolice service, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary(RNC), but it does not provide policing to all areas of theprovince. The jurisdiction of the RNC encompassesSt. John’s, Mount Pearl, and the region of North EastAvalon, Corner Brook, and Labrador West. The RCMPservices the rest of the province.

Neither Ontario nor Québec receives any provincialpolicing from the RCMP. In Ontario, provincial policeservices are provided by the OPP. In Québec, the Sûreté duQuébec (SQ) provides provincial police services.

Operating Environment

Municipalities in all provinces have the option ofproviding their own policing services, provided theymeet relevant legislative guidelines and standards.Their alternative is to contract policing services from eitherthe RCMP, or in the case of Ontario and Québec, the OPPor SQ. Municipalities in some provinces also have theoption of contracting from other municipalities’ policeservices.

b How the Cost of Providing RCMPPolice Services is Calculated

The cost of RCMP policing is shared among provinces/territories, municipalities and the federal government. Asstated above, the most recent contracts between theGovernment of Canada and the provinces/territoriesregarding RCMP police services were renewed in 1992 andwill remain in effect until 2012. Under these currentAgreements, provinces/territories pay 70% of the costs forprovincial/territorial policing services, with the federalgovernment paying the remaining 30%. This ratio is basedupon an estimate of the benefits derived by both theprovinces/territories and the federal government.

Under the 1992 Municipal Policing Service Agreements,cost-share ratios for RCMP municipal policing services arebased upon two criteria: population size and historicalrelationship with the RCMP. Municipalities already serv-iced by the RCMP with a population of less than 15,000have a cost-share ratio of 70% for the municipality and30% for the federal government. Municipalities with apopulation greater than 15,000 pay 90% of the costs, withthe remaining 10% paid by the federal government.

The population threshold for new municipal contractschanged from 15,000 to 5,000 residents under the 1992Agreements. It was agreed that there would be no newmunicipal contracts for municipalities under 5,000 popu-lation, with these communities being covered instead bythe provincial police service agreements, wherein thefederal government pays 30% of the policing costs.Municipalities that were policed by the RCMP prior to the1992 Agreements and reach the 5,000 populationthreshold must pay 70% of the costs. Subsequent to the1992 Agreements, the Treasury Board approved ‘NewEntrants’ policy requires that new municipal clients with apopulation over 5,000, not previously policed by theRCMP, pay 100% of the costs.

b The Role of Police Governing andOversight Bodies

The majority of police services are accountable directly toeither a local municipal council or a police board/commis-sion. This includes most RCMP, OPP and SQ detachments.They are also directly accountable to provincial/federalMinisters within their jurisdictions, as indicated in thetable below.

At the municipal level, local civilian oversight is gener-ally considered to be a key component of policeaccountability. Local oversight bodies ensure fiscal andlegal accountability for police, provide policy directionand establish priorities. They also reflect citizen concernson pertinent police and public security issues. There aretwo main approaches to providing local civilian oversight.In many communities, including all of Manitoba andQuébec, the municipal council assumes direct responsi-bility for holding police accountable and providing direction.The alternative approach is to establish a local policeboard/commission. Police boards/commissions are typicallycomposed of civilians appointed by the province and/ormunicipal council for a period of one to six years,depending on the province. In most communities policeboards also contain some representation from the munic-ipal council.


Accountability

JURISDICTION RESPONSIBLE AGENT

Federal Government (RCMP) Solicitor General

Alberta Solicitor General

B.C. Attorney General

Manitoba Minister of Justice

New Brunswick Minister of Public Safety

Newfoundland Minister of Justice

Nova Scotia Attorney General

Ontario Solicitor General

PEI Minister of Justice

Québec Ministère de la sécuritépublique du Québec

Saskatchewan Minister of Justice

The argument for establishing a local police board, asopposed to allowing the municipal council to oversee thepolice agency, is that an independent board should shieldpolice from political interference in investigative and oper-ational matters.24 In order to provide support and direc-tion to local boards and assist communities in ensuringthey choose effective representation for their policeboards/commissions, the Canadian Association of PoliceBoards (CAPB) was founded in 1989. In addition, someprovinces such as Ontario, British Columbia and NovaScotia have provincial associations that provide similarsupport to municipal police governing bodies in theirjurisdictions. Provincial ministries responsible for policingalso provide varying degrees of support and training topolice boards, although many in the policing communityfeel that more training is needed.

Some researchers argue that the need for local supervisionstems from a lack of objective success and effectivenessmeasures for policing.25 Local authorities have greateropportunity to qualitatively evaluate a police service’sperformance. This approach supports the key elements ofthe community policing philosophy.

The responsibilities of provincial oversight bodies andthe federal Solicitor General include maintaining ahealthy regulatory environment. To accomplish this,these authorities establish the legislation and policies thatestablish and define policing authority and regulate theoperations of police services within their jurisdictions.

As part of their governance efforts, most provinces inCanada have now either already finalized (or are in theprocess of finalizing) a set of formal policing standardsdesigned to:

• promote consistent service delivery and profession-alism.

• establish clear expectations for policies, proceduresand operations.

• directly impact human resource practices by incorpo-rating personnel administration standards (includingcategories such as job classifications, promotionprocesses, employment conditions and trainingrequirements, and several other categories).

Provincial police commissions have been established inmost provinces to oversee and develop policies andstandards and to ensure accountability. In holding policeservices accountable, most commissions have beenempowered to conduct inquiries into policing issues. In

addition, some provincial police commissions mayconduct inquiries into the performance of municipalboards and may also hear appeals of internal policediscipline decisions.

To complement the roles of provincial police commissions,many jurisdictions have established formal complaintoversight bodies (variously referred to as public complaintscommissions, civilian commissions, law enforcementreview boards, the Comité de déontologie policière, etc.).Complaints may be lodged against either individual officersor, in most jurisdictions, against police services themselves.

b The “Politicization” of Policing is NegativelyImpacting Working Relationships

The relationship between a local governance authority, theChief of Police and the local Association/Union is one ofthe most critical factors in police effectiveness. Theseparties must learn to trust one another and work coopera-tively to meet the needs of the community. Recently,however, some of these relationships have become strainedover concerns about the “politicization” of policing.

The issue of politicization was one of the most consistentconcerns raised by nearly all interviewees during thisstudy. While politicization does not have a precise defini-tion, when it was cited, it generally referred to the directinvolvement of political authorities (primarily, though notexclusively, at the municipal level) in policing operations(as opposed to policy and funding). It is also used to referto public campaigning and lobbying by police and PoliceAssociations.

“Politicization” is attributed by many to the increasingscrutiny of policing operations on the part of municipalcouncils and appointed police services boards. As mandatedby provincial police services acts and municipal govern-ment acts, police boards/municipal boards are the bodiesappointed to represent the public interest and ensure thedelivery of adequate and effective police services. Theirscrutiny and efforts to hold police accountable is entirelylegitimate and in fact, their duty. Police governance bodiesare becoming more knowledgeable about their mandate,and some police personnel interpret this increased gover-nance role as political interference. A number of interviewswith individuals from the policing sector suggested theissue of either real or apparent political interference inpolicing management was increasing in Canada and that ithas a significant impact on employee morale.


Police have traditionally experienced a high level of oper-ational autonomy extending beyond their essential fullindependence in matters related to criminal investigations.The push for greater accountability over the past decade,which has also occurred in other public service sectorssuch as health care and education, has challenged thisindependent culture. While many within the policing sectorhave adapted well to expectations of greater accountability,others have seen it as hindering their ability to serve thepublic good. Several interviewees pointed out that one ofthe key justifications for establishing independent policeboards/commissions is that they are designed to protectpolice services from direct political interference.

The rise of political activism on the part of police associa-tions was of significant concern not only to commandingofficers, police managers, executives and police governors,but also to officers and many non-politically activeAssociation members. While it is true that PoliceAssociations have publicly lobbied lawmakers for years (ashave police Chiefs), some Associations have recentlyextended their lobbying efforts by communicating directlywith the general public or establishing partisan politicalalignments. This increase in political activism was felt bymany interviewees to be a by-product of the frustrationpolice have been feeling as resources have beenconstrained and public pressure has increased. Some asso-ciation representatives believe that political activity is anatural reaction to what they perceive as governmentinterference in policing. It was also noted that other publicsectors in Canada, including health and education, havealso become more politically active over the last decade asthey faced similar resource constraints and increased levelsof scrutiny. Many interviewees within the public policesector expressed some discomfort with political activities,preferring to maintain their traditional role as politicallyneutral agents of the public good.

Amalgamation – AchievingCritical Mass of Police ServicesAmalgamation of police services in Canada is a trenddriven by economics, politics and a need for increasedservice capacity and specialization. In the words of onesenior officer from a small police service, amalgamation “isrequired to afford the technology and resources that areneeded. Small police services can’t currently provide all thenecessary services.” This is similar to the situation policingfaced in the 1970s when many police services went to aregional model.

As shown in Figure 3, 16 per cent of responding police serv-ices had undergone an amalgamation in the last five years.Almost all had been small police services, representing only4 per cent of police employees covered by the survey.

Amalgamations may be either voluntary (initiated by theinvolved police services) or mandated (initiated by agoverning authority). While many within the policecommunity agree that amalgamations can be positive (e.g.,increased range of service to the public), there appears tobe some resentment to having the decision imposed uponthem. For example, many in Québec are anticipating asignificant impact from mandated amalgamations over thenext few years. In fact, Bill 19 (Police ServicesOrganization Act), currently in the public consultationstage, proposes a new allocation of police personnel in theprovince of Quebec. Specifically, it defines the levels ofservice for police organizations and proposes a newsharing of police responsibilities for the entire province.This may result in a wholesale absorption by the Sûreté duQuébec of police officers who are currently members ofmunicipal police services.


FIGURE 3

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Services Policiers Tous lesde police employés

Source : Source de PwC fondée sur les réponses valides de 133 services de police représentant42 500 policiers et 60 400 ETP.

16%

84%

4%

96%

4%

96%

Undergone Amalgamation in Last Five Years

No

Yes

Before police services can be amalgamated, a number ofissues must be addressed. First, a transition period ofseveral years operating with separate but parallel proce-dures is usually required to ensure systems, collective

agreements, and cultures areseamlessly harmonized.For example, in 1995,when three local policeservices merged to formthe Ottawa-CarletonRegional Police Service(OCRPS), all stakeholderswere involved in thechange process throughan Organizational ChangeProject Team. The team“established a planningprocess which includedthe development of an

integrated structure, poli-cies and procedures, the elim-

ination of service duplication, maximization of efficienciesand effectiveness, and fiscal responsibility.”26 Some of theimportant issues addressed throughout the process by theteam ranged from technology requirements to uniformsand communications.”27

The adjustment period following a police services amalga-mation can be traumatic for almost all the people involved.Amalgamation can create an environment of staff uncer-tainty. Because separate police services have their owncollective agreements and their own labour practices,some police employees fear that amalgamation will changecertain aspects of their contracts and duties. According toDr. Johnson, Director of Corporate Planning at OCRPS,the “human factor” or “the effect on employees due touncertainty” has the single largest negative impact on theamalgamation of police services.28 Outstanding issues andpost merger resentments may require several years to fullydeal with.

One of the advantages of amalgamation is that it oftenprovides personnel with greater opportunities for special-ization. In many small municipal police services, there maybe little opportunity for specialists, because generalist skillsare in greater demand. A senior officer from a small policeservice which is still independent asserts that amalga-mation increases task specialization. He states that “region-alization will allow greater specialization of police officersand will reduce the duplication of work. Right now, almost

every police officer is ageneralist because thereare not enough officers toallow them to specialize,except for investiga-tions.”29 (See The effect ofproviding Police Servicesthrough the competitiveprocess – a case study whichfollows this section).

Amalgamation increasesthe opportunity for policeservices to share existingresources, a very impor-tant factor for the smallermunicipal police serviceswhich are experiencingfiscal pressures. For these,amalgamation can oftenforestall their jurisdictionsfrom being taken over bythe RCMP, SQ, or OPP,and allows them to retaina degree of autonomy andindividual character. Oneinterviewee who serves asan HR director for a small,Western police service

supported amalgamationbecause it would translate into “a pooling of resources” forsmaller organizations who have to “piggyback to keep up.”30

Competitive Bidding forPolice Services ContractsThough many local governments have restructured orregionalized their policing arrangements through amalga-mation of existing services, the process in some areas iscomplicated by the choice between several equally (orsimilarly) viable police services available locally to meetthe policing needs of the community. This situation typi-cally arises where a suburban or rural area policed by theprovincial police service or an RCMP detachment onprovincial contract is included in the newly defined juris-diction, together with one or more local police services.Communities and politicians are understandably loyal totheir existing police services, and are often unwilling togive these up without a fair process to determine which


Transition takes a periodof adjustment

“We had a lot of problemspost-amalgamation, butwe were not over-whelmed. We’ve comepast the trauma and arenow focussing on details.”

Comment from thecommanding officer of arecently amalgamatedpolice service

Sometimes, communitiesobject to policeamalgamation

A proposal to amalgamateseveral police servicessometimes meets withresistance from the com-munities affected and theirmunicipal politicians. In1996, when existing localpolice services merged tocreate the Halifax RegionalPolice Service, both citizensand municipal governmentswere opposed to theprovincially-mandatedamalgamation.

Halifax Police ChiefMcKinnon described it as“the perception that thequality of police servicewithin specific communi-ties would decrease as aproduct of amalgamationeven when, in reality,there was no variance.”

service would provide the most cost effective and efficientpolice service. Some regional police authorities haveaddressed these concerns by structuring a processwhereby two police agencies prepare and submitcompeting bids to provide service to the entire region.

As illustrated in the case study which follows, thesecompetitive processes can create a great deal of uncertaintyfor police organizations and their employees, and mayresult in a legacy of mistrust that threatens public confi-dence in the ability of various police agencies to worktogether. Many communities welcome competitivebidding among suppliers of community services such as

garbage collection and recycling, or maintenance of parks,without the public taking much notice. The nature ofpolicing and the requirement of the competing municipaland provincial services to continue to co-operate onsolving crimes and other issues after the selection is made,suggests that these competitive bid processes should notbe entered into lightly by local government authorities. Inaddition, the mere fact that such competitions could takeplace in communities suggests the operating environmentin these communities has changed, and the attitudes ofpolice officers and working relationships among policeservices are negatively affected.


When Police Services Compete– a Case Study

Introduction: The IssueRecent trends toward regionalized municipal services, changesin provincial police acts, and the demand for more effective andefficient police service delivery have led to amalgamations ortakeovers of municipal police services by agencies providingprovincial police services. In many cases, particularly thoseinvolving very small services, takeovers are negotiated with rela-tively little controversy. In other cases, however, particularlythose involving large viable services, processes involvingcompetitive bids for the right to provide policing services havebeen launched, often triggered by the fact that both municipaland provincial services are providing local policing. When notdone carefully, however, the bidding process and the implemen-tation of decisions can cause significant disruption, both in the

lives of police services employees and in quality of the policeservice, for many years after the final decision has been made.

Competitive bids for policing services are a new phenomenon inCanada, and they generate a host of important questions andconcerns for the participating police organizations, theiremployees, and for the communities they serve. The competitiveprocess forces police organizations to define the essence of theservice they provide to the community, particularly the natureand level of service they provide to the community. Employeesof police service face more practical concerns such as:

• Will I have a job? • Will my seniority be recognized by the successor organization?• What will happen to my pension?• Will I be forced to move from my home community?• What opportunities will there be for career development and

advancement?• Will the culture and atmosphere of my place of work change

significantly?

For communities the major questions concern the quality andcost effectiveness of the police service when all is said anddone: Will the safety of our community be compromised duringand after the competitive process and will the result be greatervalue for the tax dollar?

The research for this case study included interviews with keyplayers in two recent competitive bid processes – the GreaterMoncton area of New Brunswick where a decision was made inApril 1997; the other in the Cape Breton Region of Nova Scotia,

Effective and efficient policing in the future will most certainlynot be achieved by the creation and development of internecinewrangling amongst the police themselves involving disputedclaims suggesting poor or ineffective policing by one or anothergroup. Obviously the public is best served by police cooperatingtogether to provide, to the extent that police are able to do so,a safe environment in which people can live.

– Alan Grant, Policing Arrangements in New Brunswick:2000 and Beyond, March 1992, p. 4.

where a decision was made in January 2000. Those interviewedwere asked to suggest lessons learned from their experience of thecompetitive process itself, as well as its ramifications for the peoplewho make the policing of the community their daily occupation.

Synopsis of EventsBoth in Cape Breton and in the Moncton area, the trigger for thecompetition on police service was a desire by the province torationalize municipal police services. In most areas of Canada,similar initiatives are controversial and heavily political; CapeBreton and Moncton are no exceptions. As a result, the policeservice delivery in these communities became something of abattleground between the past and the future of municipalservice delivery.

MonctonThe Grant Report, released in 1992, had advocated a regionalmunicipal police service for the Greater Moncton Area, includingthe adjoining communities of Moncton, Dieppe, and Riverview.At the time, Moncton and Dieppe had their own municipalforces, while Riverview was policed by the RCMP under contract.

In 1996, the Commission of the Three Communities (CTC) wasformed by the Solicitor General of New Brunswick to examinethe cost of several policing options for the Moncton area, thenserved by two municipal forces and a detachment of the RCMPon contract. A steering committee including representatives ofthe Solicitor General, the three police agencies, and town admin-istrators, was formed to study three options: a regional policeservice, a regional agreement for sharing services, and RCMPcontracted services for the entire region. As part of the study, theMoncton Police Force and the RCMP were asked to provideproposals to provide unified service to the three communities.

In December 1996, the Commission indicated that a regional,amalgamated municipal police service would be the most costeffective option, and the City Councils of both Moncton andDieppe were willing to accept a shared local police service for thethree communities. The Riverview Council, however, indicated itwished to keep its RCMP service. In April 1997, the SolicitorGeneral of New Brunswick, citing the impasse, announced herdecision that a regional RCMP force would police the threecommunities.

The decision took many by surprise, particularly members of theregional police services. While the RCMP proposal included a“promise to treat all affected municipal police personnel andemployees in a transparent, fair and equitable manner during thetransition and afterwards as members of the RCMP,” no guaran-tees of employment were offered. The RCMP bid implied a 25percent reduction in regional police personnel, with a comple-ment of 127 officers policing the region compared to thecombined strength of the three existing services of 177. Aninformation sheet released by the province stated “It is antici-pated that some officers may not opt for a career in the RCMPand it is hoped that they will be dealt with appropriately by themunicipalities.”

At the time of the announcement there were no definitiveanswers for affected employees to the fundamental questionsabout job security, buyout packages, pension arrangements,transfers out of their community and career development.Though these questions were answered in the ensuing months,many officers found the period of uncertainty extremely stressful.Though the police union was successful in delaying implementa-tion of the takeover from the original date in October 1997, onJanuary 18, 1998, the Codiac Regional RCMP was formed,including all but three of the incumbent sworn officers from theMoncton and Dieppe police forces. The City of Moncton councilvoted 3 times unanimously against the plan as presented by theSolicitor General.

While in the end almost all the officers obtained jobs in the newservice, the transition to the new force involved significant issuesaround transfer of pensions to the RCMP plan, lack of recogni-tion of training not conducted by the RCMP, and the availabilityof promotions to those unwilling to accept the RCMP’s transferpolicies and who were not bilingual. Inspector Jim Payne, theofficer in charge of the new Codiac RCMP detachment, indicatedthat there were significant morale issues after the takeover. Formany officers, the transition to the new employer invoked asense of loss similar to that of a death of a close family member,something the RCMP management had not fully appreciated. ForRCMP management, there was little opportunity to plan for thetransition before the announcement, and legitimate questionsposed by police officers on issues like pensions and transfer poli-cies received conflicting and inaccurate responses. This was thefirst time an RCMP service was put in at the request of theprovince, but without the consent of the municipality.


No brief synopsis could do justice to the issues and events involvedin the decision to adopt the RCMP as the provider of police serv-ices in Greater Moncton. Beyond the power struggle betweenprovincial and municipal governments, significant issues included:

• the degree to which bilingual service could be supplied to abilingual community,

• the number of officers required for adequate policing,

• an appropriate basis for comparing cost estimates when speci-fications differ,

• the extent to which RCMP services could or would be subsidizedby the federal government,

• the degree of local control over policing costs and policies;

• and the fact that a municipal police service would be unionizedwhile an RCMP service would not.

The change in government in New Brunswick with the June 1999election, based in part on a campaign promise to repeal the legis-lation imposing RCMP police services, and indications that theanticipated cost savings have not materialized suggest that thesaga of police services in Greater Moncton is not yet complete.Whatever the final outcome, no one has suggested, however,that the process followed in Moncton in 1996-97 was ideal.Perhaps the main lesson learned was the critical importance ofspecifying, in advance, both the appropriate selection process fora provider of police services, and the ramifications of anychanges for the employees who actually deliver police services.

Cape BretonBy the time the new Regional government in Cape Breton begansoliciting bids to complete the unification of regional police serv-ices in 1999, some lessons from the Moncton experience hadmade their way to Cape Breton, most notably that bids ought tospell out the impact of a successful bid on incumbent officers.

The regionalization of municipal governments imposed by theNova Scotia government had taken effect August 1995, amidsignificant local opposition. As part of this program, sevenmunicipal police services in Cape Breton were combined into asingle police service in 1995. Rural policing in Cape BretonCounty remained under contract with the RCMP, though thepayments for these services were routed through the budget ofthe regional police force.

Public hearings on policing services held in 1997 suggested thatthe RCMP enjoyed significant support. In 1999 the PoliceCommission of Cape Breton Regional government solicited bidsfrom both the RCMP and the Cape Breton Regional Police andhired a consultant with police experience to evaluate the twobids. The process was to be regulated by guidelines promoted by

the province, including a ban on lobbying of councillors andsolicitation of public support for both competing services.

Both bids contained offers to hire local officers from the unsuc-cessful bidder, and the RCMP bid was much clearer on theprotocol for absorbing officers than was the case in Moncton. Ifthe RCMP bid were successful, CBRPS officers would be guaran-teed employment, but a no-transfer clause would only be ineffect for three years. Former RCMP members interested inapplying for positions with the Cape Breton Regional police forcewould not have their service with the RCMP counted for senioritypurposes when they joined the Police Association of Nova Scotia,the union representing officers.

By most accounts, the competition split the region with asubstantial segment of the public displaying loyalty to eachservice. One officer characterized the process as a dogfight, andallegations of dirty tactics and violations of the protocol werenumerous. The total cost of the RCMP bid was lower, butsubstantially fewer police officers were promised, and wagesetting would be beyond local control. Cost per officer wasconsiderably higher for the RCMP than for the regional service,even before the recent wage increases were factored in.Extensive debate centred on the cost comparability of the twoproposals, and whether the RCMP could provide adequate policeservices with their offer of 130 officers to police the region, rela-tive to the 177 proposed by the CBRPS.

In January 2000 the matter came to a vote in Regional Council,and the council voted 14 to 7 in favour of retaining the RegionalPolice Service. Almost immediately after the vote, a group called“Citizens in Action” began working to overturn the decision, andthe matter was reconsidered by council four times in the followingmonths, and though support for the regional service graduallyeroded, the numbers were not sufficient to overturn the decision.With the takeover of the former RCMP territory that was slatedto take effect in September 2000, the CIA group continues toagitate for reconsideration of the January decision, havingpresented regional council with a petition claiming 34,000 signa-tures opposing a single law enforcement agency in the region.

While the CBRPS has secured the right to police the Cape BretonRegion, the competitive process appears to have eroded the rela-tionship between the municipal police service and the RCMP whocontinue to provide provincial and federal police services in thearea.While by most accounts the regional service is well respectedwithin the community, the level of controversy created by the bidprocess casts some doubt on the depth of public support for itslocal police service. Nevertheless, the current relationship betweenthe CBRPS and the RCMP, which continues to provide provincialand federal policing services in Nova Scotia, remains professional.


On a more positive note, both union representatives andmanagement believe that the bid process vastly improved theirworking relationships. More information on the cost of policeoperations was shared, and a greater commitment to resolvetheir differences developed in an effort to present a united frontin support of their bid to the region. Officers in the service alsoreport an improvement in morale since the council vote, and arenewed determination to demonstrate their competence andvalue to the communities they serve.

Analysis: The Impact on the Police WorkforceThe employment insecurity underlying uncertainties are, to someextent, common to anyone participating in the labour market. Forpolice services in Canada, however, these questions are relativelynew, and “the rules of the game” which normally allow partici-pants to assess the risks and choose their preferred strategies,are not necessarily well-defined in all cases. While a biddingprocess for policing contracts may convey cost savings forCanadian municipalities, processes that are run without clearand enforced rules in both the bidding process and in the post-decision implementation process run the risk of substantial andunanticipated costs, and deterioration in police services.

In the case of very small local forces, where the number of offi-cers total a dozen or less, the awarding of a contract to a provin-cial service often happens with a minimum of upset. Changes inthe Police Acts in a number of provinces have raised policingstandards to the point where the cost of a small stand-alonepolice service becomes prohibitive. In such takeovers, officers inthe former municipal force either receive a buyout package or areabsorbed into the provincial detachment policing the munici-pality, usually at higher wages.

Problems seem to arise, however, when a large and apparentlyviable municipal police force is called on to submit a bid incompetition with the agency providing provincial police. Thecases of the Cape Breton Region of Nova Scotia, and the GreaterMoncton Area of New Brunswick, by most accounts, generatedsignificant turmoil in their communities and considerable stressamong police service employees. Further, the impact of these bidprocesses seems to have had an impact beyond the communitiesinvolved, and may have created a legacy of mistrust that jeop-ardizes the required cooperative relationships between munic-ipal, provincial and federal police services.

So while competition among goods and services providers maygenerally be welcomed, there is a strong sense that policing isdifferent and the human resources implications are much more

significant. When a construction company loses a contract, forexample, it takes its employees and subcontractors and moves onto other bids. When a municipal police service loses its contract,it is disbanded, and most officers become the employees of thewinning provincial force. If the municipal service wins, itsmembers must still work cooperatively with the provincial forceto ensure proper communications on crimes and criminals whomove easily from one jurisdiction to the next. When a competi-tive bid process appears to be the best solution to the difficultproblem of deciding which of two existing service providers toselect, particular care must be paid to creating a process thatensures that the quality of police services in the longer term isnot compromised.

Looking ForwardMany of the same issues were raised in Ontario as the OPP wasinvited by some municipalities to bid on policing servicecontracts. Once many of the same issues evident in Moncton andCape Breton were recognized, representatives of all the majorstakeholder groups in the policing community combined toproduce a guidebook to “ensure the continuation of the highestprofessional standards and consistency in municipal policerestructuring.” Entitled Restructuring Police Services in Ontario:A Guidebook and Resource Kit for Municipalities from Ontario’sPolice Community, the interested parties developed a protocolwhich all could respect in the event of a competitive bid processfor a municipal contract. The resource kit includes a cost proposalmodel to ensure that bids include costs for all required policingresources, thereby forestalling debates over the strict compara-bility of proposals.

Most importantly from a human resources perspective, theguidebook contains a section that spells out the details of theOPP offer of employment to both police officers and civilians.The process is made simpler by the fact that the OPP is a union-ized police service, and seniority is credited to both officers andcivilians for unbroken service with any Ontario police service.Pension issues tend not to be a concern since police pensionsarrangements are essentially the same across Ontario. Whilecomplete certainty cannot be offered in a transition to a newemployer, the Ontario guidebook at least provides a commonunderstanding that minimized unpleasant surprises for bothemployee and employer. Though circumstances in otherprovinces may differ, a similar protocol with endorsements fromall major stakeholders may assist in avoiding some of the moreunfortunate outcomes associated with recent competitive bidprocess in the Atlantic Region. !


Community Policing: A Return to Tradition as a Response to Change

Many Canadian police services have adopted a renewedfocus on community-based services. A number of sourceswithin the policing sector have argued that the drivingconcept behind community policing is not new at all, butsimply a return to traditional policing methods when offi-cers ‘walked the beat’ and had the opportunity to knowand understand the communities in which they workedon a personal basis. Defining community policing as adistinct management concept, however, began in Canadain the 1970s.

There is general agreement on the conceptual definition ofcommunity policing.31 The two main components arecommunity partnerships and a proactive problem-solvingapproach. However, there is little agreement on an opera-tional definition of community policing.32 The following list,compiled from various interviewees, provides key elementsof an operational definition of community policing:

• The police officer’s role is that of an agent designated toassist in community safety, not considered strictly as anenforcer of the law.

• The police officer must treat citizens as clients.

• Partnerships between community groups and policeservices are important with respect to communitypolicing. Such partnerships facilitate the integration of

the police into the community and bring in valuableproblem solving ideas.

• Community policing is a philosophy, not a program.Everyone within the organization is expected tocontribute to its objectives. To facilitate this, organiza-tions must change to allow more discretion at all levelsand to encourage innovative problem solving.

At present, the extent to which police services across thecountry adhere to the principles of community policingvaries greatly. Some police services dedicate one officer orunit to community policing, whereas others provide allpolicing in a community-oriented manner. The Service depolice de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal is one policedepartment that follows a community-based modelthroughout its entire jurisdiction. The service providespolicing to Montreal residents based on the following fiveprinciples: problem-solving, geographical responsibility, aservice approach, partnerships, and staff recognition.33

b Community Policing Faces a Number of Challenges

The following list details concerns expressed by inter-viewees from across Canada regarding community policinginitiatives:

• Police and politicians alikesometimes misunderstandthe concept of communitypolicing. One senior officerfrom a western city statedthat the term is frequentlymisused and when it comesto community policing“police leadership is talkingabout one thing but what isactually taking place in thefield is another.”34

• Community policing canbe expensive to implementand as one senior officersuggested: “Budget restraintwill drive reliance on volun-

teers to play (increasingly) crucialroles in staffing community centres.”35

• Police services do not necessarily have enoughpersonnel to serve their jurisdiction according to anadequate community policing model. A group of expe-rienced officers with a central, urban police organiza-tion expressed the concern that, although the territory


The RCMP Model for Community Policing Work

One community policing initiative that is in keepingwith community-based concepts is the CAPRA ProblemSolving Model, used by the RCMP. The acronymCAPRA stands for the following concepts: clients (bothdirect and indirect), acquiring and analysing informa-tion, partnership, response, and assessment.

In the CAPRA model, citizens, communities, taxpayers,agencies, departments, and the general public interestare all considered clients. The acquisition and analysisof information includes evidence and research. Partner-ships involve community-police relations, victim rela-tions, and multidisciplinary/inter-agency teams. Theconcept of response includes prevention, service, publicprotection, police safety, and enforcement andalternatives. Finally, assessment of police services underthe CAPRA guidelines includes self-assessment, andcontinuous learning and improvement.

Some mixed reviewsfor community policing

“We are good as any incommunity policing anddeveloping relationshipswith the community. Butwe did not get additionalresources to do this.

The fact that communitypolicing initiatives arerelatively new renders anassessment of the existingprograms difficult.”

A senior officer assessescommunity policing

“covered by each neighbourhood police unit is rela-tively small,” there is not a sufficient number of “offi-cers to cover it properly because of the number whoare absent on any given shift.”36 Patrol officers havesome resentment, because community policingprograms often draw resources away from regularpatrol functions.

• Concern also exists as to whether or not police will beable to “gain the confidence” of certain communitiesbecause of historical problems between them.37 This hasled to an increased focus on communication and media-tion skills during screening processes for new personnelin order to support community policing models.

• Some officers find it difficult to treat certain criminals(sexual assault suspects and impaired drivers are oftencited as examples) as clients.38

• Assessing the impact of community policing is difficultwhen using traditional measures of police perform-ance.39 New approaches to measuring the effectivenessof policing are currently being developed, and will beadopted in more communities in the future. Forexample, one urban police service surveys police officersand citizens as a measure of accountability for commu-nity policing. These surveys measure the satisfaction ofparticipants, but not whether community policinginitiatives have resulted in decreased crime rates.


Community Policing Strategies:Regina Police Service Sends Citizens toPolice Academy – with Excellent ResultsAmong the more innovative community policing initiatives is theRegina Police Service operation of a Citizens’ Police Academy.Introduced in March 1986, and based on a modified model used inGreat Britain, the Academy is the longest running program of itskind in Canada. It was designed to serve as a vehicle to improverelations between the police and the community. By understandingpolice policies, practices and issues, it was believed that citizenswould more readily identify with and understand the police, theirrole in the community and the challenges unique to law enforce-ment. Subsequent to their “graduation” from the Citizens’ PoliceAcademy, those citizens are able to speak with some knowledgeand authority about police matters in various circumstances theyencounter within the community.

The first class drew 20 participants from Regina representing abroad spectrum of the community. Candidates were selected fromapplicants following an advertising campaign which included a localnewspaper story, a television appearance by public affairs staff fromthe Police Service, and posters distributed throughout the city. EachWednesday evening for ten weeks, the group met at the PoliceService Headquarters building where police officers from variousareas within the Service talked to them about policing – providinginsight and information on the challenges and responsibilities asso-ciated with the job. The course content given to the citizens wasbased on the curriculum topics presented to regular police recruitsat the Saskatchewan Police College, and included Criminal Law,crime prevention, gun control, firearms handling instruction, disastermanagement, canine demonstrations, identification procedures,polygraph, internal affairs, cross-cultural studies, child abuse issues,alcoholism, the Young Offenders Act, drug laws, Provincial Statutes(liquor, vehicles) and Stolen Autos. Participants also received a tourof the police building and the opportunity to go on a ‘Ride-a-long’.

The firearms training and Ride-a-long proved to be very popularwith participants.

The Citizens’ Police Academy has subsequently evolved into one ofthe most popular police – community programs offered by theRegina Police Service. There is a waiting list of two years of personswanting to participate, in spite of the fact the program has notadvertised for participants since the first class. The program isoffered twice annually, spring and fall. After some experimentationon optimum length of the program, the number of classes havebeen increased from 10 to 12 weeks. There is no restriction onparticipation, except that an individual must go through a criminalbackground check. The curriculum has been modified over the years,based on critiques from participants and changes in the nature ofpolicing and organizational development. Firearms training is stillincluded in the curriculum because of its value in illustrating that apolice decision to use lethal force is never taken lightly.

There are over 1,000 graduates of the program throughout thecommunity, many of whom are active members in the “Citizens PoliceAcademy Alumni”. Although not originally part of the Academy’smandate, the program has proved to be an effective tool for bothrecruitment and media/public relations. A high participation rateamong new immigrants has improved and enhanced relationshipswith many ethnic and visible minority communities in Regina. Thealumni have proven to be competent and dedicated volunteers, oftenassisting in such minor but helpful roles as helping with the annualopen house, conducting Headquarter tours and acting as volunteerguides. Alumni have provided role-playing support for constable(and SWAT team) training exercises, playing the parts of distraughtvictims or difficult clients. As well, alumni act as ‘ambassadors’ forthe police in the community, and serving in a support capacity fornumerous activities and functions such as the Old-timers Hockeyand Baseball Benefit Games, community surveys, and a conferenceof the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs held in Regina.!

From interviews with Sgt. Dave WyattRegina Police Service – August 2000

Impact of Technological Change isFelt Throughout Policing ServicesAdvances in computer technology have had as great animpact on the policing sector as they have on the rest ofsociety and the economy. Improvements in electronichardware and equipment such as new, tougher laptopsthat can withstand the rigours of police work (i.e. being ina police car in all sorts of weather, being moved around agreat deal, etc.), photo radar technology and palm-sized

computers have all emergedrecently to augment thestandard policing tools andassist officers in the field.New software has beendeveloped which can analyseinvestigative evidence,provide crime mapping bytracking incident links andpatterns, maintain paper-less case files, and supportnew wide band communi-cations and voice recogni-tion systems. There havealso been a number ofscientific advances inforensic approaches – suchas DNA testing – theimpact of which has beenfelt throughout the judicialsystem.

Some of the larger policeservices now have laptopsin all the police cars tosupplement cutting- edgecommunication systems.The Toronto Police Service

and the Ottawa PoliceService, for example, currently

provide notebook computers to officers in police cars.Both organizations installed these as part of a new commu-nications infrastructure.40 Improved technology tools are apotential boon to the enhancement of policing services inCanada.

As well, some police departments in the US and Canadaare doing very progressive work in adapting web-basedsolutions and internal Intranet access to more effectivelymanage, access and disseminate information to those whoneed it immediately – both police officers and the public.41

With the new wireless and digital communications soft-ware in development, officers working in police cars willbe able to have access to various databases that will allowthem to have remote access to suspect’s history, comparefingerprints, and more.42

b Technology use in policingis still fairly limited

The introduction and successful implementation of tech-nology use still varies considerably from one police serviceto another. Typically, the larger police services have moreup-to-date technology than do the smaller services, butprogressive leadership in some small municipal serviceshas resulted in their early adoption of the latest technology.Some police services are using top-of-the-line computerhardware systems and have successfully integrated thelatest in information technology, while other police serv-ices are using very old computers or still maintainingmanual and paper-based information managementsystems. It is not unusual in some police services for onlyone or two computers to be available for officers workingon patrol. Officers in these services generally still write outtheir reports by hand and require administrative staff tolater type up their reports, which adds considerably to therisk of transcription errors.

b Technology use is not always standardized

Even among different units or divisions within the samepolice service, in general, investigations and otherspecialty units tend to have better and more up-to-datetechnology than patrol units. Also, where accessibility tonew technology is limited by budget restrictions, thenewest and best equipment is generally allocated toregular members before civilians.

This can have an adverse effect on staff morale, frustratingsome civilians who believe that their work is consideredless important in comparison to the officers. Manysuggested that they are prevented from working as effec-tively as they could simply because they are not givenaccess to the best technology. Among all the civilians inter-viewed, the complaint was widespread that the technology


C-Com offers police high-speed Web accesson the fly

C-Com Satellite SystemInc. of Ottawa has createda mobile Internet servicethat gives high-speed Webaccess from anywhere. “Ineffect, (a vehicle) becomesa mobile office, where youcan browse the Internet athigh speed, receive andsend e-mail, and receiveall other Internet services,”the company says. Thelower cost makes it afford-able for such organizationsas the Royal CanadianMounted Police, allowingthem Web access whiletheir vehicle is zoomingdown the highway.

Jill Vardy Financial PostAugust 17, 2000

they were using was sub-standard and/or inferior to thatused by officers. Access to leading edge technology isalso complicated by Canada’s vast geography and thechallenges of providing network access in rural andremote regions.

This lack of standards also hinders efforts to share infor-mation and intelligence electronically. Efforts such as theIntegrated Justice Project in Ontario, which will improveinformation links among members of Ontario’s justicecommunity, have taken longer to implement than origi-nally forecast due to such difficulties. The inability to shareinformation in a timely and efficient manner reduces thepotential effectiveness of the police.

b Technology implementation alone does notmake police work easier or more effective

Although new technologies are designed to increase theeffectiveness of police officers by providing them withbetter information faster, this isn’t always the case in prac-tice. Officers may not be sufficiently trained on how to usethe new technology and processes may not have been fullyintegrated to support the new technology (i.e. reports canbe typed on their laptops in police cars, but only printedin specific, fixed locations).

Many senior officers acknowledged the need for their staffto have access to the latest technology, but indicated theycould not stay current within the restrictions imposedupon their operating and capital expenditure budgets.Even larger agencies, which generally possess larger oper-ating budgets, face the same limitations since they havemore computer equipment to purchase.

b Technology training –you have to know how to work it

Technology training is also an issue, with both regularmembers and civilians interviewed complaining that theyhad not received sufficient training on new technology. Asa result, they felt they were not using the new technologyto its full capacity and were frustrated at the resulting inef-ficiency. Many young officers were particularly discour-aged by the lack of access to technology, saying theyexpected to be using more technology tools than theyactually are. In some instances, officers said they felt acomputer actually slowed down their work because theyhad to spend so much time figuring out how to use it. HRdirectors believed it was a challenge for most police serv-ices to keep up with technology training. The larger policeservices especially said how hard it was to train their entirestaff on new technology not only because they had somany people to train but had the additional challenge andexpense of providing training to staff who are geographi-cally dispersed.



The widespread adoption of the community policingphilosophy, general social trends, and legislativerequirements resulting in more inclusive hiring andemployment practices, have all had a clear impact onthe employment profile of police services. There aretwo areas in which the impact of these influences hasbeen most obvious: the increased participation ofwomen in front-line policing and, to a lesser extent,changes in police management practices. In addition,trends toward increased employment of visible minori-ties, and the fact that police officers have higher levelsof educational attainment, have contributed to abroader resource and experience base for police organ-izations committed to community policing principles.

This chapter looks at some of the influences on thecharacter of police sector employment, including someof the motivations for and implications of recentchange, and highlights opportunities for police servicesto shape their workforces to meet current and futurechallenges.

THE PUBLIC FACE OF POLICE SERVICES ISCHANGING TO REFLECT THE INCREASINGDIVERSITY OF THE CANADIAN POPULATION.

Changing the Organizational CultureThe culture of Canadian police services has clearly changedover the last 20 years and will continue to evolve as the under-lying concepts and philosophies of policing continue toevolve. The culture of an organization refers to the range ofattitudes and behaviour considered acceptable in everyday

dealings with others in theorganization and with thepublic. While the para-militaryheritage of police is still clearlyevident in police organizations– notably in the uniforms anddress codes, and the rankstructure – police culture hasundergone considerable evolu-tion and transformation inrecent decades. While many ofthe police services visited indi-cated that there were still“pockets of resistance tochange,” most often amongolder officers, these views are

often seen as being out of stepwith the police service of the future. Decision processes arebecoming more open to the views of individuals or groupswho must implement new procedures or work with newequipment, and strict “command and control” decision-making is becoming more rare.43

The Human Face of Policing in Canada

A Note on Our Methodology and Data SourcesA note on the nature of the data before proceeding may avoid some unnecessary confusion. By using data from several sources, acomposite picture emerges. Readers should note however, that each data source has its own strengths and weaknesses, and differencesin collection methods and definitions mean that total employment measures do not necessarily come out equal across all data sources.The primary sources used here included data from the 1996 Census of Canada, data from several years of the Police AdministrationAnnual Survey (PAAS) collected by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, and a special survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopersfor this study in the Spring of 2000. The PwC survey adopted the occupation definitions of the PAAS survey to minimize confusion forrespondents.

Some of the following information on demographics is drawn from the 1996 Census of Canada. While undoubtedly the most extensiveand detailed source of information on the Canadian population, the drawback of the Census for this study is that it does not break outpublic policing services as a separate industry. Instead, policing services are included in the general categories of municipal, provincialand federal government service industries. The only way to extract information on the policing sector is to focus on occupations, andthere we are limited to two occupational groups whose members are employed primarily by police services – commissioned policeofficers and non-commissioned police officers.

A look at the employment totals from the Census compared with that from the PAAS suggests that the census definition of commis-sioned officers is roughly equivalent to the Senior Officer category as defined in both the PAAS and the PwC HR Survey of Police.

Coping withConstant Change

For the most part, policeorganizations haveresponded to change in apositive way. “Officers areprepared to make change.Our organization has expe-rienced constant changeover the past few years.”

Comment from a police asso-ciation representative at acentral, urban police service

As external forces continue to drive changes within thepolicing sector, the culture of police organizations isshifting to allow services to move to new modes of opera-tion and a new understanding of the role of police in thecommunity. While retaining many traditional policeservice values such as integrity and a strong sense of publicservice, police organizations are working to become moreopen to partnerships with citizen groups and other agencies.A number of services have organized joint committees toassess new technologies or equipment; civilians have becomeaccepted as providing valuable expertise in some of theseareas. The public face of police services is changing to reflectthe increasing diversity of the Canadian population. Thesechanges have sometimes been viewed as threats to certainindividuals and groups, and to some extent it must be recog-nized that not all have gained from these changes. Gradually,however, police services in Canada are evolving to adapt to adeeper understanding of what it takes to preserve the peacein Canadian society.

A Greater Role for Volunteers in theCommunity Policing ModelBefore turning to the characteristics of those formallyemployed in Canada’s police services, the role of volunteersin police services should be acknowledged. As police moveto community policing models (as discussed in the OperatingEnvironment chapter), they are increasingly working inconjunction with volunteers to adequately provide a morefull range of social services to the public. While encouragingand increasing the role of volunteers is not the only route toimplementing a more community-oriented police service,volunteers are frequently an important bridge into thecommunities they serve. By actively developing relationshipswith local volunteers and service agencies, police are able toexpand the range of services, remedies and treatmentsoffered to persons with whom they come into contact. Whilethe value of volunteers is generally acknowledged within thepolice community, careful definition of their role andadequate training for these roles is regarded as critical formaking effective use of these resources.

Why do many police services actively solicit volunteer help?Police are often the first point of contact for persons thatrequire help, even though many of the requests are for socialor emergency interventions that are not the responsibilityof police beyond first response. Both partnerships andvolunteers tend to expand the resources police services candraw upon, and the programs themselves build policecapital in the form of persons who have a better under-standing of what police need to do in their communities.

A number of community policing techniques tend toinvolve and benefit from trained volunteers, particularly inassisting at community satellite offices, supporting neigh-bourhood watch initiatives and coordination, maintaining

other crime prevention initia-tives, and in staffing victimservices units. With policesupport and training,volunteers can answer ques-tions about the policeservice, take police reportson minor incidents, analysecrime statistics for theirarea, and assist with theinformation and assistanceneeds of crime victims.Some volunteer programsare aimed at working withyoung people who are atrisk of breaking the law.Others help in varioussections located in the mainpolice stations or in theCourt Liaison Section at thelocal Court House.

The use of police auxil-iaries, uniformed volunteerswho assist police officers inriding along on patrols or inassisting in crowd control in

public gatherings, remains asomewhat controversial practice. In many cases auxiliariesassist in ways that allow officers to focus their work onareas for which they are specifically trained, but theybecome controversial when by accident or intent, the rolesof auxiliary staff become blurred with that of regularlytrained police officers. The tendency to confuse the roles is


Getting the right personin the right job at theright time – Why the OPPrecruits volunteers

The recruitment of volun-teers, regardless of thefunction to be filled,should be considered asimportant as the recruit-ment of paid staff. Werecruit volunteers to:

• Create ownershipwithin communities

• Keep the CommunityPolicing commitmentalive

• Seek new ideas

• Get the work done

• Distribute the workload

From the OPPCommunity Policing “How we do it” manual

heightened when auxiliaries are given uniforms that arevirtually indistinguishable to the public eye from those ofregular officers. Problems arise when, in an emergency, anauxiliary is expected by the public to perform to the stan-dard of a regular officer, and good intentions cannot makeup for their lack of police skills or training. Police associa-tions have long held the view that auxiliaries can serve asa useful form of volunteer service, but they should not bedressed as regular sworn police officers and should not beused to create an illusion of a greater fully-trained policepresence than actually exists.

Most police services require auxiliaries and volunteers toundergo a thorough screening process (including back-ground and reference checks) and an interview. Creatingand maintaining professional relationships with volunteersallows police personnel to focus on their core competen-cies related to policing and to rely on volunteers to helpthem manage social and economic problems as well asindividual and community support needs.

A common objective for incorporating the skills of volun-teers into policing responsibilities is to develop a strongcomplement of supplemental and complementary serviceswhich would benefit from volunteer help, such as VictimServices Units. Volunteers who work directly with thepolice in providing such services, are often more easilyable, and have the time, to develop a rapport with otherorganizations and clients.

The HR survey asked police services to indicate how manyauxiliaries and other volunteers augmented policeresources in one form or another. Of the 387 police organ-izations and RCMP detachments that responded to thesurvey, 234, or 60 percent, indicated that they had at leastone auxiliary or volunteer helping the organization.Roughly one in four of these volunteers were serving asauxiliaries, augmenting or assisting the officers in thoseorganizations at a ratio of one auxiliary per eight policeofficers. The remaining three-quarters of volunteers wereassisting in capacities other than auxiliary policing, inareas such as victim services, neighbourhood watch orcommunity relations offices. In total, among organizationsthat indicated they used volunteers, there was an averageof one volunteer for every two police officers in theorganization.

Because the survey provides only a current snapshot ofpolice services human resources, the evidence that thenumber and role of volunteers in police services isexpanding is largely anecdotal. Many services visited indi-

cated that they had only recently set up or expandedvolunteer programs. Establishing a time trend wouldrequire repeated survey data or equivalent data gatheringmethods.

Interviews with volunteers and paid civilian employees ofpolice services suggest that expanding the role of volun-teers is welcomed, though there are some concerns aboutthe amount of resources available to train, coordinate, andmake effective use of volunteer help. The investment intraining volunteers is often considerable for a policeservice. Many services have developed their own trainingprograms for volunteers, often borrowing materials andexpertise from other services with reputations for strongand effective volunteer programs. Some volunteers andofficers in charge of volunteer programs suggested thatthese programs could be made more effective if there weremore opportunities to compare experiences and best prac-tices with similar organizations around the country. Thekey to retaining volunteers, and thus minimizing the costof re-training, is to ensure that the volunteer gets somesense of satisfaction from their efforts.

Our review suggests that relatively little research has beendone or widely shared on the effectiveness of volunteerprograms. There is little data on best practices that ensurethese programs are well-run and meet the objective of thepublic, the police service, and those donating their timeand talents. Improved communications among thoseresponsible for these programs and some form of clearing-house for recruiting and training materials, and best prac-tices would be welcomed by those actively involved inthese programs.


Current Employment Levels in PolicingAs of June 2000, the public policing sector provided76,550 full time equivalent positions, including 56,020sworn officers and 20,530 supporting personnel or civil-ians.44 Figure 4 shows that total employment in publicpolicing grew steadily through the 1960s and 1970s,followed by a period of more uneven growth through the1980s and 1990s, as the effects of several economic down-

turns hit public budgets and outlays for policing. Whilepolice sector employment has increased in the last severalyears, employment has not yet regained the peak of77,051, attained in 1992.

b Police Officers by Province, Territoryand Police Service

Table 1 shows the distribution of police personnel bymunicipal, provincial, and federal policing, and the rolethat the RCMP plays in each level of policing. Combiningdata from both RCMP and non-RCMP police servicesshows that two-thirds of Canada’s police officers areengaged in municipal policing, 24 percent are consideredprovincial police, and 8 percent are federal police officers.Two percent of police officers are employed by the RCMPin such areas as National Police Services and Departmentaland Divisional Administration. While the RCMP accountsfor just over one quarter of all police officers, the RCMPaccounts for over half the police officers in six provinces,including nearly 70 percent of police officers in BritishColumbia.


90,000

80,000

70,000

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

86%

84%

82%

80%

78%

76%

74%

72%

70%

68%

Num

ber

of E

mpl

oyee

s

Polic

e as

Per

cent

age

of E

mpl

oyee

s

1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998

Source: Police Administration Annual Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Employment in Canadian Police Services, 1962-2000

Civilians

Sworn Police Officers

FIGURE 4

Sworn Police Percentage(right scale)

Total Personnel

b Police Officer to Population Ratios

Policing was not spared in the general trend towardpublic spending restraint precipitated by large publicsector budget deficits in the 1980s and 1990s. The ques-tion of adequate staffing levels is a particularly trouble-some issue for police organizations. One of the mostcommon ways to measure the adequacy of policecoverage is to compare changes in policing levels, (shownas the number of sworn officers per one hundred thou-sand persons, though this ratio is often inverted to indi-cate the number of persons per officer). As seen inFigure 5, in the 1960s there were fewer than 145 policeofficers per 100,000 (or one officer for every 711 people),a ratio that rose to approximately 200 officers in the mid1970s, where it remained till the early 1990s. In 2000, thenational average was 182 officers per 100,000 persons,down from 203 in 1991. In terms of population perofficer, the police strength declined from one in 494persons in 1991 to one in 549 in 2000.

Simple ratios are not likely to tell the whole story, and itwould be difficult to conclude that policing is moreadequate in one province compared to another simplybecause there are more police officers per capita. As seenin Figure 6, the number of officers per capita varies quitesubstantially by province in 2000, ranging fromNewfoundland with 143 officers per 100,000, to the 188officers per 100,000 persons in Québec. In 2000, allprovinces except Prince Edward Island, New Brunswickand Nova Scotia had employment levels of police officersbelow levels of the early 1990s. The policing ratios in theTerritories raise another dimension of the adequatepolicing issue – the degree to which the population isdispersed over an area that can be reasonably patrolled.While demand for police services is relatively high in theTerritories, some of the high concentration of officers isdue to the fact that the population is located in a relativelylarge number of very small and disparate communities.


Table 1: Federal, Provincial and Municipal Police Officers in 2000

Total Non-RCMP RCMPMunicipal Provincial Municipal Provincial* Federal Other Total of total

Newfoundland 772 – 313 – 373 69 17 459 59.5

Prince Edward Island 205 84 – 7 88 21 5 121 59.0

Nova Scotia 1,600 731 – 58 644 142 25 869 54.3

New Brunswick 1,309 478 – 190 492 109 40 831 63.5

Québec 13,835 9,132 3,768 – – 915 20 935 6.8

Ontario 21,637 16,145 3,925 – – 1,473 94 1,567 7.2

Manitoba 2,142 1,280 – 172 512 152 26 862 40.2

Saskatchewan 1,864 792 – 202 634 194 42 1,072 57.5

Alberta 4,613 2,762 – 666 881 262 42 1,851 40.1

British Columbia 6,708 2,116 – 2,524 1,347 592 129 4,592 68.5

Yukon 120 – – – 82 27 11 120 100.0

Northwest Territories 154 – – – 132 11 11 154 100

Nunavut 86 – – – 76 4 6 86 100

RCMP HQ 975 – – – – 370 605 975

Total 56,020 33,520 8,006 3,819 5,261 4,341 1,073 14,494 25.9

RCMP % of Total 100 59.8 14.3 6.8 9.4 7.7 1.9 25.9

* Figures may contain FTEs assigned to municipal policing.

Source: PAAS Survey 2000, Police Resources in Canada, 2000, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, cat no 85-225-XIE.

RCMP %


250

225

200

175

150

125

100

0

Num

ber

of P

olic

e O

ffice

rs

1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998

Sworn Police per 100,000 Population, 1962-2000

FIGURE 5

Canada

Newfoundland

PEI

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick

Québec

Ontario

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

Alberta

British Columbia

Territories

100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400

Employment in Canadian Police Services, 1986-2000

FIGURE 6

Source: Police Administration Annual Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

NOTE: Labels indicate the number of officers per 1000,000 population in 2000.Source: Police Administration Annual Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

1986

1991

1996

2000

When interpreting the trends in the number of officers percapita, it is important to consider that police officers inmost organizations are now more focussed on duties thattake advantage of specialized police training, and less onadministrative and clerical functions. In part, to cope withmore scrutiny of their spending, police organizations havetried a number of different strategies including redefiningtheir core policing role, using civilian expertise to fillspecific skill gaps, and divesting themselves of certainfunctions such as monitoring parking violations and otherby-law enforcement through subcontracting to privatepolicing/security agencies. This allows officers to devotemore of their time to actual policing duties. In the currentcontext, simple ratios tend not to be enough to convinceoversight authorities of the need for additional personnelstrength. At the same time, the nature of the service makesit difficult to demonstrate the precise impact of one ormore additional officers on public safety and well-being.

In response to challenges on methods of determiningadequate level of police staff, some police services haveadopted Personnel Strength Assessment Strategies (see casestudy which follows) that give police managers the datathey need to justify the resource increases they must seekin order to maintain current levels of service.

Ultimately the issue of adequate staffing devolves totaxpayers and the collective tradeoffs between keeping taxdollars in their pockets and spending them on publicsafety. Policing must also compete with other spendingpriorities, including health care and education. The realitymay well be that no significant increase in police budgetsis likely unless public safety becomes a higher-prioritypublic issue and politicians can campaign successfully onthe need to expand police budgets.


Personnel Strength Assessment Projects– a Case StudyThe Vancouver City Police Force faces the same financial accounta-bility and fiscal restraint issues of municipal police services acrossCanada. Each year, they must justify to elected officials not only theircurrent levels of spending and staff complements, but face closescrutiny for any requests they have for resource increases.

In Vancouver, this process had become difficult. City councillorslooked at media and statistical reports that crime was dropping andwere not only refusing requests for additional financing, but aggres-sively asking police officials why they weren’t reducing current levelsof spending. Anecdotal evidence of the additional pressures for timeand technological support were unconvincing to councillors seekingto do more with less. The Police Management sought equallycompelling data to back their long term budget planning.

The strategy they adopted was the development of an AuthorizedStrength Project – a system to more quantitatively document work-load changes for police personnel in order to justify how and whytax resources were being spent. The Vancouver Authorized StrengthProject has three distinct components.

Workload Documentation reporting: Managers in all policeunits (patrol, sexual assault, fraud, et. al.) were asked to documentthe changes in day-to-day workload and job functions occurring intheir jurisdictions – whether these were quantitative data reports(increased intake time, for example) or perceptions of changes (victiminterviews take longer). The results – both data and narrative reports– will be compiled to justify budget requests. In its initial year,managers were provided with guidelines of the types of informationto include in their reports. After first results are compiled, a templatereport will be developed and distributed to make subsequentreporting less burdensome.The first results of this phase are expectedto be ready for inclusion in the 2001 budget projections.

Quantitative Data Analysis of Caseloads: Officers have beenrequired to document their involvement in each case they respondto.As soon as an officer is dispatched by 911, the time of arrival, thetime to complete activities and the closure of file are all recorded asa usual practice. Without adding any workload to the individualconstable, these data can be examined for increases in processingtime and changes in a constable’s workload. There are limitations tothe data (not all time and effort an officer devotes to paperwork isaccurately recorded) but it is anticipated the data will yield measur-able results for the 2001 Budget submissions.

Content Analysis of Reports: Before any charge can be laid,there are a series of documented reports that are required to beprepared for submission to Crown Counsel. Vancouver Policehypothesized that these reports would reveal significant changes inthe impact on police activities over time. Looking at a statisticalsample of 20 – 25 variables from these reports, the force looked forevidence in changing demands for such things as number of chargeslaid at the same time, number of victims affected, number of attach-ments and reports from other agencies (welfare, social services),increased for interpretation services – which all represent workloadincreases for police officers. The force developed a methodology formeasuring these changes. They are currently running a pilot projectto examine 100 reports since 1991 to test the viability of the data-base. Early indications are that the results will show significantchanges, but they do not anticipate fully tested and verified data tobe available until 2002.

The Vancouver police force is pleased with their results to dateand is confident that the availability of tested, measurable andquantitative data showing the impact of increased workloads forpolice services will help it to justify its long term budgetary planningand maintain current levels of service. !

Civilianization and Occupational Shiftsin Police Services “Civilianization” – or the increased reliance on civilianpersonnel in providing police services – began in earnestin Canadian policing in the 1970s, and then slowedconsiderably in the mid-1980s. The proportion of swornpersonnel as a percentage of total police employees (seeFigure 7) has remained at roughly 74 per cent since 1986.In 1963, just over 82 per cent of police service employeeswere sworn officers, though by 1987 this proportion haddeclined to 73 per cent. Since then, the sworn officer tocivilian ratio has been roughly three to one, and civilianemployment has levelled off at roughly 20,000. Over thelonger term, civilians account for approximately 26 percent of police personnel, whereas in 1962, they accountedfor only 18 per cent.45

Not only has the proportion of civilians in police organi-zations increased over time, there are more professionaland managerial civilian employees, particularly in areassuch as finance and administration and human resources.This has generated some concern within the ranks ofsworn personnel, who see the shift in the number of thesepositions being exclusively reserved for them as limitingtheir career progression potential. Figure 7 shows that theproportion of staff in the Management and Professionalcategory rose from 0.6 per cent of the workforce in 1986to 4.8 per cent in 1999. Over the same period, theproportion of senior officers dropped from 22.6 per centto 20.6 per cent.

The proportion of the two other major civilian categories,Communication/Dispatch and Clerical have remainedfairly constant over the last decade. The 1986 to 1991period was marked by a shift of staff out of the “OtherPersonnel” category and a growth in the number of theclerical positions, but this shift appears to result fromadopting new personnel categories, rather than a majorshift in skill requirements or work practices.

Despite the statistical evidence showing that there hasbeen no significant change in the overall balance betweenofficers and civilians in police services in recent years, theexpansion of the management and professional categoryand the shrinking of the senior officers category probablytells the more accurate tale. Site visits and other inter-views indicated that the perception was that the trendtoward increased use of civilians was continuing.

Staffing more senior human resources positions with civil-ians has been especially controversial for some policeservices, largely because many officers believe that issuesrelated to promotion and training can only be handled bysomeone who knows what it is like to be a police officer.Using civilians to staff any senior position is perceived toreduce the number of promotions available to policeofficers, and eliminate a position for an officer unable tocontinue in patrol duty or physically demanding rolesuntil retirement. Although most police officer intervie-wees claimed not to be worried for themselves, they did


FIGURE 7

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

01986 1991 1996 1999

Source: Police Administration Annual Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada

14.8%

Occupational Distribution in Public Policing, 1986-1999

7.2%

3.6%0.6%

22.6%

51.2%

7.6%

11.4%

4.5%

2.0%

22.4%

52.0%

6.7%

11.3%

4.2%

4.3%

21.4%

52.1%

6.3%

11.2%

4.4%

4.8%

20.6%

52.7%

Other Personnel

Clerical

Management/Professional

Communications/Dispatch

Constables

Senior and NC Officers

not see the need for increased civilianization and “reallyhate to lose positions” to civilians. This is of particularconcern with an ageing workforce that must accommo-date officers who may be unable to perform normalduties. Many positions that are now civilianized wereonce used as ‘light-duty’ positions for ageing and injuredofficers. This is not just a concern of officers, however,since police services, like other employers, have a duty toaccommodate those who through illness, injury or phys-ical degeneration can no longer perform all the regularduties expected of an officer at the time of hiring. (Thisissue will be discussed further in the Human ResourcePractices chapter of this report)

Civilianization has had a number of other impacts uponthe Canadian policing sector. For some, using civilians inplace of relatively higher paid police officers can savemoney for police services already suffering from resourceconstraint. On the other hand, many of the officers andunion representatives interviewed concede that the trendtoward civilianization is a positive one, as long as the jobsof police officers remain secure. While patrol experiencemay provide some insight in doing some of these jobs ina more insightful way, it is not clear how the extensivetraining provided to police officers is used effectively insome positions such as Finance, general administration orhuman resource development or management. Staff withprofessional training in particular disciplines such asaccounting or human resources management bringexpertise in and knowledge of modern practices thatsworn personnel coming through the ranks might find itdifficult to acquire.

While the appropriate balance of civilians and trainedpolice officers may now have been reached in most policeservices, organizations may continue to face issues ofcombining officers and civilians into a team in which bothgroups are considered vital to the overall functioning ofthe service. Civilians continue to express concern overperceived differences in pay, promotional opportunitiesand status between civilians and police officers. Manycivilians appointed to senior positions are subjected tosignificant backlash and questions on the legitimacy oftheir work or status in the organization. Nevertheless,while civilians interviewed believe that the rate of changeis slow, they generally acknowledged that police culture ischanging for the better and civilians are more acceptedthan they have ever been. Additional detail and discussionon the role and working conditions of civilians withinpolice services is provided in the next chapter.

Characteristics of the Police WorkforceA look at the demographic characteristics of currentpolice employment shows that some of the changes thathave occurred in Canadian society are also reflected in thepolice workforce. An examination of age, gender,minority status, and education levels shows that as offi-cers retire, they are being replaced by a more diverse andformally educated cohort of police officers.

b Increasing Numbers of Female Police Officers

One of the most obvious changes in the face of publicpolicing in the last 20 years has been the increase in thenumber of female police officers. Although malescontinue to dominate all sworn police officer ranks, theproportion of female officers has been increasing for thelast three decades as seen in Figure 8. In 1970, 0.5 percent of all police officers were female. By 1980, thatproportion had quadrupled to 2.2 per cent. From therethe female proportion increased to 6.4 per cent during the1980s, and doubled in the 1990s to reach 12.9 per centof police officers in 1999. To some extent, this growth wasa delayed reaction to the substantial rise in female partic-ipation in the labour force during the 1960 and 1970s,but police services were not typically at the leading edgeof the growth in the employment of women, particularlyin police officer occupations.

b The Number of Female SeniorOfficers is Increasing

Women are participating in all aspects of policing, andtheir greater numbers in middle and senior managementranks is due in no small part to their rising levels of expe-rience and demonstrated capacity to lead. The proportionof females among non-commissioned officers (such ascorporals and sergeants) is still much smaller than malesat all ranks, but their numbers have been growing inrecent years. The number and proportion of females inthe ranks between constable and inspector rose about tenfold between 1986 and 1999, with females holding 4.7per cent of such non-commissioned officer positions in1999, up from 0.5 per cent in 1986.

At the most senior officer levels of police organizations,trends toward increased female representation is alsoevident, though again the numbers and percentages arestill relatively small. Across Canada, there were six femalesenior officers – those holding the rank of lieutenant orhigher, including police chiefs – in 1986, 48 in 1998, and


60 in 1999. Over this period, the proportion of femalesenior officers has grown even more rapidly, from 0.2 percent in 1986 to 2.8 per cent in 1999, due to the overallreduction in the number of senior officer positions duringthe period.

Despite these increases, police occupations continue to bemale-dominated. The proportion of females in policeoccupations still lags well behind the more general trendin female participation in the workforce. As the data fromthe 1996 Census of Canada (Figure 9) show, femalesconstituted 46 per cent of both the national labour forceand that of governments at all levels. Among sworn policeofficers, however, females constitute 8.7 per cent ofcommissioned officers and 12.8 per cent of non-commis-sioned, for a combined percentage of 12.5 per cent of allsworn officers. Relative to fire fighters, another tradition-ally male-dominated profession, police services have beenmore successful in increasing the proportion of women inthe ranks. In 1996, only about 1 percent of fire fighterswere women.

Measuring the proportion of female police officers againstthe overall proportion of females in the labour force

applies a very high standard, given that in 1980 therewere just over 1,000 female officers and 98 percent ofpolice officers were male. Since relatively few police offi-cers quit their jobs, are laid off or dismissed, the majorreasons for new hiring are to replace retiring officers or toincrease the total number of officers. Between 1980 and2000, the number of police officers increased by just over6,170 from 49,841 to 56,020 according to the PAAS for2000. During this period, the number of female officersincreased by 6,566. While we do not know the totalnumber of new hires into policing over the last twentyyears, the opportunities for women to pursue careers inpolicing have clearly advanced rapidly over the last twodecades.

The proportion of females among sworn officers at alllevels is expected to continue to rise in the comingdecade, assuming that police wages and working condi-tions are attractive to female candidates. Given the currentdemographics of police services, the greatest proportionof those eligible to retire in the next 10 years will be male.Since retirements are expected to be the major type ofoutflow from active policing duty, the proportion offemale police officers is bound to continue to increase.


FIGURE 8

18%

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0Senior Non-commissioned Constables All

Officers Officers Police Officers

Source: Police Administration Annual Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada

Proportion of Female Police Officers, 1986 to 1999

1986 1991 1996 1998 1999

2.8%

4.7%

12.9%

2.2%1.7%

0.4%0.2%

3.9%3.0%

1.4%0.5%

15.5%

13.5%

9.5%

5.4%

12.2%

10.4%

7.0%

3.9%

16.2%

b Accepting Employment Diversityin Police Services

In the past, the dominant police culture was not alwaysequally accepting of civilians, auxiliaries, volunteers, femaleofficers, officers with post-secondary education, and ethnicminorities. This is changing. Negative attitudes are neitheras evident nor widespread as they once were, though distrust(and sometimes even bias) towards these members of thepolice community may linger in some areas.

Policing was traditionally a male-dominated sector, withthe majority of female employees found primarily incivilian positions and administrative support roles. In thelast few decades, as women began joining the police serv-ices as sworn personnel in greater numbers, they oftenexperienced overt discrimination from male employees.One of the benefits of the ongoing evolution of policeculture is that attitudes are becoming more acceptingtowards and accommodating of female personnel. Femaleofficers remain somewhat pragmatic about the rate ofchange; in one large urban police service, female officerspointed out that some male officers still object to beingpaired with female patrol partners, believing it puts themat potential risk. The female officers stated that some oftheir male counterparts consider being assigned a womanpartner to be a disadvantage, convinced that “being pairedwith a women is like patrolling alone because they cannot

depend on them in case of acall.”46 Though overt formsof discrimination or bias is lessfrequent than in the past,where residual discrimina-tion is still identified, it tendsto be covert and systemic.

Lingering resentmentrelated to the full participa-tion of women in policeservices continues to be anissue for Police Associationsand senior managementalike. Associations areduty-bound to represent allemployees, and divisions inthe membership hamperthe ability of associations tospeak on behalf of allemployees. Managers areconcerned that members oftheir services function as ateam and can be reliedupon to support eachother without question intimes of emergency orpersonal danger.


Some female officersstill feel pressure to“prove” themselves

The experience of AnneMathieu, a four-yearveteran of the Sûreté duQuébec (SQ), demon-strates the subtle discrimi-nation that many femaleofficers currently face.Although Ms. Mathieu waswelcomed warmly whenshe entered the SQ, shestated that she was alwaysunder such great surveil-lance that she felt spiedupon. She also asserts thatshe always had to proveherself and was expectedto work harder than hermale colleagues to main-tain their respect.

Source: Institut de policedu Québec, S’unir pourgrandir ensemble, 2000

FIGURE 9

All Industries Government All Police Commissioned Constables andServices Officers Officers Non-Constables

Source: 1996 Census, Statistics Canada

46.o% 46.2%

12.5%

8.7%

12.8%

Females in the Labour ForcePolice Occupations Compared to All Government and Economy

Fem

ales

as

Perc

enta

ge o

f Act

ive

Labo

ur F

orce

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0

b Representation of Aboriginals: a small butsignificant proportion of police

Unlike gender status, historical data and trends in repre-sentation of minority groups in police services has notbeen tracked by Police Administration Annual Surveyconducted by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.Data available from the 1996 Census is shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10 indicates that while Aboriginal representation isrelatively high among policing organizations, representa-tion of visible minorities remains relatively low comparedto the overall Canadian labour force. Note, however, thatthe Census data includes members of Aboriginal policeservices and therefore the proportions among non-Aboriginal police services must be lower. WhileAboriginal police services constitute a relatively smallproportion of total policing in Canada, their numbers maybe large enough to make up a significant proportion of the3.1 per cent of all police officers. Certainly the literaturereview and interviews indicated that police services oper-ating in areas where the Aboriginal community was rela-tively large had difficulty recruiting and retainingAboriginal officers in their services (this is discussed infurther detail in the Human Resources Practices chapter).

b Representation of Minority Groups

Figure 10 shows that the proportion of visible minoritiesin the police labour force is significantly below thenational average, though rates are comparable with thoseof fire fighters. This corroborates findings in the literatureand from interviews, that police officer candidates fromcertain minority groups are difficult to recruit and retain,particularly those from the more recent waves of immi-gration from areas other than Western and NorthernEurope. In part, this is due to perceptions of policing asan occupation that may be drawn from experiences in thecountries of their birth. In some cases, the language skillsrequired for policing may be a significant barrier. In anyevent, if police organizations want to reflect the changingface of Canadian society within their ranks, they will needto make special efforts to recruit from such groups as thefirst generation of Canadian-born persons from thesegroups enter the labour force.

b Representation of the Disabled

Police services operate under provincial police acts,employment and health and safety legislation as well ashuman rights codes. These all prohibit employers fromdiscriminating against employees on the specifiedgrounds including age, sex, race, religion, creed, colour,


FIGURE 10

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0All Industries Government All Police Commissioned Constables and Fire Chiefs and Firefighters

Services Officers Officers Non-Constables Senior Officers


1.7%

4.6%

3.1%

1.6%

3.2%3.9%

2.9% 2.9%

9.9%

5.8%

2.9%2.2%

3.0%

1.0%

Designated Group Status of Labour Force, 1996Police Compared to Other Professions

Aboriginal

Visible Minority

Abo

rigi

nals

and

Vis

ible

Min

oriti

es P

erce

ntag

e of

Act

ive

Labo

ur F

orce

marital status, national origin, and mental and physicaldisability. The RCMP also operates under federal policeand health and safety legislation. Police services must beable to demonstrate a direct connection between thephysical and cognitive standards used in screening orhiring processes and the demands of the job.Nevertheless, it is generally recognized that policing isan occupation requiring a high degree of bona fide phys-ical and cognitive occupational standards and abilities toperform effectively, and these standards allow policeservices to reject certain applicants. As a result, there arerelatively few positions in the policing profession thatcan reasonably accommodate persons who have anypersistent physical, mental, psychiatric, sensory orlearning impairments, as typically defined in legislation.In addition to legislation intended to remove discrimi-nation in hiring and promotion, police services are alsosubject to a duty to accommodate an employee forwhom a deterioration in physical or mental conditionmake it difficult or impossible to carry out duties in theconventional way.

The statistical evidence on the proportion of police offi-cers with disabilities is, however, somewhat clouded byapplication of differing definitions and reporting agents.The chart below presents information gathered in the

1996 Census on the proportion of persons in variousoccupations that reported some sort of activity limitation.

In light of the physical and mental capacities required forpolicing, some might be surprised that the proportion ofpolice officers that reported some activity limitation inthe1996 Census of Canada is as high as it is. Nearly 4 percent of police officers reported themselves as disabled inthe 1996 Census of Canada (Figure 11), including 5.4 percent of those classified in the Standard OccupationalClassification (SOC 1991) as Commissioned Officers –those serving at the rank of lieutenant or inspectorthrough to chief or commissioner. Note, however, thatthis information is self-reported, according to the instruc-tions on the activity limitation questions used in Guidefor the Long Questionnaire in the 1996 Census:

Include long-term physical conditions, mental conditions,health problems, disabilities or handicaps that have lastedor are expected to last six months or more. Measure theperiod from the time the condition or problem began.

These activity limitations do not necessarily qualify asdisabilities in the employment equity requirements thatapply to police services in various jurisdictions.

In contrast, the information on disabled employeescaptured in the survey conducted in the course of this


FIGURE 11

7%

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0All Industries Government All Police Commissioned Constables and Fire Chiefs and Firefighters

Services Officers Officers Non-Constables Senior Officers


3.7%

4.7%5.1%

3.8%

5.4%

3.7%

2.3%

Disability Status of Labour Force, 1996Police Compared to Other Professions

Dis

able

d as

Per

cent

age

of A

ctiv

e La

bour

For

ce

study indicates that the incidence of disability amongpolice officers is less than one percent. Less than half ofthose responding to the survey provided information onthe number of employees considered to be working withdisabilities according to the definitions found in variouspieces of applicable employment equity rules, guidelinesor targets.

Though we have no census information on activity limita-tion among civilian employees of police services, thesurvey conducted for this study did seek information onthe number and proportion of civilians working withdisabilities. Among civilian personnel, the proportion ofdisabled persons averaged 2.8 per cent among thoseresponding to the question, including a 3.6 per cent rateamong clerical staff, the highest incidence of disability inthe occupational categories used in the survey. Note thatthis information comes from police services and wouldonly reflect the disabilities known to and recorded bypolice administrators.

For the police community, the significance of disability liesnot just in a desire to reflect the face of the community inpolice service employment or conformity to legislationrequirements. Like most other employers, police servicesare obligated to accommodate employees who in thecourse of duty or otherwise, have become limited in theirability to carry out the duties normally assigned to policeofficers or other occupations within the service. TheSupreme Court decision handed down in the Meiorin casein 1999 concerned a challenge to employment standardsthat the appellant, a female fire fighter with the BC ForestService, considered to be discriminatory. The SupremeCourt decision supporting Ms. Meiorin, is expected tohave a wide ranging impact not just on the application ofemployment standards in many occupations includingpolicing, but also on the extent to which those who nolonger meet established standards must be accommo-dated. The implications of this issue will be discussedfurther in the following chapter on human resourcespractices.

b Police Officers are AttainingHigher Education Levels

The well-documented trend toward high level of educa-tional attainment within incoming cohorts of police offi-cers is illustrated in Figure 12. The proportion of officerswho possess more than a high school education wasroughly 80 per cent in 1996. Overall, two-thirds of thepolice officer labour force in 1996 had some postsecondary education.

This trend has inspired a debate among police officers,evident in the literature and our interviews, as to whetheror not possessing a university education necessarily madesomeone a better police officer. Many officers insisted thatgeneral street smarts and experience were the essentialcharacteristics of a successful police officer. Though mostwould recognize that certain specialized functions such as,forensic accounting, computer crime, DNA analysis, andother applications of technology require higher educationor specific training, many older police officers considereda university degree as neither a necessary nor sufficientcondition for becoming a valuable member of a policeservice. Similarly, some expressed concerns that routinepolice work might not hold the interest or satisfy the aspi-rations of university graduates. These views suggest thatpolice services face human resource management chal-lenges associated with increased hiring of university grad-uates, both in ensuring that they are equipped with therequired “street smarts” as well as ensuring that their skillsare used productively and in a personally satisfyingmanner.

b The Age Factor: relatively high turnoverdue to retirements will continue

The issue of the ageing of the workforce and the impendingretirement of the baby boom generation has hit police serv-ices sooner than most industries. With most major policeservices offering retirement with unreduced pensions after25 years of service, many of those in the baby boom gener-ation are already, or will soon be eligible to retire from theirpublic policing duties. Just how large the expected attritionfrom retirement will be can be predicted from Census dataon the age structure of the workforce as well as the data onnumbers eligible to retire in the next five years gathered inthe PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.


As shown in Figure 13, nearly one in four police officerswill be eligible to retire with unreduced pensions in thenext five years, including 60 per cent of senior officers, and43 per cent of non-commissioned officers such as corpo-rals and sergeants. Note that these estimates indicate eligi-bility for retirement, not necessarily required retirement.As such the 60 per cent of senior officers eligible to retireis more likely to represent a maximum retirement rate, andactual rates may be substantially less, depending onworking conditions and the attractiveness of positions orpursuits outside of public police services.

Figure 14 shows that the majority of sworn personnel arebetween 30 to 50 years of age, with very steep “walls” onboth sides, indicating that relatively few become policeofficers before age 21 or 22, and most are retired by age55. The profile suggests that policing services as a wholecould expect retirements of approximately 2,000 officersevery year for the foreseeable future, or roughly 4 percentof the total sworn officer complement. Note that this trendis not expected to adversely affect the number of femalesin policing as relatively few female officers were above the


FIGURE 12

Total

20-24 years

25-29 years

30-34 years

35-39 years

40-44 years

45-49 years

50-54 years

55+ years

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Source: 1996 Census, Statistics Canada, Labour Force in SOC G11, Police Officers (non-commissioned).

410 405 515 30

620 1,365 1,850 95

850 3,535 4,110 505

765 3,380 4,905 740

575 2,275 5,625 1,275

420 1,810 6,605 2,295

265 1,070 4,845 1,525

115 460 1,425 370

4,055 14,370 29,905 6,840

Education Attainment of Officers by Age

Less than HS High School Other Post-Secondary Bachelor’s Degree Post-Graduate

FIGURE 13

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Senior Non- Constables Total Sworn

Officers commissioned Police Officers Officers

Source: PwC Survey

4.7%5.1%

3.8%

5.4%

Sworn Officers Eligible to Retire in Next 5 Years

Perc

ent o

f Cur

rent

FTE

Em

ploy

men

t


2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

Num

ber

of O

ffice

rs

15 years 20 years 25 years 30 years 35 years 40 years 45 years 50 years 55 years 60 years 65 years 70 years 75 years

Age Profile of Non-Commissioned Officers in 1996

FIGURE 14

Total – Average Age: 38

Male – Average Age: 39

Female – Average Age: 32

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Num

ber

of O

ffice

rs

15 years 20 years 25 years 30 years 35 years 40 years 45 years 50 years 55 years 60 years 65 years 70 years 75 years

Age Profile of Senior (Commissioned) Officers in 1996

FIGURE 15

Total – Average Age: 44

Male – Average Age: 45

Female – Average Age: 39

Source: Statistics Canada, 1996 Census

Source: Statistics Canada, 1996 Census

age of 45 in 1996, and that the average age of female offi-cers was seven years lower that the male average.

Figure 15 suggests that retirements among senior officerswill be even more significant, as the average age of seniorofficers in 1996 was 45 years. The steep drop off in the ageprofile at 45 years is interesting to note, since it suggeststhat senior officers may be less likely than non-commis-sioned officers to remain in their positions once they reachretirement eligibility.

Data from the survey conducted for this study largely rein-force the conclusions drawn from the Census data onpolice officers, but add a regional dimension to theanalysis as well as comparable data on civilian occupa-tions.

Figure 16 provides an indication of the regional variationin retirement eligibility. The Atlantic region tends to havelow eligibility rates, perhaps due to the fact that the 25-year service requirement is not as common in this regionas it is elsewhere in the country. Québec clearly faces thegreatest challenge in replacing a relative large group ofretiring officers: fully one-third of sworn police officerswill be eligible to leave with unreduced pensions in thenext five years.

Of course, retirement is not the only issue concerning anageing workforce. The potential increase of incidences ofchronic illness associated with advancing age may result inincreased absenteeism or the duty to accommodate moreofficers whose conditions prevent them from performingregular patrol or other duties. If staffing levels remainlimited, resulting additional pressures on the younger andmore able bodied may make it even more difficult to provideadequate policing levels for patrols in the coming years.

By comparison with police officers, retirement eligibilityamong civilian employees of police services appears to bemuch more modest, averaging less than half the 23 per centestimated rate of police officers. Nevertheless, the manage-ment and professional category, with a 19 per cent eligi-bility rate, has the highest proportion of those eligible forretirement among the civilian employees, and their replace-ment may well pose a challenge for police administration.

Retirement eligibility provides only a portion of the overallpicture of staff recruitment needs in policing services. Aswill be discussed more fully in the following chapter, otherforms of attrition play an important role in understandinghow many new staff will need to be hired, trained anddeveloped, to meet the human resource requirements ofpolice services. In this respect police officers and civiliansdiffer significantly. PwC Survey data suggests that civilians,


FIGURE 16

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Senior Non-commissioned Constables Total Sworn

Officers Officers Police Officers

Source: PwC Survey

Sworn Officer Retirement Eligibility by Region

Atlantic Québec Ontario West

Perc

enta

ge o

f Offi

cers

Elig

ible

to R

etir

e in

Nex

t 5 Y

ears

66%

59%62%

44% 44%

32%

63%

43%

12%11%

26%

7%

23%

17%

34%

17%

at an average rate of 3 per cent annually, quit their jobswith police services at three times the rate of police offi-cers, with a rate of 0.9 per cent annually. Multiplying thequit rate by five to extend replacement requirements overa five-year period suggests that the demand for replace-ment hiring for civilians may well be proportionally thesame as that for police officers, at roughly one new hire forevery four existing positions.

A current relatively high retirement rate that continues forperhaps the next decade presents police managers withboth challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, thechallenge is a rapid loss of institutional knowledge andexperience that cannot be replicated in the short term bynew hires. On the other hand, a relatively high level ofretirements may present an opportunity for acceleratedachievement of a workforce demographic consistent withthe vision of policing for the future.

Some characteristics, such as greater skills or problem-solving ability, can be added to an existing workforcethrough training or learning. Other characteristics such asvisible minority or gender status is more difficult to achievein individuals, except by highly artificial but not unprece-dented means. If police services wish to adjust the degreeto which these characteristics are present in their staff, themost practical way to achieve this is through hiring.

Due to low quit, layoff and dismissal rates, the creation ofjob vacancies in policing comes from two major sources:growth in staff complement or replacement of departingindividuals. For the past decade or so, hiring wassuppressed, both because spending constraint led toreductions or only very small increases in the total numberof police officers, and because departures in the form ofretirements and quits were relatively low. In this environ-ment, attempts to increase the overall proportion of visibleminorities or women are difficult because a large propor-tion of the hires must be from this group to have anyimpact on the overall proportions. Further, resentmentfrom groups that would then effectively be excluded fromhiring was likely to be high, with possible charges of“reverse discrimination”.

Now and over the foreseeable but finite future, a relativelyhigh exit rate associated with the retirement of the babyboom demographic offers an opportunity to reshape thepolice service demographics without completely excludingany group from consideration. If a more diverse policeservice is the goal, now is the time to act, since those hiredin the next five years will form a substantial part of theoverall demographics of police officers for the next 25 to30 years. Police services would be well advised to expandtheir recruitment pool, rethink recruitment strategies andchoose their candidates carefully. As one intervieweecautioned, “let’s not fill a five-year need with a twenty-fiveyear problem.”


FIGURE 17

30%

20%

10%

0Native Security By-law Cadets/ Communi- Mgmnt Clerical School Total Grand TotalSpecial Officers/ Enforce- Trainees cations/ Professionals Support Crossing Civilian All

Constables Guards ment Dispatch Guards Personnel Personnel

Source: PwC Survey

Civilians Eligible to Retire in Next 5 Years

Atlantic Québec Ontario West

Perc

enta

ge o

f Cur

rent

FTE

Em

ploy

men

t

10%

6%8%

0%

7%

19%

11%

1%

10%

21%

Reorienting Personnel Strategiesin Response to ChangeBoth the move to community oriented policing and theimpact of budget constraints have contributed to a signifi-cant reorientation of personnel strategies by police organi-zations. Principles of community policing suggest that thepolice service be seen as an integrated part of the commu-nity it serves. Visible differences in the gender, colour, andethnic background between police officers and the popu-lations they serve may diminish police credibility in thecommunity and may well impinge on their ability to gainthe trust and confidence of the community required foreffective policing. This does not mean that every criminalor every victim will be matched with an officer of the samebackground, gender, and colour. Instead, police hiringpractices must be broadly sensitive to the fact that thehuman face of the service is an important factor inproviding a successful police service.

The fact that over 80 per cent of police budgets aredevoted to personnel costs suggests that staffing issues areat the very heart of coping with fiscal constraint. Internaldevelopment of police officers for support services such asfinance and administrative functions, has given way tohiring of external professionals, saving the cost of trainingas well as ensuring that these functions are performed toaccepted standards applying outside police organizations.The employment profile of police services has beenchanging noticeably in recent decades, and can beexpected to continue as the external environmentcontinues to evolve, the essentials of community policingcontinue to be implemented, and governments at all levelsare likely to kept a tight rein on public expenditure.

With the current and anticipated large exodus of experi-enced officers in the next decade, police service managersface both a challenge and an opportunity in shaping theface of policing in the next decade. The challenge will beto ensure that the next generation of officers get the benefitof the years of experience of retiring officers. The opportu-nity is to hire new officers that meet the demands onpolicing in the twenty-first century in Canada, in a multi-cultural society living in the information age.



Police officers play an important role in our society. Theyensure the safety of citizens and protect them from thosewho break the law. Police are placed in a position of trustand given a considerable amount of power. It is essentialthat police officers be chosen with great care and providedwith support throughout their careers to develop theirprofessional skills. Police services should therefore developtheir human resource practices to ensure highly qualifiedcandidates are selected and provided with training anddevelopment opportunities that allow them to progressthroughout the organization over the course of theircareers.

This chapter provides an overview of the major humanresource functions and how they currently operate withinthe public police sector including human resource plan-ning, recruitment and selection, career development,retention, compensation and benefits, working conditionsand labour-management relations.

HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING, INFORMATIONMANAGEMENT AND LABOUR-MANAGEMENT

RELATIONS ARE ALL ON-GOING ACTIVITIES THATIMPACT OTHER HUMAN RESOURCE ACTIVITIES

WITHIN THE PUBLIC POLICE SECTOR. THEY HELPSHAPE THE RECRUITMENT OF PERSONNEL, CAREER

PROGRESSION AND COMPENSATION LEVELS.

Human Resource Planning

Human resource planning crosses all human resourceactivities in police services as in any other organization. Itis defined as the “the process of forecasting the humanresource needs of an organization so that steps can betaken to ensure that those needs are met.”47 In order toforecast its needs, an organization must first look at itscurrent workforce, usually by using the organization’shuman resource information system. Such a system, ifdesigned properly, should contain a wealth of informationon the organization’s current workforce, including the

current staff complement, the competencies staff memberspossess, the training courses they have received and thedate at which they are expected to retire. The organizationmust then also look at external conditions such as thesupply of labour in the open marketplace and theemerging technologies that will likely have an impact ontheir employees in the future. An organization should beable to determine:

• The skills required in the future and whether thoseskills currently exist in the organization;

• Employment equity targets to be met to ensure that theorganization’s workforce is representative of thecommunity;

• Whether staff members are expected to retire or leavethe organization in the near future and what skill gaps,if any, this will create for the organization;

• The current supply of skills; and

• The workforce size needed in the future to meetincreased or decreased workloads.

The information that is gathered is then used by the organ-ization to develop a human resource plan that will addressthe needs that are identified. The plan may includechanges to human resource priorities or practices.

In police services, as in any other organization, the humanresource plan drives all other areas of human resourcemanagement within the organization. The human resourceplan specifies the recruiting goals, i.e. the number andtype of employees to attract and whether goals can be metby recruiting internally or externally. It also defines selec-tion criteria by determining the number and type ofemployees to hire. It influences the establishment ofcompensation levels by determining the type and qualityof labour needed. Human resource planning also filtersinto career planning by foreseeing career opportunities sothat paths of advancement can be charted. Finally, itimpacts learning and development by specifying future jobrequirements which form the basis for training and devel-opment programs.48

The literature suggests that currently policing organizationsare not putting enough emphasis on human resource plan-ning. They have an adequate supply of applicants and tendto focus on filling vacant positions and immediate require-ments for recruits instead of planning for their long-termskill requirements. Although this method might have beeneffective in the past, there are indications that more active

Human Resource Practices

Recruit Progress Reward

Labour-Management Relations

Human Resource Planning / Information Management

human resource planning will be needed in the near futureto ensure that police services are able to recruit staff withthe needed skills in an increasingly competitive labourmarket. Police services generally have not tended to iden-tify their skills gaps and recruit specifically to fill these gaps.As a result, some human resource directors interviewedsaid that police services were finding it difficult to recruitstaff with skills in certain areas such as in technology. Thefact is that many young people and experienced candidateswith the right education and character traits to make suit-able police candidates are making career choices longbefore police services attempt to recruit them.

The lack of human resource planning in most police serv-ices also impacts succession planning. Literature suggeststhat there is very little succession planning in most policeservices across the country. According to one study on theselection of chiefs of police in Ontario, there is very littleelaborate planning involved in identifying the next chief ofpolice. The planning starts only once the current chiefannounces his or her departure.49 Police services wouldgain by identifying sworn personnel in their organizationwith leadership potential and developing them into theleaders of tomorrow.

More and more police services are developingcompetency profiles to plan for human resource needs One area linked to human resource planning in whichpolice services are becoming increasingly active is in

the development of competencies. Competencies are anintegral part of human resource planning because theyhelp organizations qualify the types of skills they currentlyneed and those they are likely to need in the future.Organizations can then plan their recruitment program toattract and select candidates with those skills and canmodify their learning and development programs to helpcurrent staff acquire the needed competencies.

More and more police services are now developing compe-tency profiles for the various jobs within their organiza-tion. Although these profiles are currently used mostly toscreen out applicants rather than for planning humanresource needs, their existence is definitely a positivecontribution to human resource planning.

As noted, police services are using competency profiles inthe selection process to determine if applicants possess thecompetencies required to be effective police officers. Theyare also used in the promotions process. Candidates whoare requesting promotions are often asked to prove thatthey possess the required competencies for the job.Competencies are also used in planning, designing andevaluating training programs. Many police services arenow using competency-based training to help their staffdevelop the skills required for the various occupationswithin the police service. (For more information oncompetency-based training, please refer to the Learningand Development chapter.)


Needs of Police Services

! What are the major strategicissues anticipated for thecoming 3-5 years?

! What mix of critical skills,knowledge and experience willbe needed in the police service?

! Does the police service have thebench strength to meet the crit-ical challenges?

! How can we build this benchstrength?

Individual Career Needs

! How are staff supported intheir development?

! How do they learn fromeach other?

! How do staff find opportunitiesto develop new knowledge andskills for currnet jobs? Forfuture prospects?

Are Staff developingthemselves in a way that

maps personal effectivenesswith the achievement of

strategic objectives?

Is the police serviceproviding the tools andopportunities to foster thedevelopment of requisiteskills, knowledge andexperience?

Initial Recruitment of Constables

One of the first components of the employment lifecycle isthe recruitment and selection process. A typical recruit-ment process in most sectors has three major steps.Organizations must first attract applicants, then screen andassess them using a variety of methods to determine thebest candidates for the job and then hire them into theorganization. The policing sector has an additional stepwhere they must also train new recruits either before orafter they are hired by a police service.

Creating an awareness of the police servicesorganization when attracting candidatesThe first step in the recruitment process is attraction.Attraction activities focus on creating awareness of anorganization among target markets, such as students, grad-uates and experienced hires (specifically includingmembers of employment equity groups). Traditionally,police services have had the luxury of a high profile in oursociety. They have not been required to expend significanteffort in trying to attract applicants because supply hasalways exceeded demand. As a result, they have focusedmost of their energy on trying to select the right candidatesfrom a wide available pool of applicants. Even today, mostpolice services can still attract large numbers of applicantsthrough passive attraction methods. If a challenge exists, itlies in attracting applicants that can currently meet thedesired standards and are representative of the demo-graphic composition of their community. However, asdemographics shift and the labour market tightens,competition for qualified and representative applicants isincreasing and will require more concerted effort to attracthigh quality people.

Currently, police services tend to be very passive in theirrecruitment efforts and focus more on providing informa-tion to those who are already contemplating a career inpolicing rather than trying to entice those who are notcurrently considering it. Police services typically prepareinformation booklets and hold information sessions wherethey describe the work performed by sworn personnel andprovide detail on how to apply.

Police services are starting to use the Internet as a newchannel to attract applicants. However, as with the othermethods used, it generally serves as a passive source ofinformation on the application process. The level of detailvaries from one website to the other, but police servicesgenerally provide information on the various steps in theprocess, what documentation an applicant is required toprovide, what assessments will be conducted and whatskills and competencies applicants will need to demon-strate. Some even provide sample tests to help the poten-tial applicant prepare in advance and a self-assessmentform that can be completed to help those who are consid-ering a career in policing determine if it is right for them.A number of police services also provide general informa-tion on their organization, the tasks that sworn personnelwill be required to perform, the career path and promo-tions process, as well as salary and benefits information.

Some police services do informal outreach activitiesthrough such initiatives as community policing.Community policing tends to make police work morevisible in the community and provides sworn personnelgreater opportunity to interact with members of thepublic. This can serve to inform potential applicants onthe type of tasks that sworn personnel perform on a dailybasis and possibly to attract some people who had notconsidered policing as a career in the past.

Continuing to rely on passive attraction activities will leavethe policing sector unprepared for the increasing competi-tion for high quality staff. Through effective humanresource planning, police services need to identify whatspecific skills and attributes they will require, whopossesses these skills and attributes and actively targetthese groups and reach out to them for recruitment efforts.As discussed below, targeted recruitment activities havealready been deployed for visible minorities and women,with some success.

Targeted outreach to employment equity target groups is beginningMany police services still have employment equity policiesto increase their numbers of women, visible minorities andAboriginals in order to ensure their organizations are morerepresentative of the communities they serve. In order toachieve these targets, police services have to use moreactive methods to attract members of these groups. Somepolice services have had great success in meeting hiringtargets for equity groups. However, there often remainsunmet targets for all visible minorities and Aboriginals.





Research has shown that targeted outreach campaigns areeffective. Results from an Ontario study indicated thatpolice services that had active, targeted recruitment drivesand had broadened their area of search had increased theirnumbers of visible minorities, while those who relied ontraditional, passive methods of recruitment had notimproved their representation.50

Because many of the groups police wish to target have nottraditionally viewed policing as a viable or attractive careeroption, police services are often compelled to pursue morevigorous recruitment efforts with them. In many cultures,for example, a police officer is feared or disliked and amember of that culture could even be seen to be dishon-ouring his or her family by joining the police service. Thechallenge for police services is to dispel these culturalpreconceptions and biases in order to attract a broaderrepresentation of the community.

Police services are making in-roads, however slowly. Somepolice human resource directors have established personalcontacts within ethnic communities, made presentationson policing in community organizations, and advertised inethnic and special interest publications in order topromote employment in policing. The Vancouver PoliceDepartment, for example, has established a DiversityAdvisory Committee that advises the Senior ManagementTeam on diversity issues, and a three-person Diversity Unitto bring practical solutions to recruiting more visibleminorities and responding to community needs.51 In NewBrunswick, the techniques used to recruit women havebeen extended to apply to Aboriginal persons and visibleracial minorities. In cooperation with the NB HumanRights Commission, a three-year outreach program wasput in place to proactively address the disparity betweenparticipation of members of these target groups and findways to accommodate them within the police servicesoffered in the province.52

The SPCUM has also made special efforts to recruitmembers of target groups. They have had an employmentequity program since 1990 to try and increase representa-tion of women, visible minorities, members of ethniccommunities and Aboriginals. From 1995 to 2000, theyfocused their efforts on recruiting visible minorities. Theyused a variety of methods to try to reach hiring targetsincluding the following:

• Including employment offers on their Internet site;

• Involving serving police officers who are visibleminorities in the recruitment process;

• Producing a brochure and poster entitled Faire la différenceen devenant policier au SPCUM (Make a difference bybecoming a police officer at the SPCUM) for distribu-tion to all visible minority groups and associations;

• Sending a press release to all local and national media;

• Creating recruitment feature stories for radio, televi-sion and newspapers;

• Publishing offers of service in the major newspapers;

• Participating in gatherings of young people organizedby ethnic associations; and

• Participating in job fairs.

Candidates from visible minority communities receivepersonalized follow-ups and mentoring to prepare themfor each selection phase. Moreover, their files are studiedon a priority basis. The recruitment officer has a mandateto monitor the effective progression of training and toprovide the necessary coaching for each student. Theobjective of all these measures is to bolster and promotethe success rate of visible minority candidates.

The RCMP has also developed a number of programsspecifically intended to attract applicants and new recruitsfrom among the First Nations communities. These include:

• Aboriginal Cadet Development Program: directed towardAboriginal persons who have an interest in a policingcareer, but do not meet the basic entry requirements;and

• Aboriginal Youth Training Program: a summer programfor Aboriginal youth that includes three weeks at theRCMP Training Academy and 14 weeks working underthe supervision of an RCMP member in a detachmentnear their home.

The Lethbridge Police Service has recently adapted asimilar program to attract Aboriginal candidates. TheRegina Police Service also does targeted recruitment ofAboriginals. Representatives from that service makepresentations on various native reserves across theprovince in an effort to attract more Aboriginal applicants.The Saskatchewan Police College (SPC), frequently collab-orates with the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College(SIFC), also located on the University of Regina Campus,in an effort to encourage more First Nations people toapply to become police officers. SIFC also helps the SPC toensure that police training sensitizes recruits to FirstNations’ issues. The SIFC is represented on the AdvisoryCommittee for the Bachelor of Arts in the Police Studiesprogram.


The Atlantic Police Academy has also tried to reach out toFirst Nations people by partnering with Lennox IslandFirst Nations. They have developed a program that allowsthe police cadets in basic training to go to the Island wherethey spend time (one or two days) learning from elders.The young adults from the reserve are invited to spend aweekend at the Atlantic Police Academy where they aregiven insight into what police cadets learn and the require-ments to becoming a police officer.

Recruitment and in-service programs have been fairlysuccessful in attracting First Nations people and visibleminorities into police training, and in improving relationsbetween these communities and the police; however, asthe First Nations populations continue to grow, it is essen-tial that police services develop more initiatives that willreach out to First Nations youth in these communities andrecruit them into police training. This will ensure thatpolice are truly representative of the population they serve.

Concerted efforts must be made to attract women in policingThere has been great progress made in the attracting andhiring of women to the policing profession. However,female police officers still remain a minority in most organ-izations. (For more information, please refer to the HumanFace of Policing section) Many police services across thecountry have therefore established programs to try toattract more women into the profession.

The Winnipeg Police Service attributes their success inattracting and hiring qualified female candidates to theiruse of a Police Recruiting Team, with members attendingcareer symposia targeting women. An annual recruitingplan is developed to address the variance betweencommunity demographics and police service representa-tion.53 A comparable approach is applied in Saskatoon,where members of the Police Personnel Services partici-pate in career symposia and similar outreach activities.54

The above programs have all contributed to increasing thenumber of women in policing today, but continuing effortswill be required to ensure that the number of female policeofficers is more representative of the population.

There is resistance to employment equity programsfrom sworn personnelOne of the challenges police services are facing lies inresistance from within their ranks toward pursuingemployment equity programs too aggressively. There was aperception expressed by some that by targeting employ-

ment equity groups, hiring was “not bringing in the rightpeople” into the organization. Comments from intervie-wees indicated a belief that police services were turningaway good candidates who really wanted to become policeofficers in order to hire members of employment equitygroups who had to be “encouraged” to consider a career inpolicing. Some sworn personnel interviewed suggestedthat the employment equity hiring criteria unfairly elimi-nated potentially good candidates who were not membersof these equity groups.

This attitude may stem from the fact that the supply ofcandidates already exceeds demand in most police serv-ices. Some may therefore feel that activities aimed at tryingto attract a greater number of applicants are unnecessary.However, HR directors interviewed in the course of thisstudy indicated that the current pool of applicants is notalways meeting their needs. There is therefore a need tochange the composition of their applicant pool in order tobring into the organization, people with the competenciesrequired to meet the future needs of policing work. It istherefore essential for police services to communicatemore effectively to their personnel the need for a morediverse work force and the value that members of employ-ment equity groups bring to the organization

b Provincial Minimum Requirementsfor New Recruits

Police services across Canada set a number of minimumstandards that applicants are required to meet to beconsidered for a career in policing. These requirementsare generally set by province. Part of the attraction activi-ties of police organizations serves to communicate theserequirements to the population and to ensure that onlythose who meet these requirements apply. The minimumstandards vary somewhat by province, but in general, allapplicants must:

• Be Canadian citizens or permanent residents ofCanada;

• Be of good moral character and habits;

• Not have been convicted of a criminal office for whicha pardon has not been granted;

• Be physically and mentally able to perform the dutiesor policing;

• Be at least 18 years of age in some provinces and atleast 19 years of age in others; and

• Possess a valid driver’s license.


The requirements listed above are only minimal standardsfor initial consideration. Police services can set additionalqualifications such as experience in working with thepublic, knowledge of a second language or culture andmany others. Although many police services also ask forpost secondary education, it is not generally a mandatoryrequirement, which still provides opportunities for goodcandidates who only have a high school diploma but havemany years of work experience. Ultimately, selectiondepends on the particular needs of the police service and thequality of the applicants who are competing for positions.

Although there are some exceptions, candidates in bothQuebec and New Brunswick are the only ones who arerequired to possess post-secondary education in policingprior to being hired by a police service. For admission tothe École nationale de police du Québec, persons wishing

to become police officers must have their Diploma ofCollegial Studies (diplômes d’études collégiales/DEC) inPolice Technology. The diploma issued by the Écolenationale de police du Québec is the licence to practise forpolice officers in Quebec. Candidates who already have auniversity education or recognized equivalent require anAttestation of Collegial Studies (attestation d’études collé-giales/AEC) in Police Technology for admission to theÉcole nationale de police du Québec.

Cadets in every province are required to successfullycomplete training at one of the police academies or at oneof the police service that provide basic training beforethey can be sworn in as police officers, regardless ofwhether this training occurs before or after being hiredwith a police service.


Educational Requirements

JURISDICTION LEGISLATED EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW RECRUITS

Federal A Canadian secondary school diploma or equivalent.

Newfoundland Grade 12 or equivalent

Prince Edward Island Grade 12 diploma at an academic or University Preparatory Level.

Nova Scotia Grade 12 with academic post secondary preparatory level courses in the subjects of English and Mathematics or GED.

Diploma from the Atlantic Police Academy or recognized police recruit program.

New Brunswick Diploma in Police Science Program from the Atlantic Police Academy or from a comparable training course at a policetraining institute approved by the Minister

Québec Diploma of Collegial Studies (diplôme d’études collégiales/DEC) or Attestation of Collegial Studies (attestation d’étudescollégiales/AEC) in Police Technology and the diploma awarded by the École nationale de police du Québec; or officialrecognition, based on equivalency standards, of training at a recognized police academy.

Ontario Grade 12 or its equivalent

Manitoba A Manitoba Grade 12 or equivalency.

Saskatchewan Minimum of Grade 12 or equivalent.

Alberta Grade 12 or equivalent

British Columbia There is no mandatory educational requirement, but the general consensus is one year post secondary (two years preferred)or equivalent.

Applicants are also required to meet a certain standard for physical fitness and visual acuity. The level of education thatapplicants must have achieved is also determined on a provincial basis. Many require only secondary school, somerequire post secondary education and a few require specialty post secondary. These requirements are presented in thefollowing table.


Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR):A Process for Recognizing a Person’s Knowledge and AbilitiesPrior Learning Assessment and Recognition is a process of identifying, assessing, and recognizing what a person knows and can do. Theprocess can take various forms and the outcomes can be used for a large number of purposes relevant to the goals of individuals, labourmarket partners and society at large.

PLAR is a process that allows an individual to get some form of recognition for the skills and knowledge that they have. PLAR givesequal value to learning and skills, whether these skills come from school, community work, on-the-job training or other life experiences.

PLAR may result in an individual receiving credit for a certain level of education or vocational training. It could also mean that educa-tion or training from another country or between provinces would be recognized for jobs in Canada. It may mean that credits earned atone school can be transferred to another place so courses don’t have to be repeated. Or it may mean recognizing that a person has allthe skills needed to do a job, but not the required education.

PLAR can be a practical, flexible way to solve challenges in identifying and assessing skills. Persons trained in PLAR would work with anindividual to identify and assess the person’s skills and knowledge. These skills and knowledge would then be compared to standardsfor different levels of education, vocational training or job skills. PLAR can make it easier for individuals to find out where they standand what they need to do to get a job or reach a career goal. It can help schools and training institutions place students in the rightcourses. It can also help employers improve their workplace by making the best use of a person’s skills.

Examples of PLAR Practices: Douglas College Criminology ProgramDouglas College has had a policy in place since 1990 to recognize and grant credit for justice system experience and educationas follows:

• Persons who are (or were) police officers, with JIBC or equivalent training or RCMP officers are assessed at an equivalent of 9 credits.

• Individuals who are working as special constables (with training) are assessed at an equivalent of 3 credits.

• Security officers and deputy sheriffs with Basic Recruit Certification (JIBC) are assessed at an equivalent of 3 credits.

• Corrections officers who have completed the core corrections recruit program are assessed at an equivalent of 3 credits.

• Individuals who have completed the core corrections recruit program are assessed at an equivalent of 3 credits, as also are thosewho have completed the Employment Readiness Program’s Community Program Workers Course.

• Individuals who have completed the Police Supervisors Certificate Program are assessed at an equivalent of 6 credits.

Currently, all credits granted on the basis of the above training and experience are given as unassigned credits, and students arepermitted to use a maximum of 9 credits toward the certificate in Criminal Justice Studies or the Diploma in Criminology.

In addition to the above, Douglas College has begun to assess students’ prior learning in other areas. For example, they have grantedunassigned credits to an individual with 11 years experience as an immigration officer, based on a lengthy review of material from hisworkplace, assessments by his supervisors, and interviews with him after which they were satisfied that he had knowledge applicableto many of their specific course objectives.

Douglas College has also assessed students’ work experience through documentation, discussion with references and interviews, andrecognized it as sufficient to grant credit for specific courses, for example, for Criminology 140, Interviewing and Professional Skills, andfor the Practicum course. In such cases the faculty assessor will assign a grade for the course.

Ontario Police College Police Recruit Profile– a Case StudyDuring the course of this study, the interviews revealed severalcommon perceptions about the characteristics of new recruits,including:

• The age of new recruits is increasing;

• They bring more life experience with them when they enterpolicing;

• Recruits are better educated; and

• Recruits tend to be more culturally diverse.

Can these perceptions be validated with real data or are they basedon anecdotal evidence? Until recently, data to validate or disputethese beliefs had not been formally collected or analyzed. InSeptember 1996, the Ontario Police College Research andEvaluation Unit started to collect data from recruits on a voluntarybasis via the “Ontario Police College Basic Constable Profile” ques-tionnaire to develop a profile of recruits and analyze how differentrecruit characteristics impacted performance at the Ontario PoliceCollege. Based on a current sample of 3,491 responses, the collegehas developed the following portrait of a Canadian police recruit.

The majority of recruits are still male• 20.5% of recruits who responded were female; 79.5% male.

They are getting older when they apply• The average age of respondents is 28, with the majority of

recruits being 25 years of age or older.

The majority of recruits are single• 57.8% of respondents indicated their marital status as single.

There is some increase in diversity of their cultural/ethnicor language background• 11% of responding recruits self identified as a member of a

visible or racial minority. 4.5% self identified as First Nations orAboriginal peoples.

• 35% of recruits report speaking at least one language beyondEnglish. 23% report writing a second language. Approximately12% of recruits speak French.

Almost all recruits have completed some post-secondary courses• Up to 95% of recruits have formal education higher than high

school graduation.


60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

019 and 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40 andunder over

53%

0%

52%

18%

5% 1%

Age of Ontario Police College Recruits, 1996-2000

Perc

enta

ge

Age

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Single, Married Separated Divorced Common Othernever Law/

married Cohabitating

29%

58%

2% 1% 8% 2%

Marital Status of Ontario Police College Recruits,1996-2000

Perc

enta

ge

40%

30%

20%

10%

0No Some College LASA BA/Bsc MA/Msc LASA/ Missing

college college or or Profes- Police Res-or Police sional Founda- ponses

university Foundations degree tions

4%

14%18%

25%

34%

1% 3% 1%

Education Level of Ontario Police College Recruits,1996-2000

A greater number of recruits have worked in areas relatedto the justice system• 33.6% have previous experience working in Security / Loss

Prevention / Private Investigation etc.

• 5.6% of recruits were previous full time members of theCanadian Armed Forces. 17.0% of recruits report some militaryexperience (cadet, volunteer, reserve etc.).

What do demographic characteristics reveal aboutpotential performance at OPC?Using the recruit profile and demographic variables, the OntarioPolice College Research and Evaluation Unit undertook a statisticalanalysis to determine if there was a correlation between recruit char-acteristics and how they could be expected to perform at the OPC.

There is an extremely high level of recruit performance in meetingstandards at the Ontario Police College. However, among the

2.1 per cent of recruits who did not meet either the academic orpractical performance standards, some correlations were found.

Performance at OPC in relation to higher education and ageOnly 2.1 percent of recruits did not meet all standards at OPC.Amongst those recruits who have not gone to college or university,none or 0% failed to meet standard in one or more subjects at OPC.Amongst those who had completed a university degree, 0.2% didnot meet standard in one or more subjects at OPC. Amongst thosewith college experience, 5.6% who had a partial community collegeeducation; 3.9% who had previously completed a college program;and 2.7% who had completed a Law and Security Program did notmeet standard in one or more subjects at OPC.

Recruits over 35 are somewhat more likely to have difficulty withacademic standards. However, there were no differences in meetingpractical standards by age. !


b Police services have a long and rigorousscreening and assessment process

The next phase in the recruitment process is screening andassessment. Activities in this phase focus on paring downthe number of applications in order to identify the mostqualified candidates. Getting the right information about apotential candidate is essential for making the right hiringdecisions. This is an area in which police services excel.They have done a great deal of research to ensure that theassessments they use are reliable and valid. For example,the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General hasconducted a series of studies focused on research andanalysis into the validity, reliability and fairness of selectiontests and measures within the police community. In addi-tion, the RCMP and other organizations in New Brunswickand British Columbia have also conducted studies toanalyze selection criteria in order to establish bona fideoccupational requirements, including medical and phys-ical requirements.

Screening and selection for sworn personnel is a multi-stepprocess that tends to consume a significant amount ofpolice time and resources. From beginning to end, therecruitment process can take months to complete. Therewas concern expressed among some interviewees that thelong process was costing them good candidates. Theyexplained that many candidates applied to a number ofpolice services and went through the selection process in

each police service. They then accepted a job with whateverpolice service offered them a job first. This was frustratingto some HR directors given the high cost of the recruitmentprocess. Some completed the whole selection process forvarious applicants just to find out that the candidates theyhad chosen had accepted positions with other police serv-ices which were able to make an offer of employment morequickly. They believed that the organizations who had theresources to complete the recruitment process faster hadthe advantage. Police services may therefore gain significantadvantage by finding ways in which they can collaboratefor all or part of the recruitment process.

The sequence and scope of the selection processes varies fromone police service to another and from one province toanother, but the main steps in the process are described below.These steps don’t necessarily apply to all police services.

• Application receipt and screening – Applications arereviewed to ensure that the all required documentshave been received and that the candidates meet theminimum requirements.

• Written Examination – Police services use varioustests that are designed to measure applicants’ arith-metic and problem-solving skills, their grammar andcomprehension and their verbal and writing skills.

• Physical Abilities Test – This test is designed to deter-mine whether the applicants have the minimum abili-ties to perform the physical duties associated with the

job of a police officer. It generally evaluates cardiovas-cular endurance, anaerobic power, upper bodystrength, abdominal endurance, lower back flexibilityand body fat composition. The standards for men andwomen are the same for this test. Various police serv-ices use different tests, but some of the tests that arecommonly used are the Physical Abilities RequirementEvaluation (PARE), the Police Officers PhysicalAbilities Test (POPAT) and the Physical ReadinessEvaluation for Police (PREP).

• Interview – Most police services conduct a behaviour-based interview whose purpose is to determine theapplicants’ overall suitability for employment, assesstheir competencies, their potential to obtain a securityclearance and the reasons why they want to becomepolice officers. This is generally a panel interview.Some police services conduct more than one interviewwith each applicant.

• Background investigation – The purpose of the back-ground investigation is to determine the personal char-acter of the applicant and to identify if there are anyreasons why the individual would not be able toperform policing duties. A thorough investigation isdone into the applicant’s past. References, present andprevious employers, neighbours, friends and familymembers are all contacted. This step is very expensiveand can be fairly time consuming especially for appli-cants who have lived outside of the country. This couldpossibly be a barrier to the hiring of visible minoritieswho have lived abroad.

• Polygraph Examination – This examination, which isonly done in police services in certain provinces, is partof the background investigation. It is done by a quali-fied polygraph examiner.

• Language test – This test is not required in everypolice service. The purpose of this test is to determinethe applicant’s proficiency in one or both of Canada’stwo official languages.

• Psychological or personality tests – A battery ofwritten tests are done to determine if the applicant issuited for a career in policing. The tests are evaluatedby a qualified psychologist. These tests are not done inevery police service.

• Assessment Centre – A few police services haveestablished an assessment centre to evaluate appli-cants. It is a “process where participants engage in avariety of job related exercises which are designed to

simulate realistic situations which an individual willface when working at a particular job. These exercisesare designed to elicit behaviour relevant to the abilities,skills, and personal qualities that are critical to successon that job.”55 The province of British Columbia hasbeen evaluating applicants through an assessmentprocess for a number of years. The SPCUM also evalu-ates candidates through an assessment centre. Theresults of the assessments for candidates who are hiredby the police service are sent to the district policestation where the recruits are assigned. This allows theimmediate supervisor to support the recruits improve-ment efforts for the first months on the job.

• Medical and Vision examination – The purpose ofthis examination is to determine if the applicant ismedically and physically fit to work as a police officer.

Candidates are generally automatically eliminated whenthey fail one of the assessments. This serves to narrow thepool of candidates from which to choose and to thereforelimit the cost of the selection process. That is why, ingeneral, the most expensive steps are done towards theend of the process.

Some research suggests that current selection processescontinue to focus on weeding out unacceptable applicantsrather than screening in desirable candidates. While thisprocess eventually reduces the field down to a moremanageable size, the problem remains that the successfulcandidates are not always the best candidates. Someresearchers suggest that the process is most successful inidentifying applicants whom the service has no reason toreject, rather than the best ones to select.56

A significant number of applicants do not successfullycomplete the selection process. This has led many humanresource directors and commanding officers interviewed toindicate that the pool of qualified applicants is not largeenough. However, it could also be a result of the wrongpool, meaning that the policing services limit themselvesto considering whomever applies rather than seeking outpotential candidates. Increasing the size of the pool wouldresult in increased time and money needed to screen theapplicants. Changing the composition of the pool orchanging the approach to recruitment and selection maybe more efficient. Also greater communication of theexpectations of the job and the daily tasks that swornpersonnel perform may improve self-selection of appli-cants. Many police services are starting to do this on theirwebsites by describing the daily activities of constables and


by providing a self-assessment questionnaire that can becompleted prior to applying with a police service.

Some police services have chosen to change the composi-tion of their applicant pool. For instance, future policeofficers in the province of Quebec must follow a strictlearning program prior to being hired by a police service.Their college level studies, covering a period of three years,consist of a basic general and professional education(language – philosophy – sociology – law) and specifictraining in Police Technology. At the École nationale depolice du Québec, training is provided in virtual learningsituation. Students must demonstrate that they have inte-grated the skills required to obtain their diploma, whichrepresents a licence to practice for police Officers inQuebec. Individuals with a university education or equiv-alent require an Attestation of Collegial (attestationd’études collégiales/AEC) officially recognizing 26 weeksof Police Technology studies for admission to the Écolenationale de police du Québec. Similarly to Québec, peoplein the Atlantic region who want to become police officersusually attend the Atlantic Police Academy prior to beinghired by a police service. Graduates are responsible forfinding their own employment once they have successfullycompleted the program.

Hiring successful candidatesThe final step in the recruitment process is hiringsuccessful candidates. Once hired, new recruits outside ofQuébec and the Atlantic region receive post-hire trainingat one of the police academies in their province. Once therecruit training is completed, some police services supple-ment the basic training with additional in-house trainingor orientation. The purpose of this orientation is to teachrecruits about the police service and to familiarize themwith the various administrative procedures specific to thatpolice service. The length of this orientation varies and canrange anywhere from a few days to a month, depending onthe individual police service.

In Quebec, recruits are generally hired as “auxiliary offi-cers” and “temporary officers”. These police officers receivethe training provided by the police service as part of aninduction. They work either on a part-time or full-timebasis and serve to replace any sworn personnel who are offon leave or on holidays or to add to the ranks whenadditional resources are needed during the busy touristseason. In many of the police services interviewed, tempo-

rary officers were given first preference when a permanentposition opened with the police service. In effect, inQuébec, police services have a pre-qualified pool of appli-cants from which to choose when positions open.

Once the post-hire training and orientation are completed,recruits are then paired with a more senior officer onpatrol. Their responsibility is to coach new recruitsthrough the first few months of service. According to inter-viewees, however, this coaching does not always occurbecause of insufficient resources on a given shift. In manycases, new recruits said they were paired with another newrecruit or they went out on patrol on their own. In otherinstances, interviewees said the coaches were not veryeffective. They believed that some officers took on thecoaching job in order to get promoted or to earn moremoney and were not really interested in providingcoaching to new staff.

Many of the new recruits who were interviewedcomplained about the lack of coaching. They believed thatcoaching was crucial to their effectiveness as a policeofficer and that coaches gave them some of the knowledgethey could not learn in school, such as how to read a situ-ation properly, which areas of the city were more prob-lematic, etc. Police services will have to look more closelyat the reasons why the coaching programs that they havedeveloped are not meeting the needs of new recruits.

Recruitment and selection of civilian personnel isgenerally done on a position by position basisRecruitment and selection of civilian personnel is generallydone on an ad hoc, position-by-position basis. The processtends to follow common hiring practices used in othersectors. Job vacancies are generally advertised either inter-nally or externally. Some police services are required to fillvacancies internally first, and can only advertise externallyif a suitable candidate cannot be identified within theorganization. Applicants go through a screening andselection process that can include various assessmentsand interviews. Civilian personnel are sometimes hireddirectly by the police services and sometimes hired bythe municipality.

Once hired, civilians sometimes receive on the job trainingor orientation. Some civilians who are hired into special-ized positions, such as the 911 dispatch receive formaltraining at some of the police academies across the country.


Economic Barriers Individuals in the Atlantic region who wish to becomepolice officers face a particular hurdle that is unique to thatregion of the country. As mentioned earlier, individuals inthe Atlantic region must first obtain a diploma in PoliceSciences from the Atlantic Police Academy or from arecognized police recruit program before they can be hiredwith a police service. Although this is similar to theQuebec model and in fact candidates in every provincemust complete some type of training before they can workas police officers, the difference is in the cost of the trainingto the individual student. In the Atlantic region, the cost tothe student for the 32-week training program at theAtlantic Police Academy is $19,150. This includes thetuition of $16,250 plus additional registration fees such asa union fee, a graduation fee, books, uniform, etc. If wealso include the costs associated with on-the-job training,i.e. transportation and living expenses, the cost can be ashigh as $23,000. This is much higher than anywhere elsein the country.

The high cost of this training acts as a financial barrier toentry into the profession for a number of interested candi-dates. Individuals who have already accumulated anumber of debts may not be able or willing to pay such ahigh fee for the 32-week program. Provincial govern-ments and police services in the Atlantic region musttherefore consider the effect that the cost of training ishaving on the applicant pool. They must address the highcost of training and determine if it is eliminating poten-tially good candidates with the skills and abilities thatpolice services want and need because they simply can’tafford to pay $23,000 to become a police officer. Thisconsideration will become increasingly important aspolice services need to recruit more and more candidateswith specialized skills and training.

The RCMP is also facing an economic barrier to trainingsince they have adopted their partial cost recovery model.The RCMP is now charging a fee to police services for thetraining they offer. Although they have not seen a changein the individuals who have attended training since theyhave implemented this charge back policy, they areconcerned that this fee may become a barrier to trainingfor some police services.

Career Progression

The career model is similar for all officers There is generally no set career path for officers withinpolice services. Still, most police officers follow a similarcareer path, at least for the first few years. Although thispractice is slowly starting to change in some police serv-ices, there is still very little external recruitment beyondthe entry level. All officers in a service go through the samerecruit training, whether it is before or after being hired.They are then required to work on patrol for a number ofyears before they can become eligible for promotion ortransfer into a specialty unit. This model has both advan-tages and disadvantages.

Some of the advantages of a single career model are:

• all sworn personnel gain an appreciation for work onthe front lines;

• this model is relatively easy to manage;

• in theory, all personnel are treated equally;

• management always know what basic knowledge,skills and abilities their staff possess; and

• it provides greater staff deployment flexibility.

There are, however, also some disadvantages to this approach:

• It doesn’t allow police services to take full advantage ofthe diverse background and skills that officers canpossess. Candidates who are brought into the organi-zation for their specialized skills can lose these skills bythe time they get to use them.

• It doesn’t allow for lateral entry. If a skill gap is identi-fied in the organization, the only option is to providesomeone with the skills to fill that gap, instead of fillingthe gap with an outside candidate.

In most of the police services visited, officers wereexpected to take responsibility for their own career devel-opment. They were responsible for asking for the trainingand education needed to advance in the organization.According to human resource directors career planningwas often done informally. They believed that most officershad a good control over their own pace of progression(albeit along a relatively fixed ladder). However officers





disagreed saying they had very little freedom to controltheir own career paths. Many of the association represen-tatives also disagreed with the human resource directors.They contended that career planning was limited due to alack of tools and transparency in the system.

Some police services have already established, or are in theprocess of establishing and documenting career streamsfor officers. In doing so, they are profiling competenciesrequired in each position within the organization. Thepurpose of establishing these career paths is to try to keepofficers motivated and to allow them to make an informeddecision when choosing a position or career path.

The Sûreté du Québec is currently experimenting with anew career streaming model to try to fill some of the skillsgap they are experiencing in certain key areas of theirpolice operations. They recently implemented a pilotproject where they hired eight university graduates, eachwith three years of work experience. They first lookedinternally for any qualified applicants before consideringexternal candidates. The new recruits were provided withpolice training. They obtained a diploma in police tech-nology and completed the program at the École nationalede police du Québec. Once their training was completed,the new recruits spent six months on patrol duties. Theywere then transferred to the special investigations unitwhere they could use the specialized skills and knowledgefor which they were hired. This pilot project was imple-mented two years ago and it is still too early to tell howeffective it will be.57

The Sûreté du Québec is also in the process of developingcareer paths for sworn personnel. This career path definesthe training and academic qualifications as well as thecompetencies that police officers are required to possesswhen they are hired and those they are expected to acquirethroughout their career in policing. For example, it definesthat, starting in January 2001, police officers seekingpromotion to management positions at the rank of chiefinspector must have an undergraduate degree. In 2002,the same requirement will apply to the rank of inspectorand in 2003, to the rank of captain.

The RCMP is also currently in the process of definingcareer streams in order to fill key skills gaps in the organi-zation. Under this model, new recruits with specializedskills would not be required to work on patrol for fiveyears. They would be moved into specialty areas at a fasterpace than other recruits in order to ensure they retain thespecialized skills for which they were hired.

b Career development in policing organizations

Career development in a police service was traditionallyorganized around an acknowledged career ladder. Thefocus was on climbing that ladder in a series of progressiveand sequential job advancements through the organiza-tion. In the last few years, however, police organizationshave flattened thereby reducing the potential number ofsteps on the career ladder. Lack of job advancementopportunities for sworn personnel is no longer just afeature of smaller police services; even in the larger services,the number of promotional opportunities has decreased.

With fewer ways for a member to advance, police serviceshave to find new ways to motivate employees and toreward them for good service. They have to find new waysto translate the idea of career success and achievementwithout job promotion.58 This is especially challenging forpolice services given the expectations of new recruits. Asmentioned in the Human Face of Policing in Canada chapter,new recruits are now more educated than were recruits inthe past. As a result, they have certain expectations interms of career progression. Many of the students and newrecruits interviewed said they expected to move upthrough the ranks of the organization throughout theircareers. As opportunities for advancement continue todiminish, police services will have to find new ways tokeep their personnel motivated and challenged in theirjobs. One way in which this can be achieved is throughspecialization – sworn personnel move to specialty unitsbut remain at the same rank. Opportunities for specializa-tion were generally viewed by sworn personnel as animportant part of career development.

Career progression within a police serviceThroughout their careers, sworn personnel may have theopportunity to move up through the ranks of the organi-zation to more senior positions and also to move laterallywithin the same rank. The opportunities available tosworn personnel depend on the size of the police service,the number of supervisory and management positionsavailable and the number of specialized units in the organ-ization. In most police services, the majority of swornpersonnel will remain constables throughout their entirecareers because there are very few opportunities forpromotions. Some of the small police services do not haveany specialty units, these services being provided by theprovincial police service or the RCMP. In these organiza-tions, there is little opportunity for sworn personnel tomove either laterally or vertically, and the majority of themwill therefore work on patrol for their entire careers.


Promotions process generally similar across the countrySworn personnel can move up in the organization byobtaining promotions. The process for promotions mayvary slightly from one police service to another, but it isgenerally similar across the country. Most HR directorssaid they require officers to write exams both to becomeeligible for and determine promotions and some servicesrequire officers to write a self-assessment or portfolio.Some promotion processes emphasize level of educationachieved, and others look for a combination of on-the-jobexperience and seniority. In a very few jurisdictions,promotions are based on the sole prerogative and decisionof management.

Regardless of the promotional process which was used,many officers interviewed believed the best results werenot achieved. Some of the complaints expressed by bothsworn personnel and association representatives were:

• past performance was undervalued;

• formal education was given too much consideration;

• formal education was not given enough consideration;

• the entire promotion process was arbitrary and incon-sistent; and

• some promotions were based on favouritism ratherthan merit.

These complaints may be true in some cases, and may notbe in others, but they are what some sworn personnelbelieve. This suggests that the promotions process in manypolice services may need to be more transparent in orderfor everyone in the organization to understand how andwhy decisions are made. More open communications onthe promotions process may also help to dispel some ofthe myths in the organization on how promotions areawarded.

For certain police officers, good policing follows from acombination of practical knowledge that is acquired on-the-job and applied people skills that are developed overtime. But these attributes are difficult to judge, quantifyand measure. There was also a common perception, espe-cially among the more experienced officers that the exammodel favours those who have completed school morerecently. They argued that written exams promote thosewho simply have better writing skills and excel at takingtests, not those who are the best at the job or would poten-tially make the best supervisors. Police organizations dorealize that their promotional processes are not perfect andkeep trying to improve them. However, most intervieweessaid that there could probably never be a perfect promo-tion process, but that they would be more satisfied if policeservices stopped changing the process on a regular basis.

Promotions to chief or deputy chief positions are notcovered under the collective agreementIn police services, the chief and the deputy chief positionsare typically not covered by the collective agreement.Police services therefore have greater flexibility in staffingthese positions. They are free either to promote an internalcandidate or to hire an external applicant. Some of the HRdirectors interviewed indicated that they try to promotefrom within as much as possible, but they will hireexternal applicants if no suitable candidate can be found


Promotions Process at the SPCUM – A Quebec ExampleThe SPCUM makes available a variety of specifically targetedtests for selection at all ranks within the organization. Thus,depending on the rank to be filled, a variety of tests are devel-oped to evaluate such things as knowledge, managementability and deductive reasoning. Because of a concern forrigour, validity, uniformity and predictability of results, each testis constructed with reference to a description of duties and acompetency profile. Officers with recognized expertisecontribute to the development of all the tools. The legal verifi-cations are carried out by lawyers and the tests are made avail-able in bilingual versions after having been translated byprofessional translators. In addition, for each selection process,information brochures are prepared to brief candidates on thecontent of the tests and to shed light on the material covered.

The candidates’ intellectual, managerial and interpersonalcompetencies are evaluated through a series of simulated exer-cises at the SPCUM’s assessment centre.

Finally, written feedback is provided to any candidate whorequests it, to enable candidates to improve their skills. In addi-tion, as soon as an examination has been completed, a statis-tical profile is prepared detailing the strengths and weaknessesof the applicant population for use in the training and devel-opment programs.

Each member of a SPCUM selection committee, whether forhiring or promotion, receives specific training in test develop-ment, selection tool use and interview techniques.

internally, although this practice is not very common. Bothinternal and external applicants are generally required togo through an assessment process that can include variouswritten exams and an interview.

Police services generally look for candidates who havecertain competencies that they have determined to beessential for the job. Some specify the level of educationthat they require from their senior personnel. For example,one HR Director interviewed, said that they generally lookfor candidates with a certificate or a bachelor’s degree inadministration or in human resources. In New Brunswick,educational requirements for chiefs and deputy chiefs areregulated. In that province, in order to be appointed chiefof police or deputy chief of police, candidates must havesuccessfully completed the Senior Police AdministrationCourse offered by the Canadian Police College or an equiv-alent training course approved by the Minister.

There is no set process for selecting a new Chief of Police There is no set process for selecting a new chief of police.Depending on provincial legislation, either municipalcouncils or police services boards/commissions areresponsible for recruiting the Chief. In provinces withlegislated police boards/commissions, the board, or acommittee of the Board, manages the entire selectionprocess, although some retain an executive search firm toassist it. A select number of candidates are then inter-viewed by members of the police services board.

The scope of the search typically varies by the size of theorganization, the larger the police service, the more exten-sive the search. Some police services boards/commissionsor municipal councils will only consider senior managerswithin their own police service or within other police serv-ices and others will consider sworn personnel in anypolice service across the country. It is therefore possible forexample, for a sergeant in one police service to becomepolice chief of another.

Specialization of sworn personnel There are opportunities, mostly in the larger police serv-ices for sworn personnel to specialize in a number of areassuch as community relations, criminal investigations,forensic identification to name just a few. Sworn personnelcan apply for positions within the various specialty unitsas vacancies arise. Candidates are generally required to gothrough a selection process that can include a number ofspecialized assessments. The successful candidate willthen generally receive training at one of the police acade-mies across the country. In addition, some also receive on-the-job training for a number of months.

Sworn personnel can move in this manner from onespecialty unit to another throughout their career or moveup in ranks within their own specialty. The most commonpractice within most police services visited seemed to bethe movement from one specialty squad to another. Thiscaused some concern among both civilian personnelworking in those units and sworn personnel working onpatrol. Civilian employees complained that they are some-times required to train their supervising officers. The offi-cers being trained are usually involved in promotion rota-tions, and few remain in one position long enough tomake the specialty training worthwhile. Civilians whoprovide training to their superiors report that there is verylittle succession planning and that “the big bosses don’treally know what is happening.”

Sworn personnel complained that it seemed to be mucheasier for those currently working in a specialty squad tomove from one squad to another than it was for patrol offi-cers to get in. In a study on retention of municipal policeofficers in BC, Kim Polowek discovered that a “majority offemale and male members were dissatisfied with the prac-tice of permitting members of specialty squads the oppor-tunity to travel between specialty areas without returningto patrol.”59 They believed that squad members were givenpreference because they were known to the people makingthe decisions and because they had been able to obtainspecialized skills that gave them a perceived advantageover other candidates.

In some small police services sworn personnel are some-times rotated through specialty units for a number ofmonths. This helps to ensure that a larger portion of thepersonnel has at least some of these specialized skills andhelps protect the organization from a skills gap shouldsomeone working in a specialty unit leave the organization.

Women and visible minorities have less success in theselection process for promotions and specialization There is a general perception among police services thatfewer women and visible minorities are successful withinthe system for promotions compared to white males. Theyare also less successful in being selected for specialty units.At this date, however, very little data have been collectedor analyzed to validate this belief. According to research,police services have started to implement new gender-neutral promotional policies based on a combination ofexamination marks, assessment of potential for effective-ness, seniority, review of past performance and interviewresults. Some of the new processes established to try toeliminate bias and ensure objective assessment of all


candidates include: behavioural interview techniques,training for interviewers, gender-balanced interviewpanels and structured reference checking.60

Women in policing face a particular challenge in thepromotional process and in the selection process forspecialty units. According to one researcher, it is oftenharder for women officers to move laterally to tacticalteams than it is for them to move upwards to managementpositions.61 This sentiment was echoed during the inter-views. Some of the female officers interviewed complainedthat it was difficult or even impossible for them to betransferred into some of the specialty units. Some of themsaid they were refused a request for promotion or transferbecause they were told there was already enough womenin that unit. Some also felt that they were being pushedtowards what was seen as traditional women’s roles such ascommunity services, school liaison or sex offence areas.

b Career Mobility Across Police Services

Lack of recognition of basic training between provincesIn many sectors, career mobility between provinces isdependent, in part, on organizations in one provincerecognizing education and training that applicantsreceived in another province. In policing, not all organiza-tions across the country recognize the basic training thatcadets received in police academies in other provinces.This can have a significant impact on the mobility of policeofficers and on the ability of cadets in some regions toobtain a job. This issue is of particular concern in theAtlantic region where cadets are asked to pay for veryexpensive basic training before they are hired by a policeservice. Although the training received at the AtlanticPolice Academy, in combination with 2 years of experi-ence, is recognized by the RCMP and a few other policeservices outside of the Atlantic region, cadets who cannotfind employment with these services or with a policeservice in the Atlantic region are in a way losing the largeinvestment they have made in their future because theireducation is not recognized. This situation can add to thefinancial barrier to entry into the profession that is facedby candidates in the Atlantic region.

Cadets in Québec are also asked to pay for their basictraining before they are hired by a police service. However,the issue of inter-provincial mobility did not seem to beas significant an issue in that province. Cadets, cégep

students and sworn personnel in Québec who were inter-viewed as part of this study expressed little desire to workoutside of the province.

The recognition of training between provinces is also anissue for experienced personnel who want to move to apolice service in another province. The requirements thatmust be met by experienced personnel vary from oneprovince to another and from one police service toanother. As a rule, candidates must have at least two yearsof experience with a police service before they are consid-ered an experienced hire. They generally follow the samerecruitment process as other applicants. Experiencedapplicants are required to prove that they have receivedbasic training from an authorized institution and that theymeet the standards established by the hiring police serviceor by the relevant province. Applicants are sometimesrequired to pass an exemption examination. As the nameimplies, applicants who successfully pass the exam areexempted from basic training. Those who fail the exammust apply to the police services through the regularrecruit process. In some provinces, however, experiencedapplicants are still required to take basic training even ifthey have already completed it in the past and have expe-rience in policing. Greater recognition of training from oneprovince to another would lower costs for both cadets andfor police services.

There is greater mobility amongst experienced personnelTraditionally, candidates joined a police service at thebeginning of their career and remained there until retire-ment. Although this is still true in many instances, there isincreasing mobility of sworn personnel between organiza-tions, especially among those who are still at the beginningof their career.

HR directors revealed that there is a fair amount ofturnover among sworn personnel who have been with theorganization for two years or less. Interviews revealed thatmany new recruits accept a job with the police service thatoffers them a position first. They work for that policeservice for a few years to gain experience then move toanother police service. In the province of Québec, there isa fair amount of mobility among the temporary officers.These recruits generally accept a job with the first servicethat can offer them a permanent position, but like policeofficers in other provinces, they may then move to anotherpolice service in a few years.


There are many reasons why new recruits move to anotherpolice service. Some of the reasons recorded during thesite visits include:

• they wanted to work for a police service in a largeurban area;

• they wanted to move closer or back to their hometown;

• they wanted to work in a police service in a small ruralarea;

• they wanted to work for a police service that offeredmore career advancement possibilities.

Some HR directors, senior officers and association repre-sentatives were concerned over this increasing mobility ofexperienced constables. They explained that many policeservices were starting to “steal” experienced constablesfrom other police services in the province because of thecost savings involved. Outside Québec and the Atlanticregion, police services are required to pay for all or part ofthe recruit training. By hiring constables with a few yearsof experience, police services are therefore saving a consid-erable part of the cost of the basic training. Some policeservices visited in this study admitted that they hiredmostly experienced personnel because they could notafford to pay for recruit training. If this trend continues,it may force police services to rethink their recruittraining model.

Sworn personnel seem to be more mobile in the first fewyears of service. Sworn personnel who have been with apolice service for a number of years were not as interestedin moving to another police service. Many of the officersinterviewed said if they had wanted to move frequently,they would have joined the RCMP, the OPP or the SQ,where this was an expectation of the job. Outside theseforces, career mobility is limited by the lack of portabilityfor seniority and, in some provinces, of pensionableservice between various police services. After a number ofyears of service, the restrictions to transferring thesecredits with them become a kind of golden handcuff formany officers; financially, they have too much to lose. Anumber of officers also said that the feeling of belonging orthe esprit de corps prevented them from seeking employ-ment with another police service.

Among families with dual household income, there wassignificantly less motivation to seek job relocation; evenofficers working with the OPP, SQ or the RCMP where jobtransfers are more readily available said they had refusedor not sought promotional opportunities because theycould not move their families without significant

economic consequence. The spouse of the officer is oftennot willing to move because he/she has a good job thatthey are not willing to leave.

Despite the various restrictions, there is still some mobilityof sworn personnel from one police service to another. Insome cases, sworn personnel are forced to move forpersonnel reasons, such as their spouse obtaining a jobtransfer. There is also more mobility in the policing sectorat the management level, i.e. in positions that are notcovered by the collective agreement. As discussed earlierin this section, police services are not required to promoteinternal candidates for management positions. It is there-fore common for sworn personnel in managementpositions to move from one police service to anotherthroughout their careers.

Little career progression for civiliansThere is generally little room for advancement for civiliansin police services. For some of them, reclassification ofpositions is their only option for advancement. Many civil-ians said they felt stuck in their current jobs. Some civil-ians however, are considered municipal or public serviceemployees and have some promotional opportunitieswithin their municipality or public service.

The process used to promote civilians varies from onepolice service to the other. In some services, they arerequired to write exams and pass an interview. In otherorganizations, there is no set process for promotions. Someof the civilians interviewed complained that the promo-tional process was not equitable. They believed it wasfrequently too arbitrary, that the decision was left toomuch to the discretion of management.

b Retention of Personnel

Turnover rates are minimal in police organizationsMost police services human resources staff interviewed forthis study felt that retaining staff was not a problem.Turnover rates were minimal. Officers who decide policingis not a good career choice for them usually quit within thefirst two years of service. Non-portability of seniority anda lack of reciprocal pension agreements in some provincestended to be a financial deterrent for officers consideringtransferring after five years of service.

Retention could become a greater issue as personal jobstresses come to outweigh economic deterrents. KimPolowek in her 1996 report “Retention of BritishColumbia’s Municipal Police Officers: An Examination of


Reasons for Leaving” tothe Ministry of AttorneyGeneral, British Columbiareveals that roughly 20 percent of the officers inter-viewed responded that theywere either actively seekingtransfer to another policeservice or were exploringcareer opportunities outsideof policing. More signifi-cantly, 57 per cent of theofficers interviewed statedthat they had contemplatedleaving their departmentsat some point during thepast five years for a numberof reasons including: careerplateauing, promotion poli-cies, lack of career opportu-nities, dissatisfaction withmanagement and quality oflife issues.

A few HR directors of largeurban police services said they

were growing concerned with their inability to retainhighly educated young officers if they could not continueto offer promotional opportunities. Officers in some of thelarger services believed that they were losing expertise tothe private sector, especially those officers who haveexpertise in computer and high-technology areas.

Retention of Female OfficersResearch clearly indicates that female officers are moreinclined to leave policing than their male counterparts.Documented factors in the decision to leave include:

• Actual and perceived sexual harassment;

• Pressures associated with working within amale-dominated environment;

• Difficulties in managing shift-work schedule;

• Balancing family and work responsibilities;

• Working as the sole female in a section;

• A general lack of role models; and

• Perceived barrier to promotion and covetedassignments.62

To counteract the impact of these pressures on womenofficers, special attention should be paid to career plan-ning, flexible maternity leave benefits, adapting workingconditions during the pregnancy period (to ensure thatquality female workers do not leave the police ranks),providing adequate parental leave, offering stimulatingpart time jobs, providing easy access to work site day-carefacilities and adapting the practical aspects of equipment(e.g. uniforms, service weapons designed for a woman’shand, etc.) 63

Rewarding Employees

b Compensation and Benefits

This section highlights the current situation with respect tothe wages and working conditions of both sworn officersand civilians in Canadian police services. Interviewssuggested that working conditions, including impacts offewer personnel and resulting increased workloads, andlack of consultation on important decisions, were greatersources of dissatisfaction than compensation levels.

Compensation in Police ServicesSworn personnel were not always among the better paidpublic sector jobs in Canada, but gains well in excess ofthe rate of inflation in both the United States and Canada,resulted in a substantial increase in living standards forpolice constables in the 1970s and 1980s.64 According todata from the 1996 Census of Canada, police officers(excluding those classified as managers) earned just over$53,00065, approximately 40 per cent more than theaverage person working mostly full time in Canada.

The wages of the first class constable serve as the referencepoint for wage setting in policing organizations, both inter-nally and when pay comparisons are made across services.The vast majority of first class police constables earn baseannual wages in excess of $55,000, and the top-payingservices have reached $60,000. According to the RCMPTotal Compensation Report of May 1999, which providesdata from nine of the largest police services in Canada,


Is there a “brain drain”in the policing sector?

There is growing concernover the brain drain that isoccurring in some sectorsof Canadian policing. “TheRCMP, in particular, hasa difficult time retaininghighly qualified personnel.The commercial crime areahas been particularly hardhit, with private sectorcompanies luring highlyskilled members awayfrom the service. Figuresreleased in 1997 indicatedthat of the 60 commercialcrime investigators whowere posted in Ontario,50 per cent had quit.”

(Canadian Police Work,p. 421)




pension and other group benefits add between $10,000and $15,000 to the total compensation package of a firstclass constable in the larger police services.

Compared to many other major public sector occupations,police officers continue to enjoy relatively high averageearnings, and this may be what is attracting many univer-sity graduates to the field. During the first half of the1990s, however, the average annual increase in policeofficer earnings was 1.7 percent while the consumer priceindex rose 2.2 per cent per year during this period,implying that the purchasing power of the average policesalary declined 0.5 per cent per year. Thus the purchasingpower of police earnings dropped by nearly 3 per centduring the early 1990s, while fire-fighters and nurses wereable to make real earnings gains over the same period.Beginning in the latter half of the 1990s many policeannual wage increases exceeded the CPI inflation rate,winning back some of the purchasing power lost in thefirst half of the decade.

As services offer reduced chances of promotion because offlattening hierarchies, and more officers could be expectedto finish their careers as constables, some services arelooking at rewarding seniority among constables as a wayof rewarding the contributions of more experienced offi-cers. To this end, many police collective agreements nowprovide for annual service pay increments and seniorconstable supplemental pay.

The amounts involved in service pay are relatively small,amounting to less than $1000 per year, or less than 2 percent of base salaries in the $50,000 to $60,000 range. Inaddition, seven of the nine largest services (excludingMontreal and the Sûreté du Québec) provide for a SeniorConstable Allowance. The larger services in WesternCanada offer larger allowances, ranging from 5 to 15 percent of base pay, while Toronto, the OPP, and the RCMPprovide for 2 per cent of first class constable base pay uponcompletion of roughly 10 years of service. Calgary,Toronto, and Vancouver require passing of exams toqualify for the additional pay. Vancouver offers the highestrates of additional pay, up to 15 per cent after 20 years ofservice, but also requires the completion of certain coursesbefore pay is awarded.

Though seniority pay practices vary, in the largest fivepolice services in Canada the most senior first class consta-bles earn no more than 4 per cent of base salary more thana new First Class Constable. The question for negotiatorsof collective agreements is whether these relatively small

differentials in compensation are both fair and optimal. Tosome officers, this may well convey the message that thevalue of a police officer does not rise significantly withexperience.

Because wages are set through collective bargaining, wagerates across police services are well-known, and negotia-tors and arbitrators commonly benchmark against compa-rable police services in wage negotiations. These agree-ments currently have relatively little flexibility for usinginternal variations in pay to attract candidates with specificand specialized skills, penalize for poor performance, orreward exceptional performance. Based on informationgathered in interviews, however, wage levels and benefitsfor police officers are generally viewed as acceptable andare not seen to present a significant barrier to eitherrecruitment or retention of patrol officers.

Civilian compensation: a substantial gap between them and sworn officersComprehensive information on civilian wages is moredifficult to obtain partly because Statistics Canada does notpublish data on this group, and the RCMP compensationstudy does not currently document pay and benefitarrangement for civilian employees. Civilian employees atmany police services are included in bargaining units withother municipal employees, and their pay is thereforeoutside the direct control of police management. Similarlysalaries for public servants working in RCMP posts are setby the Treasury Board and therefore outside the directcontrol of RCMP management.

Remuneration is, however, a significant issue affectingcivilian-police relations. Although some civilians are satis-fied with their earnings, many others are displeased withthe fact that substantial gaps exist between their wages andthose of sworn officers. The relatively low pay scale ofcivilians has lead to a trend toward increased turnoveramong civilian employees in some services, especiallyamong information technology staff and other trainedprofessionals.

Wages for most civilian positions within police services aredetermined in labour markets that extend well beyond thepolice sector, and this can present a challenge for organi-zations when employees naturally discuss internal equityin pay arrangements. Compensation in most support posi-tions is significantly lower than that of police officers, butservices seem to have little difficulty filling these positionsand managing the turnover. As a result, there appears to belittle pressure to adjust wages relative to officers.


In the case of specialized services such as informationtechnology, however, the current excess of demand oversupply for these employees in virtually all sectors of theeconomy presents a challenge to a police culture that hastraditionally valued police officers above all others in theorganization. Tight labour markets for IT professionals hasput some stress in the relative pay of such workers relativeto police officers. Police services may well have to offermore competitive wages for IT professionals as their rolesin managing and providing access to data continues toexpand over the next decade, depending on how quicklythe market is able to adjust to current and future demandlevels for these skills.

Concerns about compensation fairnessThere were a few notable exceptions to the general rule ofreasonable satisfaction with pay levels. In the Atlanticregion, where wage levels tend to be lower in general in allsectors of the local economy compared to the rest of thecountry, there is a significant disparity between thecompensation for RCMP officers and that of municipalofficers. RCMP pay rates are national, and therefore do notnecessarily reflect differences in cost of living or prevailingwage rates in localized labour markets across the country.

Whether most municipal services in the Atlantic offeradequate wages to police officers is a subject of somedebate. Nevertheless, the mere fact that police officers in asister organization earn approximately 30 per cent morecan generate the perception of inadequate pay amongmunicipal officers. Officers in smaller municipalitiescurrently policed by the RCMP under provincial agree-ments on a 70/30 cost sharing basis between the provinceand the federal government, are compensated at ratessignificantly higher than officers in municipal services inlarger cities in the same province.

These pay differences have contributed to some feelings ofhardship among officers in municipal services in theAtlantic region. For example, one Association memberfrom the Atlantic region noted that first class constables inhis service earn, on average, $13,000 less per year thanfirst class RCMP constables, and suggested that “Lots ofofficers are living from paycheque to paycheque.” Whileno one wishes to question the ethics of police officers,police services must avoid creating conditions thatgenerate excessive temptation for individual officers tocompromise their integrity due to economic hardship.Thus, the substantial and growing wage gap betweenRCMP officers who provide contract municipal servicesand those officers paid by municipal police services islikely to cause continued problems for police services andofficers in the Atlantic region.

A second exception to the general satisfaction with salariesexists among the temporary officers who are used prima-rily by police services in Québec, much in the same waythat substitute teachers are used by school boards.Temporary officers are paid approximately half themaximum officer wage when they are called in for duty.They also have no guarantee regarding the number ofhours they will work in any given week. As one temporaryofficer with a medium sized police service asserts: “Thewages of temporary officers are frozen until they are hiredon full time. They do not receive benefits or vacation time.They are also required to pay the same amount in uniondues as regular officers, but are not covered by the entirecollective agreement.”

Benefits and EntitlementsIn addition to salary and other benefits, compensationpackages include provisions for retirement funds, vaca-tions, group health benefits, and various paid and unpaidspecial leaves of absence. Sworn officers interviewed in thecourse of this study were generally satisfied with pensionpackages, though troubles have arisen when officersabsorbed into the RCMP or OPP find that pay outs fromtheir municipal pensions purchase only a fraction of theyears of service spent as a municipal officer. Except forthose with relatively few years left before retirement, thehigher pay generally offered by the RCMP and the OPPmitigates this effect to some extent.

Some younger officers expressed concern with the porta-bility of pensions and are worried about limited mobilityamong police services, due in some part to the loss ofseniority and accrued vacation and other entitlements. Ingeneral, however, officers appear to sort themselves amongservices where geographic mobility is expected (the RCMPand the provincial police services) and those wheregeographic mobility is neither encouraged nor facilitated(the municipal services).

Whether the lack of provisions supporting geographicmobility across municipal police services serves to shrinkthe pool of recruits has not been studied to any significantextent, it can be shown that those with university degreesare more geographically mobile than those with lowerlevels of education. With police services increasinglylooking for university or college educations amongrecruits, efforts to absorb the cost of moving from onepolice service to another may serve to improve the jobsatisfaction of police officers and expand the talent pool ofindividuals who seek a career in policing.


b Working Conditions

AbsenteeismIn police services, as in any organization, a certain level ofabsenteeism is natural and is in fact expected. Employeesneed to take vacation, to go on training, or to take parentalleave. These absences are generally planned in advanceand are manageable for most organizations. There arehowever, a number of unplanned absences due to suchthings as illnesses or injury. If a police service does nothave the right staff complement to compensate for boththese planned and unplanned absences, they will not be ina position to offer the level of service that the populationexpects. They therefore need to determine their personnelstrength taking into consideration a number of factors thatinfluence absenteeism.

• The ageing workforce – As discussed earlier, theworkforce in police services across the country isageing. This has certain repercussions for police serv-ices in terms of absenteeism. Older workers tend tobecome ill more often than younger workers, and theycan get injured more easily, especially in a physicallydemanding work environment such as policing. As aresult, a police service that has a high proportion ofolder workers in their workforce should expect a higherlevel of absenteeism and should plan for it accordingly.

• Morale in the organization – The morale of the work-force in the organization will sometimes have an influ-ence over the level of absenteeism. Low morale in anorganization can lead to increased absenteeism. Whenemployees are unhappy or unsatisfied with their jobs,

they may miss work more frequently. They may not beas concerned about the impact that their absence ishaving on the organization and on co-workers.

• Insufficient resources – Some police services haveinsufficient resources to cover planned absences andcan therefore not deal effectively with unplannedabsences. In these services, it can sometimes becomedifficult for employees to take training or vacationbecause there is no one available to replace them onthe shift. This can cause a certain amount of frustrationfor employees if it causes training to be cancelledrepeatedly or if legitimate requests for an unscheduledday off are denied. Many of the employees interviewedduring the site visits were frustrated by the fact thatthey were not able to take desired training due to insuf-ficient resources and that they were often required towork with less resources than required on a given shiftbecause replacements for absent co-workers could notbe found. Some interviewees also said that they weresometimes forced to call in sick when they needed aday off because they were not able to ask for a vacationday. They realized that it left the shift short-staffed butfelt they had no other options. This practice can lead toincreased stress on sworn personnel who feel they cannever take a day off for a personal reason and for thosewho are often working on insufficiently staffed shifts.

A survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers indicatesthat approximately 9 days are lost every year peremployee. These days are most commonly lost due toshort term illness, but a significant number are also lost toduty or work injury and to parental leave.


FIGURE 18

10

8

6

4

2

0Total Short Term Duty or Short Term Suspension Parental

Days Lost Illness Work Injury Stress or Discipline Leave

Source: Human Resources Survey of Public Police Services, PwC 2000. Note: Item response rates vary considerably by category, so componemts do not sum to total.

8.9 9.1

6.0

7.4

1.3 0.60.7 0.3 0.5

0.01.2

1.9

Days Lost per Full-Time Equivalent Employee

Sworn Officers

Civilians

Ann

ual D

ays

Lost

per

FTE

Em

ploy

ee

A certain level of absenteeism is unavoidable, but policeservices need to develop effective ways of dealing withabsences to avoid placing too much strain on theirpersonnel and to ensure that they provide effectivepolicing to the population. One of the ways that wasadopted in the province of Quebec to deal with thisproblem is to hire temporary or part-time personnel. Thismodel has had some success in Quebec. In this province,temporary officers are hired to serve as replacements forsworn personnel who are off on vacation, training andillness. Police services in other provinces may want toexplore if this model would be effective for them or if othersolutions can be found.

Performance managementResults from the survey conducted byPricewaterhouseCoopers show that many police servicesare conducting formal evaluations of both the swornpersonnel and civilians. As the graph below indicated,85% of police services indicated conducting formal evalu-ations for police officers.

Interviews conducted during the site visits, however, iden-tified a number of problems with the evaluations processadopted by many police services. Many interviewees

complained that the evaluations were not done on a yearlybasis. In some cases, sworn personnel had not been evalu-ated in a few years. Sworn personnel also complained thatevaluators had never received training on how to evaluatestaff and that there were no set benchmarks or standardson which to base the evaluations. As a result, there waslittle consistency in how the performance of individualstaff members was evaluated. This was a concern to swornpersonnel especially in regards to the weight that perform-ance evaluations were given during the promotionsprocess. Many said they wanted improved evaluationsprocesses in their police service and wanted these evalua-tions to be taken into consideration when determiningpromotions.

The nature of policing work creates some challenges formanagement in effectively evaluating the individualperformance of staff. Because sworn personnel often workwith one co-worker or by themselves, police services needto find ways to evaluate and manage staff performance ina way that seems equitable and accurate to staff. Anotherchallenge for management is the change to communitypolicing. How do police services ensure that staff haveadopted community policing principles and how do theyevaluate their performance in regards to these principles.The solution found by one police service was to developperformance evaluation forms based on behaviour gridsand satisfaction indicators. These ensure a realistic assess-ment of officer performance can be done. Inspired byavailable literature and developed with the co-operation ofserving police officers and their supervisors, this programwas designed to encourage meetings between supervisorsand police officers, to support transfer or promotion deci-sions, and to recognize and value competence. An overallanalysis of the grades awarded for each component of theperformance appraisals can also be used to identifypersonnel training needs.

The Sûreté du Québec has developed an recognition andreward program as part of this performance evaluationprocess. The purpose of this program is to recognizeexceptional contributions made by employees in variousareas such as teamwork, community involvement, profes-sional commitment and quality of service.

The survey revealed that the performance of civiliansworking in police services is also evaluated, but not asfrequently as that of sworn personnel During the site visits,many civilians interviewed said that they were not alwaysevaluated properly by their supervisors. They explainedthat they were often supervised by sworn personnel who


FIGURE 19

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn

Services Officers

Source: PwC Survey

85%

15%

91%

9%

Q18: Formal Evaluations for Police Officers

No

Yes

frequently rotated in and out of their service. Civiliansoften felt that their supervisors did not know them wellenough in many instances to effectively and accuratelyevaluate their performance. This problem may be solvedby appointing a civilian team leader who would eitherevaluate or contribute to the evaluation of co-workers.

Policing and StressPolicing is generally known as a high-stress job, but themain sources of stress do not appear to be the inherentdanger of the job, as members of the public might assume.Rather, many sources of stress are theoretically within thecontrol of police organizations, and these sources of stresscan affect civilian members of the organization as much aspolice officers. Interviews conducted for this study corrob-orate the literature in suggesting the major causes of stressin police work places: short staffing, increased work load,longer shifts, and greater scrutiny by management, thepublic and the media.

As a veteran officer with a small, Atlantic service states:“Demands placed upon the police are high, scrutiny isincreased, and officers must make split second decisions.All of these factors add to the stress of policing.”

Shift schedules are some-times negotiated throughthe collective bargainingprocess, and the resultsappear to be working wellfor most officers. (In somecases, the shift schedule isdictated by management.)Despite long shifts ofbetween 10 to 12 hours,most police officers weresatisfied with the shifts andthe number of days offworking patterns allowed.A recent report out ofBritain, however, suggeststhat Canadian police serv-ices may face increasedproblems associated withshift work due to an ageingwork force and thetendency to hire olderrecruits. In Britain, “Manylarge metropolitan serviceshave a workforce largely in‘mid-service’ and usuallywith an average age ofbetween 35 to 42. In fiveyears time, bearing in mindthat there is considerable

evidence that the over fortiesdo not cope well with night time working, this may wellbe an area likely to cause considerable concern in thefuture.”66

An RCMP study of shift experiments in British Columbiadetachments looked at various shift lengths (9.25, 10 and12 hours) and “watch” lengths of 4 and 3 days for impacton job performance and stress levels, including familyconsiderations. “Results indicated that no one shift lengthor pattern excelled over another on the basis of the datacollected and each design had their relative strengths andweaknesses. It was concluded that no one particular shiftwas universally accepted by everyone and the success orfailure of a particular shift is based on complex and inter-related issues, which must be contemplated by manage-ment when implementing a shift schedule.”67


FIGURE 20

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Cilvilian

Services Employees

Source: PwC Survey

65%

35%97%3%

Q19: Formal Evaluations for Police Officers

No

Yes

Some old solutions aren’tan option anymore

A number of light-dutypositions used to be avail-able for the short termassignment of officerssuffering from the physicalor psychological impact ofworkplace stressors.However, the number ofthese positions hasdecreased making it moredifficult to provide short-term respite for officersunder stress, but toaccommodate the physicaleffects of ageing on aproportionately olderpolice workforce. Thepoor ergonomics of manypatrol cars has contributedto chronic back pain formany officers, light duty isone means of continuingto contribute as workinglong patrol shifts “becomeincreasingly difficult forpeople as they get older.”

Beyond the basic stress induced by shift work and workingnights, officers cite issues such as uninformed decision-making, short staffing, legislative changes, and problemsin the justice system as contributing to stress and lowmorale. Stemming from the issue of budget constraint,many officers noted insufficient resources as a problemwith respect to current working conditions. In the wordsof one veteran officer from the Western region: “With thelack of resources, police services are expecting officers todo more with less and not be compensated.”

Police officers working in Northern and remote areas ofCanada face special pressures with respect to workingconditions. Issues such as gaining acceptance within thecommunity, adequate backup and communicationsystems, the balance between work and private life are allespecially problematic for personnel stationed in the Northor in remote communities.

The situation for some officers in Northern communitieshas been improved in recent years, however, because ofimproved communications systems and the implementa-tion of community outreach programs. Nevertheless, theisolation of police officers and their families associatedwith serving in the North is a particularly difficult issuebecause of difficulties in recruiting from native communi-ties. A relatively new program in the Northwest Territoriespromises to both improve policing and reduce the stress ofpolice officers in the more isolated police detachments ofthe North.

What can be done?Significant amounts of stress can be seen to be stemmingfrom traditional, closed decision-making systems in manypolice services. More cooperative, joint decision-makingprocesses often lead to better decisions with fewer issues inthe implementation stage due to careful consultation andpre-planning. While the more traditional command-and-control forms of decision-making remain appropriate inemergency situations, most policy and procedure deci-sions can afford the luxury of greater care and consulta-tion, and greater sense of empowerment and control formost employees.

Employee Assistance ProgramsMost police services have implemented EmployeeAssistance Programs (EAP) to help employees deal withthe stress associated with working in a police service. Thisvoluntary and confidential service is offered to bothcivilian and sworn personnel. Its purpose is to helpprevent, identify and treat personal and professional prob-lems that employees are experiencing. Counselling isprovided in a variety of areas such as stress management,alcohol and substance abuse, marital and family problems,financial planning and depression.

Counselling is often provided by an external counsellingservice that is contracted and paid for by the police service.This firm is completely independent from the employerand can therefore provide employees with professionaland confidential service. Professionals are generally avail-


Alternative Practice: Community Constables Program in the Northwest Territories.One of the significant stresses of RCMP officers in the Territories is the sense of isolation associated with being an outsider in a small,and ethnically unfamiliar community. Related stress is due to general animosity and lack of cooperation that often makes it difficult toproperly do investigations.

Under a program jointly sponsored by the Solicitor General of Canada, the RCMP, the Government of the Northwest Territories, andcommunities in the NWT, the Community Constable Program (CCP) addresses the issues of policing in communities where it is difficultto reflect the ethnic makeup of the community because low educational attainment levels mean that few meet the conditions for accept-ance into the police service.

…Implemented in April 1997, the aim of the CCP is to provide enhanced training to By-Law Enforcement Officers enabling them tobetter meet the public safety needs of their communities. After completing a 4-week training course at the RCMP Academy they becomeCommunity Constables. Though a Community Constable remains an employee of the Hamlet or Municipality, he/she has additionaltraining to help the RCMP fulfil its “community policing” mandate. They assist the RCMP with duties outlined in a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU).

All partners in this program agree that the Community Constables are a valuable asset to the communities they serve, and have helpedbridge a vital communication link with the RCMP. With the ongoing support and training by the RCMP, the GNWT and communities, theCommunity Constables have gained the confidence and ability needed to serve as an important “policing” resource. The Program hasshown to be an efficient and effective way of sharing existing resources when delivering policing services to aboriginal communities inthe NWT. (Laube, 2000, page i).

able 24 hours a day to provide support to employees. Byhiring an external service, some police services believethey are able to offer counselling services in a wide rangeof areas at a much lower cost than if they had to offer theseservices internally.

Some police services, however, have preferred to create aninternal counselling service rather than hiring an externalservice. They have hired psychologists who provideprofessional and confidential counselling services to allstaff members who need assistance. Police services withinternal counselling services see two main advantages tothis option – it is more cost effective and it is easier to tailorcounselling services to the particular needs of personnelworking in police services. They believe that internalpsychologists are able to acquire a better understanding ofthe police culture and of the particular issues and chal-lenges that both police officers and civilians working inpolice services face on a daily basis.

Some police services however, also chose to develop aninternal peer counselling program where current or formeremployees are specially trained to provide counselling totheir colleagues or their families. These peer counsellorsare able to better understand the particular pressures andstresses of police work because they are themselves policeofficers. They can therefore lend support to swornpersonnel in dealing with incidents that happen in the lineof duty, such as personal attack. The Toronto Police Service

and the Halifax Regional Police Service have set up suchpeer counselling programs for their sworn personnel andtheir families. The Ontario Provincial Police has internalReferral Agents who are sworn or civilian personnel. Theirrole is to support the external counselling service throughlistening to colleagues and providing information aboutthe external service which is available to sworn andcivilian staff as well as to auxiliary volunteers. ReferralAgents do not themselves provide counselling.

Civilians want to be treated as part of the teamCivilians interviewed expressed

a general concern regardingthe attitudes of policetoward them. Many civil-ians found that the policeculture is not alwaysaccepting of their increasingrole in some functionalareas, a resistance that ismore acute among olderofficers. As police and civil-ians working togetherincrease, mutual resent-ments can develop. Manycivilians believe that theywork harder than theirpolice officer counterparts.


The Duty of Care and Health and Safety Issues in the UKA recently published journal article examines implications of the “Working Time Directive” of the European Council on “police opera-tions particularly in the area of human resource management and work scheduling…The Directive stipulates a maximum 48-hourworking week for all employees which includes overtime.” In the UK, the Police (Health and Safety) Act of 1997 “makes clear that, atleast so far as statutory health and safety law is concerned, the police will be treated no differently than other employers.”

“Shift workers, based upon over 20 years of medical research, are recognized as being particularly susceptible to longer term illnessesassociated with work patterns. An officer who can show that, although fit for duty, he or she is unable to work nights having sufferedill-health which is connected with night work, now has a legitimate claim for requesting a move from night duties.”

“The employer has in addition a duty to keep himself informed of any latest advances in technology and scientific findings concerningworkplace design and operational issues and to inform employees accordingly. Any new research on stress-related illnesses, for example,particularly those associated with night-time and shift working along with any emerging safety issues surrounding operational proce-dures such as the use of CS [pepper] sprays and general police equipment, would need to be shared with officers.”68

Finally, working night shifts, particularly the “Ottawa shift system” (seven nights on and then six days off) is seen as detrimental to overallhealth and well-being. The Merseyside (UK) police service has changed to the VSA’99 or the variable shift arrangement. This consists ofa five-week cycle where officers work four nights followed by three rest days. After four nights of work the body gets used to stayingawake all night and by the seventh day it is very difficult to adjust back to normal sleep patterns on the off days. Studies show that verypoor health habits and alcohol abuse are among the symptoms. Compliance with European work time regulations is also forcing changein work schedules.69

It’s us versus them

Although some civiliansbelieve that the dominantpolice culture is graduallybecoming more acceptingof civilians, most assert thatfurther improvements areneeded. One civilian froma Central, urban servicestated that sworn personneldo not respect civilians andthat “there is a culturalbarrier between officers andcivilians which negativelyimpacts both working andreporting relationships.”

In contrast, many police feel civilians are reducing theiropportunities for light duty roles.

Like sworn officers, civilian employees report low moraleand workplace stresses as problems. Inadequate remuner-ation, limited opportunities for promotion and poor deci-sion-making by management are some reasons cited.Civilian personnel share the burden of constrainedresources with sworn officers, and many civilians reportthat they are overworked. Like uniformed officers, civil-ians must deal with rising public expectations, and thelack of modern equipment and technology. According toone civilian interviewee, although much stress arises frompersonal conflicts, the lack of resources and heavy work-loads are also large factors.


While the labour-relations climate in most police serviceshas not changed very much in recent years, and in somecases the climate has improved markedly, the publicperception left by the media is that relations betweenlabour and management have become somewhat moreadversarial in Canadian police services in recent years,driven by contract disputes, externally imposed budgetrestraint, and disagreements over management appoint-ments and adequate staffing levels. Even for those policeservices which report co-operative and collaborativelabour relations, the potential for internal dissensionwithin a police organization is a concern for both manage-ment and rank-and-file officers, particularly because it canhave detrimental effect on public confidence in andsupport for the police services. Beneath the veneer ofmedia coverage, however, a number of police services areseeking out new methods of bargaining and joint-decisionmaking resulting in significant improvements in workingconditions and morale.

The current system of labour relations in policing has ledto some stability, (or rigidity depending on point of view)in wages and working conditions. For better or worse, thesystem makes changes in matters governed by the collec-tive agreement in response to changing conditions rela-tively difficult unless both parties see a clear advantage inchanging. The traditional nature of most collectivebargaining in police services, termed “adversarial” thoughnot necessarily hostile, typically consists of presentingpositions or demands which may be agreed to in return forconcessions in other areas. Recently, however, some serv-ices have experimented with a problem-solving approachto negotiations similar to that used to resolve problemsencountered in policing the community, and this appearsto expand the range of possible outcomes on which theparties can agree.

Labour Relations Environment in CanadaAs is the case with policing, labour relations in Canada aredivided into provincial and federal jurisdiction. TheParliament of Canada, the provincial legislatures and theterritorial councils of the Yukon, Northwest Territories andNunavut have authority to pass labour legislation. TheParliament of Canada’s jurisdiction over labour relations isrestricted to a few key sectors by the Constitution Act andits interpretations. The balance of labour relations aresubject to provincial jurisdiction under a series of labourrelations acts (most following a similar format to thefederal Act) administered by provincial relations boards inevery province except Quebec. In that province, labourrelations are administered by the Bureau du commissairegénéral du travail and the Tribunal du travail.

Labour relations in the policing sector are similar to thosein other sectors. The main difference being that mostbargaining units are statutorily designated, resulting inpolice employees representing police employees at thebargaining table. Only New Brunswick, Nova Scotia andPrince Edward Island allow representation by non-policebargaining agents. Although bargaining units in thesethree provinces are not restricted to public sector repre-sentation, the Canadian Union of Public Employees(CUPE) is the only outside agent representing police offi-cers. Several jurisdictions have separate statutes to addresspolice labour relations. Some provinces have includedlabour relations in their policing statute. Three or four findtheir bargaining authority in the provincial Code or Actthat governs all workers and employers.






Bargaining Arrangements in Public Policing As shown in the table below, police officers in most police organizations, have the right to bargain collectively through anAssociation, and five of ten provinces permit affiliation with other unions. The RCMP stands apart among public policeservices in Canada in that their members are excluded from collective bargaining rights, as recently reaffirmed in a rulingby the Supreme Court of Canada. Instead, labour relations in the RCMP are managed through a system of Staff RelationsRepresentatives, elected by members of the RCMP to convey concerns to management on working conditions andcompensation issues. Thus, though arrangements differ, formalized mechanisms are in place for most public police offi-cers to communicate with management on issues of concern.

Legislation Governing Police Labour Relations in Canada

Province/ Right to Bargain Mediation/ Right to Right to Binding Type ofLegislation Collectively Conciliation Affiliate Strike Arbitration Arbitration

British Columbia

Labour Relations Code Single or Police Act Yes Yes Yes Yes1 Optional Tripartite

Alberta

Police ActLabour Relations Code Yes Yes No No Yes Tripartite

Saskatchewan

Police Act Yes No Yes Yes Yes2 Tripartite

Manitoba

Police ActLabour Relations Act Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes3 Tripartite

Ontario

Police Services Act Yes Yes No No Yes Single or Tripartite

Québec

Labour ActPolice Act Yes Yes No No Yes Tripartite

New Brunswick

Industrial Relations Act Yes Yes Yes No Yes Single or Tripartite

Nova Scotia

Trade Union ActPolice Act Yes Yes Yes Yes4 No Not applicable

Prince Edward Island

Labour ActPolice Act Yes Yes Yes No Yes Tripartite

Newfoundland

Constabulary Act Yes No No No Yes Tripartite

1 Essential service designations.

2 If union constitution has no strike clause.

3 Binding arbitration in Winnipeg only. In rest of province, binding arbitration can be added to collective agreement by mutual agreement.

4 Thirty day ‘cooling off’ period.

Source: Jackson (1995), p.322

Autonomy is the norm in police bargaining units acrossCanada. British Columbia employs a coordinatedbargaining strategy among eleven of the twelve units.Saskatchewan is trying to implement a similar system. Todate, theirs is more properly described as patternbargaining. All but the larger bargaining units in Quebecrely on the provincial federation to handle bargaining andmost other police labour activity. The Police Association ofNova Scotia (PANS) represents all Nova Scotia bargainingunits except the Halifax Regional Police. Twelve of four-teen New Brunswick bargaining units are represented byCUPE. Prince Edward Island has two bargaining units, onerepresented by CUPE and the other by PANS. All otherbargaining units in the country are represented by theirlocal executives at the bargaining table and rely on theirprovincial association or federation to represent them infederal and provincial legislative matters. The provincesrely on the Canadian Police Association (CPA) Board toaddress national/federal issues and concerns, includingjustice reform.

Police associations operate in a very unique labour relationsenvironment and consider themselves fundamentallydifferent from most other unions. In reality, labour lawand trade union law makes no distinction and considers

them the same as any other bargaining agent in terms oflegal responsibility and in particular the duty of fairrepresentation.

Civilian employees in municipal and provincial policeservices, as well as public servants in the RCMP, typicallyhave fewer restrictions on labour rights than police offi-cers, though our survey suggests that civilians are lesslikely to exercise their bargaining rights than police offi-cers. As shown in Figure 21, only 13 per cent ofresponding police services, representing 31 per cent ofofficers in organizations that responded to the survey, didnot have collective bargaining in place for police officers.For civilians, on the other hand, 25 per cent of respondingservices representing 43 per cent of civilians in theresponding sample, did not have collective bargaining inplace. Civilians that do exercise collective bargaining rightsare more likely to be represented by a separate bargainingagent from that representing police officers.

As noted by Richard Jackson, a recognized authority inCanadian police labour relations, police labour relationsdiffers from most other sectors in two important respects.First, at least until recently, senior management – chiefsand deputy chiefs – almost invariably worked their way up


FIGURE 21

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn

Services Officers

Source: PwC Survey

13%

87%

31%

69%

Police Officer Bargaining

BargainCollectively

No CollectiveBargaining

FIGURE 22

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn

Services Officers

Source: PwC Survey

27%

87%

28%

29%

Civil Bargaining

Bargain:separate agent

Bargain: sameagent as officers

No UnionRepresentation

43%

25%

from the lowest police ranks, whereas in most othersectors, senior managers often join organizations in juniormanagement ranks. Second, collective bargaining in thepolice sector is typically conducted between the policeassociation and the municipality, police board, or commis-sion. While senior officers may provide advice to the“management” side in bargaining, they are not typicallyconsidered as part of the opposing side in contract negoti-ations. “This duality allows the chief and his [sic] top offi-cers to escape part of the normal adversarial role of topexecutives in that, at least for purposes of negotiations,they are perceived to be neutral on some matters and,indeed, pro-association on others.”70

There are some signs that departures from the traditionalroute to senior police management are generating strainsin police labour relations. In some cases, the selection of apolice chief has led to conflict if the successful candidate isnot perceived as a credible leader in the eyes of theAssociation membership. The view of one commandingofficer at a small, central police service was:

The municipality is responsible for filling the managementpositions within the police service. The chief and themembers believe that the municipality chooses people whothey feel will be sympathetic to their position for these jobs.The members believe the municipality sometimes makesinappropriate choices. This creates many labour relationsproblems within the police service. There is generally someanimosity between the association and the management ofthe police service.

How many police services are affected by this source ofanimosity between officers and management is not known,but there are fears that Canadian services will be increas-ingly affected by militant action on the part of associationsto force a disliked or disrespected chief from office.

The Arbitration SystemPolice labour relations differ significantly from most otherunionized situations due to the fact that most contractdisputes are settled in arbitration, typically binding, withstrikes either forbidden or extremely rare. Binding arbitra-tion to resolve impasses has been implemented in recogni-tion of the fact that policing is an essential service and theuse of strike or lockout would be very disruptive to thecommunities they serve. If bargaining between the twoparties does not resolve to an agreement, presentations aremade on the issues before a single or three-person arbitra-tion panel that then impose a decision based on the factspresented, external precedents, and some consideration ofwhat resolution is practical in the context.


FIGURE 24

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Civilian

Services Employees

Note: Percentages may add up to more than 100% as multiple responses were possible.Source: PwC Survey

Dispute Resolution in Civilian Bargaining

Rightto Strike

BindingArbitration

Non-BindingArbitration

Perc

ent o

f Ser

vice

s or

Civ

ilian

s w

ith B

arga

inin

g Ri

ghts

45%44%44%

15%

38%

5%

FIGURE 23

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Civilian

Services Employees

Source: PwC Survey; based on valid responses from 113 police services, representing32,469 Sworn Officers.

Dispute Resolution in Officer Bargaining

Rightto Strike

BindingArbitration

Non-BindingArbitration

Perc

ent o

f Ser

vice

s or

Offi

cers

with

Bar

gain

ing

Righ

ts

6% 2%

60%

19%

61%

16%

This system of interest dispute resolution has led to a fairdegree of stability, (if not rigidity) since in wage determi-nation as well as other matters, one of the key considera-tions for an arbitrator is what other comparable servicesinclude in their agreements. For wage settlements, arbitra-tors typically refer to wages in similarly sized police serv-ices and impose settlements, with minor adjustments toreflect circumstances such as variations in the cost ofliving, and perhaps the financial circumstances of policingauthority.

The Scope of Issues in Labour RelationsGenerally, the issues that arise in labour-managementnegotiations or discussions in police organizations arefairly typical of those that arise in most other unionmanagement relationships. As such, there are manyreasons for labour-management relationships to becomestrained, and the specific reasons vary from organization toorganization. Contributing factors can be divided betweeninfluences external to the organization, and the adoptionof policies and practices which may run counter to thepreferences of police officers. Many of the external factorssuch as budget restraint, regionalization, or changes in thelegal system have been discussed in earlier sections of thereport, but they are important in this context because theyhave the potential to drive conflict between labour andmanagement. While police associations will pursuediffering approaches to resolving these issues, rangingfrom cooperative joint problem-solving to work-to-ruleand other forms of militant action, there is little doubt thatpolice associations will continue to actively voice theirconcerns on issues that have a fundamental impact on thepolicing environment and working conditions. Thisactivism may be attributed, in part, to the fact that policeofficers have limitations on their ability to refuse unsafework, relative to employees in most other occupationsunder current worker health and safety legislation. Giventhat officers cannot and would not refuse their duty toprotect the public from harm, officers and their associa-tions can be expected to actively anticipate and mitigatejob risks. Further, police associations will work to elimi-nate or reduce such risks by insisting on adequate equip-ment and staffing levels, and working conditions thatensure that officers are vigilant and able to respond todangers.

While the system of arbitration maintains a fairly narrowrange of outcomes on any one issue due to a reliance onprecedents in comparable services, the range of issues thatmight be brought to arbitration is quite broad. In general,

all matters related to wages and working conditions maybe considered in arbitration, including matters related tothe organization of work, staffing levels and configura-tions, and health and safety concerns.

Looming IssuesWage settlements are the most obvious element of contractnegotiations, but compensation is clearly not the onlyissue on which the parties may disagree. Pension eligibility,parental and family-related leave, the duty to accommo-date and other matters relating to the safety of police offi-cers are likely to continue to either be dealt with directlyor indirectly in collective bargaining in the coming decade.

• Conditions for eligibility for an unreduced pension is aconcern for a number of associations, particularlythose where the age of 60 or more is a requirement.Most of the larger services now have the option ofretiring after 25 years of service, so this issue isexpressed as a concern more often in small or medium-sized services. In view of current trends toward hiringolder recruits, an adequate pension at a reasonable agefor retirement promises to remain high on thebargaining agenda.

• Reduced opportunities for promotion and increasededucational attainment have led to a demand forincreased transparency in the promotions process,including the right to appeal decisions, access toopportunities, and fairness in testing and methods ofevaluation.

• Parental leave provisions are likely to be on the table inresponse to the recent increases to up to 50 weeks thatnew parents can receive employment insurance bene-fits. Many larger police services have provisions that topup maternity or parental leave to 93 per cent of regularsalary, but most of these are geared to the previousEmployment Insurance entitlements of 17 to 25 weeksof benefits. This issue may prove difficult for associa-tions to manage since these benefits are likely to accrueto only a minority of officers.

• The duty to accommodate officers injured in mind orbody, as well as pregnant officers extends to all reason-able alternative duties to the point of undue hardship.In some cases, this duty to accommodate may requireexceptions to established shift schedules and seniorityentitlements.

• The duty of care that requires all employers to providea safe working environment applies equally to policeservices, though all would recognize that the police


work entails an increased degree of employee risk.Nevertheless, the law requires that police services takeall reasonable measures to ensure that officers areprotected from predictable risks. Reasonable measurescould be argued to include purchase of safety equipmentsuch as protective vests, communications equipmentthat eliminates blacks spots where no radio communi-cation is available, officer deployment to ensure thatadequate backup is always available, or double-staffingpatrol cars with potentially hazardous assignmentssuch as night duty or high-crime area patrols.

Each of these non-wage issues may prove to introducesignificant frictions within police services in the comingdecade, causing divisions either between labour andmanagement, or within the association. These are complexissues in which traditional positional bargaining may notresult in the most satisfying outcomes. Instead, somepolice services have been using approaches to these issuesthat emphasize joint problem-solving, recognizing that on-going relationships are often severely impaired inconfrontational bargaining.

Improving Labour-Management RelationsIn a period of significant change, conflicts are more likelyto arise when there is relatively little communication orconsultation on the most appropriate measures an orga-nization might adopt to cope with or take advantage ofopportunities arising from new technologies, new findingson the impact of various shift configurations, or organiza-tional innovation more generally. While high levels ofcommunication are necessary, effective processes alsorequire proven approaches, such as interest-basedbargaining and similar techniques, to seek out and selectappropriate solutions.

Labour relations success includeseffective communicationsWhile the specific issues of concern to labour have variedover time, the quality of labour management relationsdepends heavily of their ability to resolve whatever issuesarise to the mutual satisfaction of both parties. Many inter-viewees cited poor communication as the biggest contrib-utor to adversarial labour relations. Some police serviceshave implemented specific measures designed to improve


FIGURE 25

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn All

Services Officers Employees

Source: PwC Survey; based on valid responses from135 police services.

61%

39%

83%

17%

82%

18%

Labour-Management Committee or Equivalent

No

Yes

Negotiators engaged in police sector bargaining in New Brunswick have begun to use Interest-based negotiation (IBN) based on theproblem-solving concepts and methods of the Harvard Negotiation Project. By the mid 1990s the animosity and cost of traditionalconflict bargaining had the negotiating parties searching for better ways of coming to terms, and in 1996 the method was used in nego-tiating a new collective agreement in Saint John, where there had been a long history of acrimonious bargaining, and binding arbitra-tion had been used to settle all contracts in the previous 15 years. IBN led to a negotiated settlement without resorting to arbitration,and both parties agree that the process enhanced, rather than damaged, their ability to resolve other labour management issues as theyemerged.

“Interest Based Negotiation strives to decide issues on their merits rather than through a process of debate focused on what each sidesays it wants. Where interests conflict, the process looks to fair of objective standards against which to formulate solutions, independentof the will of either side…. With the IBN training, proper attitude change and real commitment to do business in a different way, trainedmediators/facilitators can be developed in house. As the program develops, the negotiating skills of all those trained in the IBN processare honed and the culture changes. Conflicts are resolved in a more professional and humane manner – life becomes a little easier forall of us.”

Davidson, 1999, p 2, 8.

communications betweenlabour and management.The most notable exampleis the establishment of aforum for communicationsin which the parties candiscuss and potentiallyresolve issues of mutualconcern outside of theformal collective bargainingprocess.

As shown in Figure 25,61 per cent of respondingpolice services indicatedthat they had some forumfor labour-management com-munication outside of collec-tive bargaining. Among thoseorganizations that had com-mittees, two-thirds includedrepresentation for civilians.Only 10 per cent of civilianpersonnel in organizationswith labour-managementcommittees were not repre-sented. The mere existenceof a committee does not,however, guarantee positivelabour relations results. Ifthe committee is seen as

another battleground tostage a power struggle between

labour and management, the group is unlikely to resolveissues to mutual satisfaction. If, on the other hand, thecommittee is used as a constructive problem-solvingforum, using the same techniques as many services prac-tice in community policing, at least some contentiousissues are more likely to be resolved.

As police organizations continue to implement communitypolicing principles featuring increased reliance on thediscretion and judgment of individual employees and lesssupervision, the morale of the workforce becomes an evenmore important factor in overall service performance.Mechanisms to resolve major issues that affect moralemust work well, and an effective labour-managementcommittee or similar forum can be a vital communicationslink improving working conditions, morale, and ulti-mately, service effectiveness.

Merely establishing a communications link or forum is notenough, however, when the nature of the communicationis not likely to result in a solution that resolves the issuesto the satisfaction of both parties. With its para-militaryheritage and the battlefield expectation of unquestionedobeying of orders often extending to even less dangerouscircumstances, police services have been relatively slow tomove to more joint and consultative methods of decisionmaking. Concerns over “who is running this policeservice” betray something of an antiquated view thatlabour relations is a power struggle in which one or theother side is the dominant maker of decisions.

Fortunately there are many examples of police servicesmaking decisions on important issues in a collaborativeand consultative manner. Health and safety committeesmandate an equal sharing of responsibility between labourand management and can often serve as a model for deci-sion-making in other areas. Many police services establishjoint committees and extensive trials in the selection ofcommunications equipment or mobile computers, recog-nizing that those who must work with decisions have animportant stake in the decisions. In general, police servicesare becoming more open to alternate dispute resolutionmechanisms in an effort to avoid power struggles anddecide issues on the merits of alternative solutions.


Good communicationsis not about havingthe right equipment,it’s about havingan open attitude

Police organizations canspend a lot of money oncommunications equip-ment and yet spend littletime communicating onissues of mutual concern.For example, one unionrepresentative noted that“HR issues at the fieldlevel are common becausesenior officers andmanagers do not neces-sarily communicate withthe troops regarding HRissues.” Another unionrepresentative observed,“The association used tomeet with senior manage-ment every few monthsto share ideas andconcerns and to keep thelines of communicationsopen. These meetingsdo not seem to be asfrequent lately.”

FIGURE 26

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn

Services Officers

Source: PwC Survey

65%

35%

93%

7%

Civilians on Labour-Management Committees

No

Yes


Policing is a people business. The credibility and effective-ness of policing are highly dependent on well-trained andexperienced police personnel. Timely, relevant and effec-tive training is recognized as a fundamental mechanismthat prepares those involved in policing to deal with theoperational challenges of the modern world. In addition,and just as importantly, an investment in training enablespolice services to accelerate the personal development ofstaff and thereby improve those qualities, skills and abilitiesthat form the foundation upon which success in policingdepends. Canadian police services are highly regarded,both by the public in Canada and by their peers interna-tionally, but they can only retain that position of respect ifthe quality of their personnel continues to justify it.

This chapter provides an overview of learning and devel-opment strategies pursued within the Canadian publicpolice sector. The chapter begins with a description of thelearning paths of sworn personnel and civilians andincludes an outline of the role that legislation, funding andsuppliers play within the police learning and developmentsystem. A discussion of the implications of these trainingstructures is included at the end of the chapter.

AN INVESTMENT IN TRAINING ENABLES POLICESERVICES TO ACCELERATE THE PERSONALDEVELOPMENT OF STAFF AND THEREBY

IMPROVE THOSE QUALITIES, SKILLS AND ABILITIESTHAT FORM THE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH

SUCCESS IN POLICING DEPENDS.

Learning Paths in the Public Police Sector

Within the public police sector, there are three systemswhich address learning issues: education, training anddevelopment (including experience). Although each of

these systems has learning as its goal – each has a differentrole and emphasis at various times throughout the typicalcareer path of police personnel.

The Learning Path of Sworn PersonnelThe learning path illustrated in Figure 27, depicts thetypes of learning that sworn police personnel experiencethroughout their careers. It also depicts the continuum oflearning initiatives that sworn personnel must pursue inorder to ensure that they maintain optimum performanceon the job.

b Sworn Personnel EducationThe formal education system in Canada is typicallycomprised of schools, colleges and universities. In thepolicing context, formal education often takes place priorto the start of a policing career or as a continuous learningopportunity for sworn personnel (Figure 27).

Traditionally, many applicants have pursued post-secondary programs and courses from Colleges andUniversities in such areas as law and security, criminologyand psychology. However, there is a noticeable trendtowards candidates who already possess post-secondarydiplomas and degrees in disciplines such as business,computers and science when they apply to become policeofficers. This reflects the changing and diverse skills andabilities required of the police role over the course of acareer. Sworn personnel looking for specific continuouslearning opportunities outside of the public policinglearning system are increasingly turning to the formaleducation sector to provide them access to such programareas as business and management, which are seen toenhance a police career.

Learning and Development in the Public Policing Sector

LEARNING SYSTEM DEFINITION

Education Education emphasizes a rigorous but broad and open-minded approach to subject matter. It encourages an active andquestioning role for the learner, the exercise of individual judgement and the development of broadly applicable skills.

Training Training is conducted to teach employees to do specific, definable tasks. Training requires that a specific thing is learnedand that employees understand the directions to carry it out precisely.

Development Development is a series of opportunities for an employee to learn new skills and knowledge in preparation for individualcareer goals and/or organizational objectives

Legislation and Mandatory Requirements:Within Canada, many jurisdictions do not require appli-cants to possess a post-secondary diploma or degree as amandatory qualification for hiring. However, Québecrequires that applicants have a college diploma in PoliceTechnology as a prerequisite for acceptance to the basictraining program at the École nationale de police duQuébec. Police services in the Atlantic region also requirethat candidates possess a diploma in Police Science fromthe Atlantic Police Academy (or a recognized equivalent)before they can be hired. It is important to note thatthroughout the course of this study, Human Resourcedirectors from public police services reported that anincreasing portion of applicants and new recruits alreadypossess some post-secondary education and that eventhough it is not a mandatory requirement for being hired,it is often treated as a minimum screening requirement forpolice services applicants (refer to the Human ResourcePractices chapter for further discussion).

Suppliers:Historically, the content and delivery of educationalprograms has been the sole responsibility of the formaleducation system in Canada: schools, colleges and univer-sities. The policing community tended to focus on thedevelopment of professional training systems and wascontent to allow the educational system to develop relatedprograms and courses with little content input fromexperts within the policing profession.

However, as the role of formal educational institutes,particularly at the post-secondary level, has been recog-nized as making a significant contribution to the knowl-edge foundations of potential police employees, a greaterinteraction between the public police sector and theeducation system in Canada has developed. This interac-tion is primarily voluntary and often involves the creationof advisory committees to recommend police learningneeds for specific programs, such as the PoliceFoundations program at community colleges located inOntario.


FIGURE 27

Learning Path: Sworn Personnel

EDUCATION

Approximated Career Timeline (not to scale)

TRAINING DEVELOPMENT

Basic /RecruitTraining

Retirement or Career ChangeHired Hired 1 Year

Post-SecondaryEducation

LocalOrientationand FieldTraining

In-ServicePolice

Training Development /Continuous

Learning

Advanced PoliceTraining

Interaction may also involve the development of specificcourses to be delivered by a university or communitycollege for employees of the public police sector. A listingof initiatives between the Justice Institute of BritishColumbia and universities and institutes in the province aswell as initiatives between the École nationale de police duQuébec and the colleges and universities in that provinceare included (following) as examples of how this trend is

progressing within the public policing sector in Canada. Abrief description of the University of Regina andSaskatchewan Police College Police Studies program arealso provided as examples. Internationally, public policeservices have been actively developing relationships withthe public education sector to leverage the expertise andfacilities available at these institutions. Examples of theserelationships and programs also follow.


Learning Initiatives between the Public Policing and Education Sectors: An Ontario Example

The Colleges consulted with the Ontario Police College in order to ascertain the knowledge requirements which the foundations programought to cover.

As of September 1998, most Ontario community colleges and a number of private career colleges are offering the Police Foundationsprogram of study. The program includes study in criminology and law, political science and public administration, ethics, community andsocial services, racial and ethnic diversity, communication and interpersonal skills, and community policing.

Learning Initiatives between the Public Policing and Education Sectors: A Saskatchewan ExampleWithin Saskatchewan, the University of Regina Faculty of Arts and the Saskatchewan Police College have developed a four-year,120 credit hour degree program leading to a Bachelor of Arts in Police Studies.

Bachelor of Arts in Police StudiesThe Saskatchewan Police College, in partnership with the University of Regina’s Faculty of Arts, has developed a four year, 120 credithour degree program that leads to a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Police Studies and employment with a Saskatchewan police agency. Thisdegree model offers students an opportunity to acquire 90 credit hours of both liberal arts and police-specific education as a prerequi-site to formal recruit training at the Saskatchewan Police College (15 credit hours) and subsequent field work or practicum at a policeagency (15 credit hours). This new approach will use an innovative 3-1 approach: three years of academic study, followed by onesemester at the Police College, and one semester of subsequent field work (practicum) experience at the hiring police agency. In the 3-1model, toward the end of the third year of academic study, a student can apply for employment with a police agency withinSaskatchewan. By the time the student has successfully completed the pre-employment requirements of the police agency, the third yearof study is near completion. If a student is successful in the pursuit of employment with a Saskatchewan policy agency, the fourth yearof the program will be spent as a police recruit at the Saskatchewan Police College (one semester) and as a police officer doing fieldwork (one semester practicum) with the police agency that hired him/her. The 3-1 model for the Bachelor of Arts in Police Studies willbetter serve the future interests of police officers and the changing needs of police agencies within Saskatchewan.


Learning Initiatives between the Public Policing and Education Sectors: A British Columbia ExampleWithin British Columbia, the Justice Institute has been involved in developing programs for the public policing sector with the publiceducation system. Examples of these programs follow:

Canadian Centre for Information Technology SecurityThe Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) and the University of British Columbia (UBC) have created the Canadian Centre forInformation Technology Security (CCITS), a joint initiative to provide education and research about computer and Internet security andhigh technology crime and investigations.

The JIBC and UBC have combined their expertise to offer a range of educational programs related to Internet security and criminal inves-tigations. The programs are targeted to those who deal with computer and security issues, such as industry experts and public lawenforcement agencies, including police departments and provincial and federal agencies. Courses and workshops will cover technicaltraining to secure computer networks and will teach methods for crime prevention, criminal investigation, and computer forensics.

Forensic Science Technology ProgramThe Justice Institute, in partnership with the British Columbia Institute of Technology, offers a part-time studies Forensic ScienceTechnology program. The overall aim of this program is to provide structured, applied technological training in forensic science and crim-inal investigation in British Columbia. The Forensic Science Technology Program strengthens professional competence and enhancesemployment opportunities relating to criminal investigation in both the private and public sectors.

Justice and Public Safety Leadership Degree ProgramThe Justice Institute, in partnership with Simon Fraser University is offering a unique leadership development program that involves part-time study over a three-year period.After completing this program, participants earn a Bachelor of General Studies degree from SFU witha focus on Justice and Public Safety Leadership

Master of Arts, Leadership and TrainingThe Justice Institute, in partnership with Royal Roads University will begin offering the MA in Leadership and Training in August 2001.The program consists of two years of interdisciplinary study. In each year, students will focus on “real world” problem solving projectsgrounded in a rigorous theoretical understanding of the nature of the modern learning organization and the changing role of leadershipwithin them. As a program designed to attract mid-career professionals the MA in Leadership and Training is innovative in two signifi-cant ways. First the program is structured on the basis of two intensive residency periods followed by distance learning. Second the MAin Leadership and Training is further distinguished by balancing professional university and interdisciplinary study.


Learning Initiatives between the Public Policing and Education Sectors: A Quebec ExampleUnder the Police Act (2000, chapter 12), the École nationale de police du Québec:

• has exclusive responsibility to provide the basic training that gives access to police patrolling, police investigation and policemanagement functions (section 10);

• offers advanced training activities and in-service training activities designed to meet the needs of the various police forces (section 10);

• may give a mandate to a college-level or university-level educational institution, or to a police force, to develop or teach trainingcourses (section 11);

• may approve professional training activities that have been developed outside the school (section 11);

• may enter into any agreement it considers relevant to the pursuit of its mission with researchers, experts or educational or researchinstitutions (section 11);

• advises police forces and associations representing their members concerning professional training matters (section 12);

• encourages cooperation and collaboration among the various institutions offering police training (section 12);

• may, with the joint authorization of the Minister of Education and the Minister of Public Security, develop and offer college-levelprofessional training programs and university-level programs (section 15).

In cooperation with the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, a certificate in police management has been offered since 1978, and theDiploma of Collegial Studies in Police Technology for more than 30 years.

Two university credit programs – an abbreviated program in investigations bureau management and a certificate program in investiga-tions bureau management – are offered through a partnership arrangement by the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières and theUniversity of Sherbrooke, where the courses are offered in French and English. These programs are offered in the Montreal and QuebecCity regions as well as at the school.

These courses are in addition to the 85 advanced training courses offered by the school.

In partnership with all the French-language universities in Quebec, a Bachelor’s degree in Public Security will be offered in the very near future.

International Practices in Education:

Bachelor of Arts in Justice Administration, Griffith University, AustraliaThe Bachelor of Arts in Justice Administration degree at Griffith University has students who have tentatively been selected for entry tothe Australian Federal Police service, but there is no formal agreement to employ. The Bachelor of Arts in Justice degree offered at GriffithUniversity is intended to provide prospective police recruits with a broad introduction to the Australian Criminal Justice System, in addi-tion to a concentration in police studies. The aim is for students to develop a greater understanding of the society in which they work.First year courses take the form of a foundation programme for all students who undertake four specific components as opposed tooptions and electives. In the second and third years, students undertake more specialized studies. Police professional and operationalskills come, in the case of the Australian Federal Police service, from a yet to be devised in-service training component to be undertakenpost induction.

New South Wales Police Academy and Charles Sturt and Newcastle Universities, AustraliaSuccessful student/recruits at the New South Wales Police Academy can obtain one year of credit from Charles Sturt University andNewcastle University in either a social sciences based programme or a justice related programme.

Charles Sturt University and the Australian Institute of Police ManagementCharles Sturt University is home of the Australian Institute of Police Management who offer a Graduate Certificate in AppliedManagement through the Police Management Development program and a Graduate Diploma in Executive Leadership through thePolice Executive Leadership program.

Funding:Students enrolled in post-secondary education programsand courses in Canada are responsible for paying tuitionfees. Thus, applicants who decide to pursue a post-secondary education, or those who are required under themandatory requirements of certain jurisdictions to obtainpost-secondary courses, must pay for these fees on theirown as an investment towards a career in policing. Thistrend does not take into consideration the fact that policespecific training has limited use outside the sector. Swornpersonnel who enroll in post-secondary educationprograms and courses for continuous learning and devel-opment purposes may have their tuition fees paid for bytheir police service. Many police services across Canadaare willing to pay or partially pay for post-secondarycourses that are applicable to sworn personnel jobs andcareer paths.

b Sworn Personnel TrainingThis section covers training in the public police sector forsworn personnel. It begins with a description of the typesof training that sworn personnel are expected to completeover the course of their careers and looks at the role thatlegislation, funding and training suppliers play within thepublic policing sector. Tables illustrating the different typesof training provided by the police academies and an

analysis of the current curriculum and how it is meeting thechanges of the sector are also included within this section.

Training is schooling which takes place inside the publicpolice sector. Thus, many jurisdictions within Canada hirepersonnel (called recruits) prior to enrolling them inpolice-specific training programs. In Quebec, Nova Scotia,Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and sometimes NewBrunswick, new personnel are hired only after completionof recruit/basic training (in Quebec, this pre-hiringtraining is offered at the École nationale de police duQuébec, for the rest it is provided through the AtlanticPolice Academy). Generally, training is conducted to teachrecruits, (potential recruits in the case of Quebec and theAtlantic Provinces) and sworn personnel how to do specifictasks with the goal of superior performance on the job.

As depicted in the sworn personnel learning path, theCanadian public police sector has made an enormousinvestment in the provision and maintenance of trainingprograms and services – they are the premier providers ofpolice training.

The policing sector outside of Canada is moving towardsseveral other models of training delivery – including part-nering with the educational sector to provide recruits withpolice preparation that combines the university and policeacademy models.


International Practices in Recruit Training:

Queensland Police Services, AustraliaAll recruits to the 6000 member Queensland Police Services undergo a 16 week semester at one of two university providers beforeattending the Queensland Police Academy for a second semester which is 23 weeks in duration. The lengthier second semester accom-modates the police professional skills/competencies component. Successful completion of the first semester courses at the university levelis a pre-requisite for continuation in the second semester at the police academy. Successful completion of both semesters qualifies thestudent for a university award of an Advanced Certificate in Policing. This award creates eligibility to claim up to one year of credit inappropriate undergraduate degree programmes.

Michigan Law Enforcement Officer Training Commission, United States of AmericaIn Michigan, the Michigan Law Enforcement Officer Training Commission has approved a number of college and university programsthrough which candidates for employment with police services may complete a portion of the basic training requirements.

California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, United States of AmericaIn California, 36 colleges or universities are authorized by the State Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) todeliver, for credit, parts of the police learning system.

Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, United States of AmericaThe Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education requires that recruits have completed a minimum of 400hours of college or university studies prior to admission to recruit training.

Police-specific training accounts for a significant compo-nent of the sworn personnel learning path. Throughouttheir careers, sworn personnel will complete basic/recruittraining, orientation/field training and regular in-serviceand advanced police training sessions. General descrip-tions of these training types follow:

• Recruit/Basic Training: Recruit/basic training is trainingthat provides recruits with the skills, knowledge, andprocedures required to perform as an effective policeofficer within a community policing environment. Itoften establishes the basis for developing self-disci-pline, coordination of mind and body, enhancinghuman relations and the academic backgroundrequired to carry out law enforcement duties at theoperational level.

• Orientation/Field Training: Across Canada, some form ofsupervised field or practical recruit training occurswithin police services either after recruit/basic traininghas been completed, or interspersed with recruit/basictraining. The intent of this training is to allow recruitsto take what they have learned in basic/recruit trainingand apply it to the job under supervised conditions.

• In-Service Training: In-Service training is training thatoccurs throughout the lifetime of a police officer. Thistraining covers all activities designed to facilitate theintegration of a police officer into the police services. Itis designed to allow the officer to perform police workwithin the service in as harmonious and functional amanner as possible. The most widespread and tradi-tional forms of in-service training are roll call or shiftrotation briefings. Often this form of training is meantto keep officers abreast of changes in the law and

changes in organizational policy and procedures.Other forms of in-service training include e-learningand on-the-job assignments. Police Services are nowlooking at in-service training for career changes insteadof just addressing new laws or skills. Routine trainingsuch as use of force, refresher, alcohol breath testing,radar, harassment etc. are also all quite common in-service training areas.

It is important to note that the owed hours producedby the use of ten-11 hour shifts for example, are some-times used for in-service training within police servicesand that some jurisdictions require officers to takeperiodic refresher training after a number of years ofservice.

• Advanced Training: Advanced training is training gener-ally designed to assist police personnel in developing aspecialized skill in a given area of police work.

Legislation and Mandatory Requirements:Police training in Canada is regulated by a combination offederal and provincial police acts and regulations as well asmunicipal by-laws. These pieces of legislation oftenprovide for:

• the formation of police training facilities or indicationof preferred police training supplier;

• the provision of funding;

• the indication of basic training requirements; and

• the empowerment of police training facilities andsuppliers to design, develop and deliver the variouspolice training programs, including: basic/recruit,field/orientation, in-service and advanced.


International Practices in In-Service and Advanced Training:

Michigan, California and Texas, United States of AmericaA number of police agencies have integrated in-service training with the post-secondary education system so that officers may obtainwidely recognized qualifications. This is the case in Michigan, California and Texas, where statewide police officer standards and trainingcommissions have negotiated agreements with colleges and universities and have approved courses and curricula at these institutionsfor this purpose.

Texas, United States of AmericaPolice organizations in Texas have formalized the integration of management level in-service training and the university system throughthe creation of the Graduate Law Enforcement Management Institute. The Institute is the product of a contractual agreement betweenthe Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, Texas A&M University, Texas Women’s University and SamHouston State University. Senior officers are admitted as members of the Institute so that they may participate in regular graduatecourses, specialized seminars and other activities. Each member undertakes an individual learning contract with the Institute whichdefines the requirements they are to fulfil through the activities of the Institute to maintain their membership.

In addition to determining how and where the training is provided, legislation also has a role in shapingthe existing infrastructure of training within the public policing sector. The table below outlines byjurisdiction the various pieces of legislation that impact the police training system.


LEGISLATION IMPACTING POLICE TRAINING IN CANADAJURISDICTION LEGISLATION IMPACT ON TRAINING IN THE PUBLIC POLICE SECTOR

Federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act R.S.C. 1985, c. R-10 •

Commissioner’s Standing Orders •

1973 Treasury Board Minute • •

Alberta Police Act R.S.A., CHAPTER P-12.01 (December 1998) •

Alberta Regulation 356/90 Police Act Police Service Regulation • •

British Columbia Police Act R.S.B.C. 1996, c.367, as am. •

Police Act: Rules regarding Training, Certification and Registration of Municipal Constables appointed under Section 26 of the Police Act B.C. Reg. 109/81 • • • • •

Manitoba City of Winnipeg and City of Brandon Bylaws

New Brunswick Police Act S.N.B. 1973, c. P-9.2 • •

New Brunswick Regulation 91-119 •

Newfoundland Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act S.N. 1992, c. R-17 • • •

Nova Scotia Police Act R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 348 • • • •

Police Services Act Chapter 349 of the Revised Statutes, 1989 • • •

Ontario Police Services Act R.S.O. 1990, c. P.15, as am. • • • •

Adequacy and Effectiveness of Police Services O.Reg. 3/99 • •

Prince Edward Island Police Act R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. P-11 •

Quebec Bill 86 Police Act • • • • •

Saskatchewan Police Act S.S. 1990-91, c. P-15.01 • • • •

Providesfor theestablishmentof a policeacademy orschool

Indicatespreferredpolice trainingfacilities

Providesfor funding topolice trainingschools

Sets minimumpolice trainingrequirements

Prescribespolice trainingprograms

Suppliers:Traditionally, the training function within the public policesector has been the responsibility of dedicated national,provincial and regional police training facilities andtraining sections or units within individual police services.

National, Provincial and Regional Police TrainingFacilities: Figure 28 illustrates the location of national,provincial and regional police training facilities acrossCanada. The provinces of Alberta and Manitoba do nothave provincial public police training facilities. Rather,police training is the responsibility of the various policeservices operating within these jurisdictions. Additional

information on training offered by police services isdiscussed in an upcoming section of this chapter.

Across Canada, seven police schools and academies offer avariety of different training types – including basic/recruit,in-service and advanced – under a number of variousfunding regimes. The tables that follow highlight thetraining services that these seven training facilities provideto the Canadian public police sector and provide anoverview of the types of training offered, the characteristicsof these training programs, the capacity of these facilitiesand the cost of training.


FIGURE 28

National, Regional and Provincial Public Police Training Facilities

LEGEND

N – National Training FacilityR – Regional Training FacilityP – Provincial Training FacilityRCMP – RCMP Training Academy

P

P

P

P

RCMP

BC Police Academy, a division ofthe Justice Instituteof British Columbia

RCMP TrainingAcademy

SaskachewanPolice College

Canadian Police College

Atlantic PoliceAcademyOntario

Police College

École nationalede police du

Québec

NR


CANADIAN POLICE COLLEGEThe Canadian Police College is the national police training facility. Located in Ottawa, the CPC is a federally funded institution under the administration ofthe Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The CPC provides experienced police personnel at the federal, provincial, regional and municipal levels with special-ized training in organization, administration, personnel management, and specialized investigative techniques. Many of these programs are delivered inboth of Canada’s official languages. It is also the location of Canada’s largest collection of police-related reference and knowledge materials. In additionto courses, the college provides workshops and symposiums and offers a continuing education program to police personnel.

Objective: It is the mission of the Canadian Police College “to be the leader in the professional development of the Canadian police community byestablishing and advancing, in partnership with our clients, national standards of excellence in police education and information services”.

Type Characteristics Capacity Cost and Funding Mechanisms

Advanced The CPC teaches courses to policepersonnel ranging from computer crimeand drugs to executive training.

While most of these courses are taught atthe Ottawa campus, the CPC also offerssome courses via distance education andwill also deliver some courses off-siteunder a cost sharing agreement.

The CPC teaches approximately 2500students annually at its facilities inOttawa. In addition, it will reachapproximately 200 additional students atcourses given off site and 200 otherstudents via distance delivery courses.

Since January 1994, the Canadian PoliceCollege operates under partial cost recoveryin response to cost recovery guidelinespublished in the 1992 Federal Budget.According to the CPC, most of the money torun the CPC comes from the federal govern-ment via the RCMP budget. The secondmost important source of money is the costrecovery fees charged to police services fortraining. Police services pay a fee to coverthe cost of participants training and accom-modation at the CPC. The third source offunding for the CPC comes from costrecovery fees charged to police services andgovernment departments for use of the CPCfacilities. In addition, the CPC receives in-kind support from the police community inthe form of free police instructors.

During the 2000 training year, CPC partici-pants enrolled in courses paid fees rangingfrom $50.00 for such distance learningcourses as Criminal Intelligence Analysis to$2,750.00 for a Polygraph Examiners’course. This does not include the cost oflodging at the CPC.


RCMP TRAINING ACADEMYThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police Training Academy located in Regina, Saskatchewan is the location of all basic recruit training for RCMP cadets. TheRCMP Training Academy also includes a Centralized Training Facility that provides specialized training, dog handler and dog training facilities and is hometo the Canadian Law Enforcement Training Centre where the RCMP provides training to all federal departments and agencies that have a criminalenforcement mandate.

Objective: To provide cadets with a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in Canadian society, and to enable cadets to realize and further the objectives of Community Policing.


Basic/Recruit This 22 week program is offered to RCMPcadets in both official languages.

According to the RCMP, key distinctions ofthis recruit training program compared toother recruit programs are:

The curriculum was designed not based onwhat police do, but on where the public’sexpectations of the police would vary.

The scenarios are based on integratedpolice situations.

Issues of diversity and ethics areintegrated throughout the curriculum.

The curriculum is learner centered.Students have to determine whether thereis a problem, the issues, who the clientsare, what their needs, demands andexpectations are, what they know anddon’t know and how to find theinformation and knowledge they need.Students assess the options available tothem and select an appropriate responseand measure the effectiveness of theirresponse based on clients expectationsand finally determine whether there areany trends or patterns that warrant a morein-depth analysis to prevent the situationfrom recurring.

Currently, the RCMP Training Academy istraining approximately 1000 cadetsannually. However, a forecasted increase inthe number of retirements has resulted inan anticipated demand for 1200cadets/year for the next 3 years. TheRCMP Human Resources Directorate isresearching how this demand can be met,including the consideration of alternativeservice delivery models.

The RCMP covers the cost of cadet training.An allowance is given to all individualsparticipating in the cadet training programto assist in covering expenses duringtraining. The allowance covers costs forfood, accommodation, insurance and travelto and from the Academy and amounts toapproximately $5,000.00 / cadet.

The RCMP estimates that it costs approxi-mately $35, 557.00 to train each cadet atthe RCMP Training Academy.


JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA – POLICE ACADEMYThe Justice Institute of British Columbia located in New Westminster, is home to several academies, including the Corrections Academy, Fire Academy andPolice Academy. The Police Academy at JIBC provides training programs for municipal police services in the province of British Columbia. The JI comesunder the authority of the Ministry of Advanced Education in BC and is bound by the College and Institutes Act. The infrastructure is funded by theMinistry of Advanced Education and the police training delivery cost is funded by the AG.

Objective: To develop and provide police training programs and staff development services to meet the needs of British Columbia’s municipalpolice community, in accordance with the standards and rules established by the provincial Police Commission and Police Act.


Basic/Recruit

In-Service andAdvanced

Operates using a block system. Block I(11 weeks at the Academy) emphasizespolice skills, legal studies, physical fitness,foot drill and introduction to social science.Block II (13-17 weeks field training) takesplace at the recruit’s home police service.Block III (11 weeks at the Academy) buildson Block I and II knowledge. After Block IIIthe recruit graduates as a qualifiedmunicipal constable.

Can accommodate 144-155 recruitsannually.

Currently train 100-110 recruits per year.This is meeting the needs of the provinces’municipal police forces.

Training costs at the Police Academy arefunded entirely by the province. For 1999 /2000, the province has provided the PoliceAcademy with $2.2 million dollars.Approximately $1.4 million of this totalis allocated to recruit training, with theremaining funds divided between theAssessment Centre, advanced programsand administrative overhead.

Individual municipal police services providefree of charge for recruit training evaluatorsfor simulations, assessors for the AssessmentCentres and guest speakers. This results inapproximately $500,000.00 / year of “inkind” human resource time to the Academy.

There are no fees charged per course forattendance by participants of municipal andtribal police departments and the RCMP andother police agencies.

SASKATCHEWAN POLICE COLLEGEThe Saskatchewan Police College is under the direction of the Saskatchewan Police Commission by virtue of The Police Act (1990). It is funded by theSaskatchewan Department of Justice. The Saskatchewan Police College is located on the University of Regina campus. Although operating independently,it has a formal association with the University of Regina in the delivery of the Bachelor of Arts in Police Studies degree program.

Objective: To deliver training programs that promote self development of municipal police officers in providing a professional police service to the public.


Basic/Recruit

In-Service and Advanced

Provides the basics for developing self-discipline, co-ordination of mind and body,enhancing human relations and presentingthe academic background required to carryout law enforcement duties at theoperational level. The program is 17 weeksduration.

Currently, the Saskatchewan Police Collegedelivers two recruit classes with 30-32attendees each, resulting in 60-64graduates annually. This is currentlymeeting the needs of municipal policeservices in Saskatchewan.

Cost of recruit training is paid for by theGovernment of Saskatchewan and individualpolice services. The Government ofSaskatchewan pays for the cost of training,while the recruit’s police service covers thecost of room and board and their salary andbenefits while at the College.

It is estimated that it costs approximately$21, 600.00 to train each recruit at theSaskatchewan Police College.

Provides the police community withongoing training and education inoperational management and supervisoryskills conducive to effective policing in acontemporary society.

Currently delivering 16-20 in-servicecourses annually.

Each course has a pre-determinedclass limit.

The cost of transportation, accommodationand meals for in-service training is borneby the Police College.

Provide police members with professionaldevelopment in operational or investigativetopics with components that are critical topolice and public safety.

Also provide advanced enforcement-related skills, supervisory and managementskills, and skills that support the role oflaw enforcement and/or regulatory agencyin the community.

The Police Academy allocates seats to theprovince’s municipal and tribal policedepartments and the RCMP. In addition,the Academy offers some programs toemployees of government agencies.


ONTARIO POLICE COLLEGELocated in Aylmer, Ontario, the Ontario Police College provides municipal and regional police services in Ontario and the Ontario Provincial Police withbasic recruit, refresher and specialist courses. The college also develops and maintains the province wide examination process for promotions within policeservices. The OPC also provides support to the Police Learning System Advisory Committee. Other key support units in the Ontario Police College include:• the Research and Evaluation Unit which conducts ongoing educational research and evaluation of training programs; and• the Race Relations and Adult Education Unit, which ensures integration of race relations content into all OPC courses and provides support to other

OPC programs in this area.

Objective: As the centre of police learning in Ontario, the College will maintain a standard of excellence in the development of professional police personnel serving our diverse society.


Basic/Recruit

In-Service

Advanced

This 60 day program includes training inFederal and Provincial law, evidence,communications, traffic, use of force andofficer safety, protocol and contemporarypolicing issues.

Essential skills and attitudes are developedthrough simulation exercises, classroomdiscussion and case studies.

Usual capacity is 720 recruits per year.Because of current hiring demands, theOPC has increased this number to1170 recruits per year.

Cost to the recruit is $5000.00 which isapproximately 50% of the actual cost of theprogram. Some services are responsible forpaying this cost for the recruit because ofcollective agreement conditions.

Offer a 5 day refresher course titledAdvanced Patrol Training for police officersengaged in general patrol duties.

Provide communication and CPIC training.

For out-of-province and non-policecandidates, the economic cost is charged.

Each course carries an associated fee for bothon-site and off-site courses. Fees are assedfor out-of province and non-police candidatesat double the posted rate for the course.

The OPC offers advanced training incriminal investigative techniques, forensicidentification and leadership.

The OPC allocates seats to the province’smunicipal police departments.

ÉCOLE NATIONALE DE POLICE DU QUÉBECIn Quebec, the École nationale de police du Québec has exclusive responsibility to provide the basic training of police personnel that gives access topolice patrolling, police investigation and police management functions. In the area of police patrolling, the school provides further training to futurepolice officers who have already received some college-level training. The school also offers advanced training activities and conducts training-orientedresearch. In addition, it offers in-service training activities designed to meet the needs of other police forces. In developing its training programs, theschool forms partnerships with university-level educational institutions. It may also enter into any agreement it considers relevant to the pursuit of itsmission with researchers, experts or educational or research institutions.

Objective: It is the mission of the school, as a think tank and an integrated police training activity centre, to ensure the pertinence, quality and coherence of police training in Quebec.


Basic Training in:– patrolling– investigation– management

Basic training is the training that providesbasic skills in a given area of police work.Basic training in police patrolling is aprerequisite for basic training in theremaining two areas of police work.

Police PatrollingStudents are integrated into a virtualpolice station, where they develop withinan operational structure identical to thatof a real police station. Also included inthis training are learning activitiesassociated with technical skills such asshooting, driving emergency vehicles andphysical intervention techniques.

Police Patrolling600 students per year. The schoolbelieves that this meets the demandin the province.

Police PatrollingThe school estimates that it costs$15,000 to train each student. Each studentpays approximately $4,000. Police serviceswithin the province pay the rest via anannual contribution based on a percentageof the total police personnel payroll.

(continued on next page)


ÉCOLE NATIONALE DE POLICE DU QUÉBEC (continued)

In Quebec, the École nationale de police du Québec has exclusive responsibility to provide the basic training of police personnel that gives access topolice patrolling, police investigation and police management functions. In the area of police patrolling, the school provides further training to futurepolice officers who have already received some college-level training. The school also offers advanced training activities and conducts training-orientedresearch. In addition, it offers in-service training activities designed to meet the needs of other police forces. In developing its training programs, theschool forms partnerships with university-level educational institutions. It may also enter into any agreement it considers relevant to the pursuit of itsmission with researchers, experts or educational or research institutions.

Objective: It is the mission of the school, as a think tank and an integrated police training activity centre, to ensure the pertinence, quality and coherence of police training in Quebec.


Basic Training in:– patrolling– investigation– management

In-Service

Advanced

Police Investigation (new program)This university-level training is offeredin part by the school and in part by thepartner universities. It enables studentsto acquire the additional skills necessaryfor the investigation function.

Police Management (modified program)This university-level training is offeredin part by the school and in part by thepartner universities. Patrol supervisorsand investigation bureau managers firsttake university training in entry-levelmanagement. Then, based on their chosencareer, they enrol in an integration activitythat provides them with a professionalspecialization.

Police InvestigationThe capacity will be assessed on the basisof university registration and admissionfigures.

In 1999-2000, the school trained168 police officers in criminalinvestigation techniques.

Police ManagementThe capacity is assessed on the basisof university registration andadmission figures.

In 1999-2000, 232 police officers weretrained in Police Management and 208 inInvestigation Bureau Management.

Police InvestigationTuition fees corresponding to enrolment in18 credits on the university scale. Universitycredits are accompanied by financial assis-tance from the Ministère de l’Éducation.

Police ManagementTuition fees corresponding to enrolment in60 credits on the university scale. Universitycredits are accompanied by financial assis-tance from the Ministère de l’Éducation.

In-service training covers all activitiesdesigned to facilitate the integration ofa police officer into the police force towhich the officer belongs and to allowthe officer to perform police work withinthe force in as harmonious and functionala manner as possible.

Courses developed and offered asrequested by police organizations.

Varies according to the demand and thetype of agreement signed between thepolice organizations.

Advanced training is training designedto upgrade skills or develop a specializedskill in a given area of police work.

In 1999-2000, the school gave 351 coursescovering, in particular, the use of force,investigations, management andcommunity policing, road safety.

1999-2000: 4,261 enrolments for64,527 person-days of training.

For courses that are not university-levelcourses, police services that provide fundingto the school under the Police Act arenot required to pay tuition fees. They are,however, required to pay admission feesand room and board.

Based on the total number of seats for recruit trainingavailable across the Canadian public policing sector, it isinteresting to note that the total enrolment capacity isequivalent to the size of one community college. Given thecurrent financial constraints affecting the police sector, thissituation may warrant a re-examination of resource alloca-tion across the system and whether there is an adequatereturn on cost investments in the current system. In addi-tion, it was noted in the Sector Context, OperatingEnvironment and Human Face of Policing in Canada sectionsof this report that the public police sector is beginning toexperience a significant increase in the number of policeofficer retirements, requiring an increase in the number of

new recruits to fill these vacant positions. Training facili-ties will also need to re-examine their enrolment capacitiesto ensure that they are able to train the number of newrecruits that police services will require in the near future.

Police Services: As noted in Figure 28, neither Alberta norManitoba have provincial police schools. These provincesrely exclusively on their non-RCMP municipal policeforces to provide basic recruit training. The WinnipegPolice Service for example, has an in-house training divi-sion, while the Calgary Police Service provides recruit andin-service training at the Chief Crowfoot TrainingAcademy. The Edmonton Police Service provides recruitand in-service training at their headquarters facilities.


ATLANTIC POLICE ACADEMYThe Atlantic Police Academy located in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, is administered by Holland College, under an agreement between the Collegeand the four participating provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The Academy was formed under the Council ofMaritime Premiers to train recruits and in-service police officers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. Newfoundland came in under a different agreementin 1971. The Atlantic Police Academy provides recruit training offers specialized in-service and advanced training to sworn personnel in these provinces.

Objective: To provide timely, contemporary law enforcement training, education and development from basic to advanced levels.


Police Science (Cadet) Program

In-Service and Advanced

Blends knowledge with hands-on trainingusing real life situations and varioussimulations to prepare police cadets forlaw enforcement.

32 week program including 12 weeks ofrequired on the job training in a CanadianPolice agency.

Program prepares candidates for work inpolice agencies as police constables.

Currently the Atlantic Police Academydelivers two recruit classes per year with atotal enrolment of approximately 80recruits per year. This is currently meetingthe needs of municipal police services inthe Atlantic Region.

Recruits are required to pay tuition of$16,250.00 for the 2000-2001 year.However, additional registration fees,including such items as student union fee,graduation fee, books, uniform, dry cleaningetc. bring the recruit cost at the APA to$19,150.00. This total does not include suchon-the-job training costs as transportationand living arrangements. It has beenestimated that the total cost for a recruitto attend the APA is around $23,000.00

Some recruits from certain Atlanticprovinces are funded whole or in partby their municipalities.

The Atlantic Police Academy offers over 30in-service courses in specialized areas forlaw enforcement professionals working inthe field.

The Atlantic Police Academy allocatesseats to all four Atlantic Provinces – tribalpolice, municipal police and the RCMP.

Each course has a predetermined classlimit.

Fees are charged for each course. Forexample, a two-week Breathalyzer courseis $480.00/person while a three-weekAdvanced Police Science course is$1500.00/person.

Some provinces pay for the entire coursefee from the Policing Services budget.In Nova Scotia, the municipality pays forthe officers training courses.

The cost for a person’s accommodationwhile on course is borne by theAtlantic Police Academy.

As of April 2001, the Halifax Police Service will start totrain their own recruits instead of using the Atlantic PoliceAcademy instructors and facilities. Halifax plans ontraining a minimum of 25 recruits per year – with aminimum of 10 spots per year designated for visibleminority recruits. A major factor in Halifax’s decision tomove towards their own recruit training was that theywant to attract more local candidates into their service, inaddition to having an ethnic and cultural mix that reflectsthe diversity of their community.

Across Canada, a number of police services supplementtraining that their employees received at police schools andacademies with in-house training to meet their specificneeds and mandates. The Metropolitan Toronto PoliceService and the Ontario Provincial Police for example,each have their own dedicated facilities to supplementtraining received at the Ontario Police College and theCanadian Police College. The RCMP has a CentralizedTraining facility at the RCMP Training Academy located inRegina and in-service training is also provided at the divi-sion level at a number of facilities across the country. Inaddition, e-learning is taking on a more pronounced rolewithin the RCMP to deliver just-in-time learning. Otherlarge and medium sized police services also offer in-housetraining programs and may have instructors on staff orhave a training coordinator or division.

Training Curriculum:As noted in the Sector Context and Operating Environmentchapters of this report, the renewed focus on community-based services has shifted the emphasis from law andpolicy enforcement to problem solving within Canadianpolice services. A focus on clients and partnershipsrequires that diverse perspectives be given more fullydeveloped consideration in assessing options. In addition,the trend towards flattened organizations described in theHuman Resource Practices chapter of this report, increas-ingly requires that individuals develop the capacity tothink critically and innovatively and make decisionswithout the benefit of instruction or advice from moreexperienced personnel. Sharing successes and failuresbecomes more essential when police members areexpected to work independently and interdependentlywith clients and partners. These changes within theCanadian public policing sector require that swornpersonnel possess a set of competencies that providesthem with the foundation to address these trends. Amongthe competencies they seek to develop in response are:

• client service orientation,

• leadership,

• critical thinking and innovation,

• team work,

• continuous learning and knowledge management,

• flexibility and adaptability.

The next table set identifies the changes that are currentlyaffecting the public policing sector in Canada (as describedin the Sector Context and Operating Environment chapters ofthis report), the impact of these changes on the knowl-edge, skills and abilities required of police personnel andwhat the current police academy training curricula areoffering to assist the sector in addressing these changes.



Demographics

SECTOR IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE, POLICE ACADEMY CURRICULUMCHANGES SKILLS AND ABILITIES ADDRESSING THESE TRAINING NEEDS

Canadians are growing older Community Policing training

The population is more diverse Better knowledge of the expectations andattitudes of cultural/ethnic groups

More detailed knowledge of police practices,regulations and legislation

Knowledge of ethnic and cultural communityservices and agencies to develop partnerships

Appreciation for differences in cultural or ethnicgroup activities

Skills in second and foreign languages

Cultural awareness training

Anti-racism training

Community Policing training

The Aboriginal population is growing Better knowledge of the expectations andattitudes of Aboriginals


Knowledge of Aboriginal community servicesand agencies to develop partnerships

Appreciation for differences in cultural or ethnicgroup activities

Skills in second and foreign languages

Cultural awareness training


External Environment


Crime is more sophisticated Increased overalltechnical knowledge

Increased troubleshooting skills

Increased ability to communicate and shareinformation

Knowledge of police practices, regulationsand legislation

Forensics training

Identification training

Homicide training

Computer based crime investigation

Critical thinking

Intelligence analysis

Intelligence based planning

Public expectations and scrutiny is increasing Better knowledge of public policing, thecommunity and its needs


Media relations training

Paperwork and regulations are increasing theworkload

Time management

Knowledge of police databases and programs

Evidence training

Legislation training

In-service training and updates

Resources are constrained Resource constraints affect most parts of theHR regime

Need to manage costs strategically, rather thantactically (e.g., view training as an investment)

The use of private security is growing Illustrate competitive advantage via leadingskills, knowledge and abilities in policing

Partnerships


Sector Structure


Police services are amalgamating Team building skills

Leadership skills

Leadership training

Change management training

Team building training etc.

Competitive bidding for police services contracts Illustrate competitive advantage via leadingskills, knowledge and abilities in policing

Partnerships

Provincial policing standards are beingimplemented and refined

Training


Use of new technologies for training delivery Familiarity and comfort with principles of self-paced learning

Knowledge based learning

Distance learning

Continuous and structured training to updatethe skills and versatility of the overall personnelKnowledge of training needs and skills gaps

Knowledge of principles of adult learning andtraining methods

Access to knowledge management tools

Service Delivery


Continued transition to community policingphilosophy

Better knowledge of public expectations andneeds for services


Knowledge of community services and agenciesto develop partnerships

Highly developed negotiating and counsellingskills


Increasing use of technology Increased overall technical knowledge

Increased troubleshooting skills


Knowledge based decision making

Understanding the use of technology in crime

As the tables note, in addition to regular operational typesof training, police academy training curricula are placingan emphasis on community policing, cultural awarenessand leadership types of training. However, technical skillstraining in particular appears to be an area that will requirefurther attention and continuous development as thesector responds to changes in its operating environment.

Police training academies need to change the focus andapproach of their curriculum offerings. The competenciesthat sworn personnel require to keep pace with thechanges in the police operating environment cannot belearned through traditional lecture approaches that focuson content. Developing skills in critical thinking and inno-vation, continuous learning and knowledge management,flexibility and adaptability require that sworn personnellearn where and how to find the best possible informationand knowledge as efficiently as possible. Further discus-sion of this topic is covered under the Design, Developmentand Delivery section of this chapter.


Workforce Organization and Qualifications


Increasing civilianization of management /professional positions

Team building skills

Leadership skills

Leadership training


A greater role for volunteers in the communitypolicing

Team building skills

Leadership skills


Leadership training


In-service training and updates

Increasing number and role of women andminority personnel

Skills in team work and problem resolution


Willingness to learn about different cultures

Cultural awareness training and integratedapproaches


Flattened organizational hierarchies Ability to work in a team, assuming moreresponsibilities, participating in problemresolution Leadership training

Team building training

Knowledge based decision making

Critical and creative thinking

Large number of impending retirements Transfer of knowledge from experiencedpersonnel throughout the organization

Corporate memory captured in repository anddesign of problem based learning

Increasing educational attainment of newentrants

Better technical knowledge


Broad knowledge and understanding of thepublic policing sector

Knowledge of various police techniques

The ability and knowledge required to carry outmultiple tasks

Funding:Funding and financing mechanisms vary by jurisdictionand type of training – particularly in relation to recruittraining. In some jurisdictions, the cost of recruit trainingis covered entirely by the province or police service orboth. In other jurisdictions, the cost of recruit training isentirely the responsibility of the individual. As noted in thetraining facility tables presented earlier in this chapter, thiscost can be significant. For example, the cost to recruitslocated in the Atlantic Provinces for the year 2000 was$16,250.00 in tuition fees alone. Additional programcharges such as books, uniform, etc. bring the cost to thestudent to $19,250. If we also include the transportationand accommodation costs associated with on-the-jobtraining, the cost can be as high as $23,000.00/recruit toattend the Atlantic Police Academy. Despite the formidablepersonal costs incurred, not all students who attend either

the Atlantic Police Academy Police Science Program or theÉcole nationale de police du Québec Basic TrainingProgram are guaranteed jobs upon successful completion.In fact, in Quebec, police services decided not to givecandidates a promise of employment. They believe thisapproach encourages candidates to be more accountableand more interested in successfully completing theirtraining.

Figure 29 illustrates minimum training costs for recruitscan vary across Canada (please note that the figuresdepicted here include a number of the costs a recruit mustincur, including tuition, training supplies, meals, andaccommodation.) The federal government, provincialgovernment and police services often finance in-serviceand advanced training for sworn personnel.


Quebec’s Unique Experiencein Program Development

As a post-college educational institution, the École nationale de police du Québec was a pioneer in applying the skills-based approach to thedevelopment of training programs. When revising the basic police training program in 1996, the school’s administrators chose to use thatapproach to develop the new program. Once the process was completed, the learning context was totally transformed. The students are initi-ated into their new occupation in a virtual police station, leaving theoretical learning behind in favour of learning in an operational context.

For one-third of their training, the students are exposed to a great many scenarios. It is essential for the quality of instruction that both theperformances of the thirty or so actors who play parts in these scenarios and the feedback exercise be monitored to ensure that they providethe program skills.

The other two-thirds of the training of future Quebec police officers is devoted to learning technical skills such as shooting, driving emergencyvehicles, and physical intervention techniques, including techniques for policing public demonstrations or riots.

The school continued its research in the area of continuing education and, in partnership with Quebec’s association of chiefs of police, theAssociation des directeurs de police du Québec, drew up a human resources development plan for police organizations, which was madepublic in May 2000. It was given to the police chiefs at their annual conference.The aim of this human resources development plan, a leading-edge police management tool, is to optimize the training of police personnel by creating links between this training, the needs of police organ-izations and individual career objectives.

The tools proposed in this plan make it possible to update the knowledge and skills of police officers, establish career paths for police offi-cers on the basis of their interests and the needs of police organizations, and plan continued basic training for police investigation or policemanagement functions. This plan also serves to identify police officers who are interested in specializing in an area of police work or movingto another area of police work, and to define advanced training and in-service training needs.

As this plan was being developed, workshops were held to analyse the work situation of investigators, supervisors and chiefs. Participatingin the workshops were individuals acting in those capacities from various police organizations with different sizes, structures and problems.These three innovative work situation analyses led to a skill profile being drawn up for each of these major police functions; the profiles werevalidated in the Human Resources Development Plan with a view to determining which skills the organizations should develop as prioritiesand drawing up job profiles. Work situation analyses also make it possible to develop qualifying professional training programs for policepersonnel that include the three aspects of basic training, advanced training and in-service training. !

b Sworn Personnel Developmentand Continuous Learning

Within the public policing context, professional and skillsdevelopment has traditionally been considered to besynonymous with supervisory and management develop-ment. Because of this focus, professional developmentapproaches have often been separated from the trainingfunction and associated primarily with human resourcesresponsibilities (such as succession planning activities)and have as their primary goal the preparation of specificindividuals or groups of individuals for promotion.However, within some police services, managementtraining is increasingly being viewed as a form of in-servicetraining because it is considered to be an operationalrequirement. These police services believe that manage-ment training is only developmental if the individual takesthe initiative to prepare themselves for future aspirations.

The Canadian Police College, as noted in a previoussection, is mandated to provide executive learning oppor-

tunities to police services located across Canada. InJanuary 2000, the Canadian Police College released anAction Plan outlining the creation of a new PoliceExecutive School and the adoption of new trainingapproaches and delivery methods which will enable thecollege to respond to emerging trends in technology, legis-lation, user needs and demographic changes in its clien-tele. It also called for the Canadian Police College toaddress such issues as governance, partnerships withuniversities and other police training institutes, costrecovery, and increasing or diversifying its client base.

A recently released Program Overview for the new PoliceExecutive Centre specifically proposes a new approach topolice executive learning to reflect new models of learningorganizations and knowledge management. Thisapproach, which focuses on continuous learning for policeexecutives, mirrors closely best practice approachescurrently being undertaken in much of the executivelearning pursued by the most advanced corporations andpublic sector organizations today.


FIGURE 29

Minimum Costs for Recruits

APPROXIMATED COSTS

$0 $4,000–$5,000 $19,250

Recruits with a minimum of:

• High school education

• Employer paid recruit training

This could include recruits from:

• British Columbia

• Alberta

• Saskatchewan

• Manitoba

• RCMP

• Ontario (only recruits whose$5000 tuition to attend the OPC ispaid for by the police service)

Note: Costs rise if recruits have post-secondary education in addition to the minimum requirements.

Note: There are opportunity earnings costs associated with being in a full time education program vs. working, earning a salary and on-the-job training

Note: The minimum recruit costs illustrated in this diagram only include tuition and additional program fees. If we include the cost of accommodations,meals and other expenses associated with the required on-the-job recruit training, the cost in the Atlantic region would be closer to $23,000.



• cégep in Police Technology(paid for by the Province of Quebec)

• Non-employer paid recruit training


• Ontario (Ontario Police Collegecharges each student $5,000)

• Quebec (École nationale de police duQuébec charges each student $4,000.The police services pay the remainder ofthe cost $11,000) through an annualcontribution recommended by theschool and approved by theGovernment.)



• Non-employer paid recruit training


• New Brunswick

• Nova Scotia

• Prince Edward Island

• Newfoundland

The creation of a new Police Executive Centre at theCanadian Police College is a response to recent findings inrelation to the performance of a number of serving policechiefs, most of whom have been faced with new demandsand challenges for which they have a continuing need fornew learning and knowledge support. To answer thisneed, executive learning at the Canadian Police Collegewill resist the more traditional methods of learning –longer, more formal course work, offered once at a partic-ular point in an individual’s career with no preparatory orpost-learning structures, and separated from other devel-opment activities, strategies and organizational needs.Instead, the executive learning program will focus onproviding individuals with a more tailored approach withshorter, more intensive learning opportunities, offered at avariety of times and in a variety of ways (such as actionlearning, mentoring, real problem solving) which are inte-grated strategically with the competencies of both the indi-vidual and organization in mind. At the core of the newexecutive learning program are areas of police practicewhich are based primarily on the CPC’s police leadershipcompetencies. These are also areas which various studiesand observers have identified as the most critical to policeexecutives in Canada. The proposed practice areas for thePolice Executive Centre consist of:

• Building Leadership Skills

• Police Governance and Accountability

• Effective Police Labour Relations

• Strategic Media Relations and EffectiveCommunications

• Political Acumen, Judgement, and Risk Taking

• Human Resource Management, the Managementof Change and the Learning Organization

• Strategic Planning and Business Management

• Globalization and Human Rights

• Organized Crime

• First Nations Police Management.

The executive learning program at the Canadian PoliceCollege recognizes that over time, the need for learningevents in some of the practice areas identified above willdiminish, or may be more adequately addressed through areconfiguration of the various offerings. The college recog-nizes that the process for determining which of the prac-tice areas best serve the interests of Canada’s police execu-tives must remain an on-going process in order to ensurethat the program of police executive learning remains rele-vant and vital.

In addition to the Canadian Police College, other policetraining facilities also offer leadership and managementdevelopment courses and as noted throughout the courseof this study, senior sworn personnel are increasinglyenrolling in business and management courses offered atuniversities and colleges across Canada.

Other professional development methods for supervisorsand managers such as coaching, mentoring and job shad-owing are generally not formalized within the system and –if used at all – are used sparingly. Most rely on the initiativeof the individual to seek out the necessary resources toenhance their career and personal growth. The RCMP forexample, has a two year Headquarter Familiarizationprogram that allows identified potential leaders to become


Leadership and Management Development Courses: Examples of programs offered across Canada

• Canadian Police College: Senior Police Administration Course, Executive Seminars

• RCMP: Introduction to Management Course and Officer Orientation and Development Course

• Justice Institute of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University: Justice and Public Safety Leadership Degree Program

• Justice Institute of British Columbia and Royal Roads University: Master of Arts, Leadership and Training

• Calgary Police Service: Leadership and Learning Workshops

• Saskatchewan Police College: Introduction to Management, Police Managers Course

• Ontario Police College: Executive Leadership Certification Program

• Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) and the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management: Police Leadership Program

• École nationale de police du Québec: Team Management and Leadership and Police Management Principles

• Atlantic Police Academy: Transformational Police Leadership and Senior Police Management Courses

familiar with the policy centre’s role. The RCMP has also usedsecondments to other federal government departments andhas experimented with job shadowing to provide supple-mentary developmental opportunities. These programshowever, are currently under review. The new PoliceExecutive School at the CPC is planning to place greateremphasis on coaching and mentoring in its new program.

In addition to management and supervisory development,sworn personnel are increasingly engaging in or seekingother continuous learning and development opportunities.Like senior management, it is often the expectation thatindividual sworn personnel will seek out and pursue thesedevelopment opportunities. Some police services aremoving towards developing the supporting systems toenable more individual, self-paced learning and improveoverall organization knowledge management skills.Interviews conducted with sworn personnel during thecourse of this study revealed that many are taking personalinitiative and time to enrol in courses and programs whichare available to them via community colleges and universi-ties. In addition, a few police services have initiated systemswhereby individual sworn personnel may be temporarilyassigned to specific tasks or duties as developmental assign-ments for remedial or career development purposes.

Legislation and Mandatory RequirementsIn virtually all jurisdictions in Canada, some form oftraining is required upon or shortly after promotion to asupervisory or management position. The EdmontonPolice Service for example, requires that senior officersfrom the rank of Inspector and above hold at a minimuman undergraduate certificate. Similar requirements arecommonplace in some United States jurisdictions. TheCalifornia Highway Patrol reports that almost all seniorofficers hold university degrees and this is a prerequisiterequirement for any promotion to command ranks.

However, continuous development for sworn personnel atlower levels in a police service still relies on individualinitiative.

FundingInterviews conducted with sworn personnel and policeservice Human Resource directors during the course ofthis study revealed that funding is generally available tosworn personnel who are interested in pursuing develop-mental opportunities and continuous learning. Often,sworn personnel must indicate how the course or programthey wish to take is relevant to their jobs and careers beforefunding is granted. Some noted that full funding is not

always granted, but that partial funding is often available.Despite the fact that partial funding is generally available,sworn personnel expressed the widespread view duringthis study that there was insufficient financial supportavailable to meet their desire for continuous learning anddevelopment opportunities.

SuppliersDuring interviews conducted as part of this study, severalsenior police managers acknowledged that they haveattended executive development type courses as offeredthrough the Canadian Police College as well as programsoffered through the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations(FBI). PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of police services inCanada, revealed that 92% of responding police services(representing 99% of police officers and 98% ofemployees) make available and/or support executivedevelopment training for senior personnel – evidence thatpolice services are increasingly recognizing the need tohave leaders that possess the skills necessary to manage apolice service (Figure 30).71


FIGURE 30

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn All


92%

8%98%

% of Police Services that make availableand/or support Executive Development Training

for Senior Personnel

No

Yes

99%

Source: PwC Survey


A Comparative Case Study: FBI ExecutiveDevelopment Program and the CanadianPolice College Police Executive School

IntroductionThe success and failure of policing is often attributed to the skills ofits leaders. With the impending wave of retirements expected inpolicing, quality executive development programs are critical toensuring that the next generation of police leaders have the neces-sary skills to adapt their organizations to a myriad of emergingtrends.

Over the course of this study, several interviewees mentioned theFBI’s executive development programs as a potential model forothers to emulate.This case study analyses some of the key elementsof the FBI’s approach to executive development. This informationwas gathered from various FBI publications, as well as a site visit tothe FBI Training Academy that included interviews with several ofthe faculty and students. We compare the FBI efforts with theCanadian Police College’s (CPC) current approach to executivedevelopment.72

Course Content and CurriculumThe FBI offers two primary executive development programs:

the National Executive Institute (NEI), aimed at executives of majorjurisdictions, and

the Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (LEEDS) forexecutives in mid-sized jurisdictions.

The FBI has also created 16 regional command colleges to serve thechief executives of small, local police agencies. Each of the programsoffers similar content, but focuses on a different target audience.Curricula for all three programs are reviewed and modified yearly tokeep the content current. In addition, The FBI National Academy isconsidered part of the Leadership Development Program since itcontributes to the development of current and future LawEnforcement Executives.

The NEI curriculum has three core elements: communications media,legal issues, and leadership theory and practice. Within the leader-ship theory element, students are encouraged to broaden theirperspectives, be creative and heighten their use of critical insight.The LEEDS program focuses on leadership, legal issues and mediarelations, as well as strategic planning, labour relations, social issuesand police programs. The regional command colleges follow a modi-fied curriculum based on the LEEDS program.

In contrast, the CPC currently offers only one executive developmentprogram: the Senior Police Administration Course (SPAC). It focuseson current management theory and practice, communication skillsand theories of human behaviour. However, the CPC currently hasplans to create a Police Executive School, which would complementcurrent management programs and provide an emphasis on contin-uing education for police executives. Potential subject areas includepublic policy, government relations, strategic communication andlabour relations.

Mode of Delivery and Appropriateness of DurationThe NEI and LEEDS programs are both delivered on-site at the FBITraining Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The NEI program is deliveredin three one-week segments spread throughout the year (as it isdifficult for participants to be away from their jobs for more thanone week at a time); the LEEDS program is delivered in one two-week segment. The Regional Command Colleges are delivered in 16different locations across the USA, and provide one-week programsto participants.

All of the above programs are structured to accommodate the busyschedules of their participants. The potential downside of thisapproach is that the duration of the courses may be insufficient toprovide the necessary depth of instruction. To address this, somepre-course work is assigned to NEI participants, and continuouslearning is encouraged for all students through alumni programs.These programs include annual 3-5 day sessions sponsored by theprofessional association of graduates. Further, the on-site approachallows a collaborative approach to learning. As stated on the FBI’sweb site, “Some of the most productive learning takes place outsideof the classroom during evening conferences and over meals.”73

A number of alternative delivery mechanisms will be employed inthe CPC’s new Police Executive School. In addition to classroom-based programs, the CPC will likely make extensive use of theInternet, other distance learning technologies, weekend retreats,study tours, discussion groups, case-history analysis, workshops andmeetings with experts.

Selection of Candidates and InstructorsEligibility criteria have been established for students of both the NEIand LEEDS programs. To attend the NEI, participants “must be thechief executive officer of a population served of 250,000 and anagency that consists of more than 500 sworn personnel.”74 Toqualify for the LEEDS program, participants’ communities must havea population of at least 50,000 with 50 or more sworn personnel.The regional command colleges were created to serve all other exec-utives not meeting these criteria.

As part of this study, a comparative case study was undertaken that looked at both the FBI Executive DevelopmentProgram and the creation of the Canadian Police College Police Executive School. The highlights of this case study follow.

Eligible candidates are nominated to attend by local FBI field officesthroughout the United States. For international participants,U.S. Embassies coordinate nominations. FBI Training Academy staffmake all final decisions on whom receives invitations to attend withthe exception of senior federal executives who are selected bytheir agencies.

The Leadership and Management Science Unit (LMSU) of the FBITraining Academy coordinates the instruction for the executivedevelopment programs. Outside expert instructors are hired tohandle specific segments while some represent other TrainingAcademy Units. LMSU staff are all FBI Special Agents that have hadprior field experience. Instructors typically spend two to three yearsteaching in the LMSU, though some instructors do stay considerablylonger, based on their interests.

The CPC’s new Police Executive School plans to offer its courses notonly to police executives, but also to the broader policing sector. Thisincludes police board and commission members, government policepolicy officials, other law enforcement executives (e.g., Immigra-tion), and others with complementary roles and responsibilities.

CPC instructors include both civilian experts and seconded swornpersonnel from the public policing sector. In addition, the CPC doesinvite the involvement of others in the law enforcement communitywhen appropriate.

Accessibility and AvailabilityAll of the programs offered at the FBI Training Academy are providedfree of charge, which certainly enhances accessibility. In addition tothe absence of tuition fees, those attending the NEI and LEEDSprograms are also provided with travel expenses, housing andmeals. Those attending the regional command colleges, however,must pay for own transportation and housing.

Availability, however, is much more limited. The NEI only has 30 to35 places available each year, with a mix of Chiefs, Sheriffs, seniorFBI personnel and some international participants. The LEEDSprogram has similar size classes, but is run twice a year, thus

allowing greater participation. There are, however, more eligiblecandidates for the LEEDS program. The combined membership ofthe alumni associations allows for annual training opportunities formore than 2,000 members.

Unlike the FBI, the CPC charges cost-recovery training fees for itscourses. This does restrict financial accessibility to its programs. TheDirector of the College did note, however, that cost-recovery doesprovide an incentive to maintain quality, as participants are notlikely to pay for inferior programs.75

In terms of availability, it is still too early to determine how manypolice executives will be able to attend courses at the new PoliceExecutive School. However, the emphasis on multiple deliverymethods, including use of the Internet and other distance learningtechnologies, likely means that all interested parties will be able toaccess at least some portion of the School’s learning materials.

Linkages to Other ProgramsThe LMSU works closely with many of the other units at the FBITraining Academy. Leadership and management theory are importantaspects of all the FBI’s training, including their new agents, in-service,international and National Academy programs. The Training Academyalso has a formal relationship with the nearby University of Virginia,which awards college credits for National Academy students.

The new CPC program will actually be built as a partnershipprogram. As they note in their action plan, many other Canadiantraining institutions, including police academies, are strengtheningtheir own executive development offerings. The CPC proposes to“fill only those important management and executive needs thatother institutions cannot fill.”76 The CPC has already had discussionwith many of these institutions about the provision of harmonizedcourses. Further, the CPC is also seeking to provide credit require-ments for students interested in pursuing university certificates,bachelors, or post-graduate degrees in policing, including a possibleMBA for police executives. !


In addition, several provincial police trainingfacilities and large police services also offerexecutive leadership and managementtraining programs (for additional information,please refer to the individual police academycharts which appear earlier in this chapter).

Increasingly, sworn personnel are turningto post-secondary institutions in Canadato access developmental and continuouslearning opportunities that are not providedwithin the public police sector.

Examples of Public Police Continuous Learning andDevelopment Opportunities:

The Justice and Public Safety Leadership Degree ProgramThe Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), in partnership with Simon FraserUniversity, is offering a unique leadership development program that involvespart-time study over a three-year period. After completing this program, partic-ipants will earn a Bachelor of General Studies degree from SFU with a focuson Justice and Public Safety Leadership.

Master of Arts, Leadership and Training ProgramThe Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), in partnership with Royal RoadsUniversity, is offering a MA in leadership and training. The program consists oftwo years of interdisciplinary study.

The Learning Path for Civilian PersonnelThe learning path illustrated in Figure 31, illustrates thetypes of learning that tend to be available to civilianpersonnel throughout their careers. Unlike the swornpersonnel learning path, very little emphasis is placed onthe building of a continuum of learning for civilians –especially civilians in such traditional areas of work asadministration, finance and human resources.

b Civilian EducationCivilians working within public police services are oftenhired for positions based on the education and/or experi-ence that they already possess. In many police services,civilians work in administrative, financial, technology andhuman resource functions and therefore have usually hadsome vocational training and/or post-secondary educationin these disciplines from community colleges and univer-sities. It is important to note that the RCMP and severalother large police services are hiring civilians to work inmore non-traditional areas of work such as forensics,computer investigations and identification. These civiliansusually have obtained relevant post-secondary educationand/or experience in these disciplines prior to being hiredby the police service.

b Civilian TrainingAs noted in Figure 31, some civilians within (primarily)large public police services are given local orientationtraining after they are hired. Sometimes, large police serv-ices also offer civilians in-service and advanced trainingsimilar to that which is offered to sworn personnel. Thesetraining opportunities are generally only offered to thosecivilians working in non-traditional disciplines and areasof work.

However, civilians working in police services are notalways included in local training programs and courses.Often these civilians are employees of the municipalities orcities – even though they work inside the police service.Police Services which have municipal or city employees onstaff, generally feel that it is the responsibility of thecivilian’s employer to provide them with learning opportu-nities. Civilians interviewed during the course of this studynoted that this attitude often results in neglect of theirlearning and development needs. While some policecolleges and academies offer courses to which civilianshave access, these courses often focus on the more non-traditional jobs and roles that civilians occupy – therefore,only reaching a small component of the Canadian civilianpolice service population.


The Learning Path for Civilian Personnel

FIGURE 31

EDUCATION

Hired Retirement or Career Change

Approximated Career Timeline (not to scale)

TRAINING DEVELOPMENT

Post-SecondaryEducation

Local Police ServiceOrientation Training Development /

Continuous Learning

b Civilian Development andContinuous Learning

Priority is rarely placed on developing civilians within thepublic police sector and individuals are expected to pursuetheir own development and continuous learning opportu-nities. Often, police services will provide civilians withsome funding to offset the expenses of courses andprograms that are directly job-related. However, our inter-views with civilian staff during the course of this studyindicated that funding for their training is almost alwaysless than the funding provided to sworn personnel forcontinuous learning.

Organizational Learning andKnowledge ManagementOrganizational learning refers to learning at the systemlevel rather than the individual level and characterizes anorganization skilled at creating, acquiring and transferringknowledge, and at modifying its behaviour to reflect newknowledge and insights.

Organizational learning places responsibility for learningat three separate levels: individual, team and organization.Individuals are responsible for engaging in purposefullearning that is aligned with the organization’s needs.Teams are responsible for working together to shareknowledge and transfer learning among each other.Organizations are responsible for building systems tosupport individual and team learning. These systemsensure access to information and feedback.

Ontario’s Strategic Planning Committee on Police Trainingand Education suggested eight systems or processes thatpolice services could implement, in whole or in part, as ameans of achieving greater organizational effectiveness.The eight systems/processes that the Ontario StrategicPlanning Committee recommended are listed below.77 It isimportant to note that in order for a police service to haveadopted the principles of the organizational learningconcept, responsibility for learning cannot reside solely inthe learning and development department. Successfulimplementation calls for collaboration, interaction andplanning between learning and development, humanresources and senior leadership of police services.


Recommended Systems / Processes

PROCESS IMPACT ON POLICE SERVICES

Generating a holistic Front-line officers will require knowledge about the whole organization if their decision making is to be holistic view of the organization and based on information obtained throughout the system.

Suggested implementation processes are:

• Lateral transfers and secondments

• Broad based orientation

Attaining and using Police officers must know what is happening in external constituencies, such as social workers and members information about the of community groups, if they are to make good decisions.external environment Suggested implementation processes are:

• Bring outsiders in

• Carry out research and development

• Knowledge management mechanisms for sharing information and best practices

Encouraging the develop- Suggested implementation processes are:ment of new knowledge • Encouraging innovation and responsible risk-taking

• Encouraging individuals or teams to research new ideas

• Obtaining feedback from new employees

• Doing exit interviews

• Knowledge management mechanisms for sharing information and best practices (continued)

Police services are starting to move organization-learningconcepts to the forefront of their everyday activities.Common operational practices that police do everyday –such as roll call and debriefing – are used to developopportunities to question and to create a reflective envi-ronment which characterize an organizational learningfocus. Another step in this direction is increased collabo-ration and the use of cross-functional teams betweenpolice services. However, police services need to find moreways of capturing learning opportunities and linking theseto everyday aspects of how the police service runs.

Knowledge management is a concept that is revolution-izing how learning is and could be implemented within

public police services. The concept is centred not ontraining but on learning and the sharing of knowledge asthe basis for improving an organization’s performance.This means that training would no longer reside as a sepa-rate operational function, but rather learning wouldbecome embedded in all daily work activities. For policeservices to achieve success through innovation and achieveoptimized performance, effective knowledge managementsystems are required to capture and disseminate informa-tion within and across police services. However, thismovement must be supported by a cultural shift to acommunity where knowledge sharing is widely supportedand recognized.


Recommended Systems / Processes (continued)

PROCESS IMPACT ON POLICE SERVICES

Facilitating learning Police Services currently have formal and informal links with a variety of organizations in the private,from alliances with public and non-profit sectors.other organizations Suggested implementation processes are:

• Benchmarking – exchanges with other organizations

• Police/community newsletters

• Networking at all levels

• Pro-active front-end involvement in regulatory processes that have an impact on policing

• Websites

• Secondments

Retaining, retrieving, and Suggested implementation processes are:when necessary unlearning • Systematic documentation of all initiativesorganizational memory • Stop rewarding old / start rewarding new organizational memory

• Succession planning

• Planned policy and procedural review

• Focus groups with new and experienced officers

Clarifying and communica- Suggested implementation processes are:ting successes and failures • Newsletters and other publicationsof operating practices • Planned meetings

• Web site best practices

• Work site debriefs of experiences/learning events

• Materials automatically sent to repositories

Providing direct Suggested implementation processes are:performance feedback • Roll-call

• Debriefing

• Customer surveys

• Holistic approach to performance appraisal and promotions

• Build constructive feedback sessions (individual, team and organizational) into the way we learn and work

Questioning assumptions

The adoption of just-in-time knowledge sharing willrequire a more robust technological infrastructure for thepublic police sector, where access to information can beavailable anywhere, anytime. The training communitywithin the public police sector has the opportunity tochampion the sharing of best practices in police learning.This focus could be a strong advantage in helping all policeservices adapt to the strategic challenges they face on adaily basis. However, the pursuit of greater knowledgesharing within the sector, must begin with an assessmentof what knowledge needs to be managed to supportstrategic business and work objectives. This entails takinga holistic systemic perspective that will leverage knowl-edge across the various police services and organizations.If done well, knowledge management can result in policeservices that are aligned with the leadership’s strategicdirection, better able to understand and respond tocustomers and stakeholders.

Training Function in theCanadian Public Police SectorAs noted earlier in this chapter, the Canadian publicpolicing sector has placed an enormous emphasis andinvestment in providing and maintaining trainingprograms and services to emerge as the premier providersof police training. This section focuses on how publicpolice training is planned, organized and delivered andhow these processes are meeting the needs of the police.

Figure 32 illustrates the different components and tasksthat make-up the training cycle.

b Planning and Needs AnalysisIn order to ensure the successful development of an organ-ization and its people, any training that is offered shouldbe linked to an organization’s business objectives to ensurethat the right people, with the right skills, are in the rightplace, at the right time. The development of successfulbusiness and operational plans within police services isone of the most important keys to the future success ofpolice training. These plans act as the conduit throughwhich all policies and operational plans flow. Therefore, alltraining that takes place within a police service should beeffectively linked with the aims and objectives of theorganization outlined in the business and operational plan.

One way in which Canadian police services are linkinghuman resource requirements and training requirementsto organizational objectives is via police acts and regula-tions. As noted within this chapter and the HumanResource Practices chapter, these acts and regulations oftenset the minimum education and training requirements forentry-level personnel in each jurisdiction. However,training requirements and standards for sworn personnelbeyond the recruit level are widely divergent (where theyexist) across the Canadian public policing sector. Somepolice services may have internal training plans thatrecommend certain training programs and courses for

various positions and functions, butthese do not act as standards. Withinthe sector, stakeholders have notedthat systemic barriers to the forma-tion of national training standardsexist in the form of varying jurisdic-tional legislation and legal require-ments. However, it is important tonote that other occupations haveovercome these barriers to developnational standards – the CanadianNurses Association is one example.

Establishing training and develop-ment standards as a measurement ofprofessional excellence, does muchto add to the credibility of the organ-ization in the minds of independentobservers and clients. Therefore, iftraining is a major factor in estab-lishing greater professionalism


FIGURE 32

The Training Cycle

Evaluat ionPlanning

NeedsAnalys is

Des ign

DevelopDel iver

Adminis -trat ion

Evaluat ion

within the Canadian public policing sector, then consistentstandards could act as measures by which attainmentlevels are articulated clearly to the public, and provideproof that a measure of excellence and recognized aptitudehas been reached. When effective standards have beenestablished, training needs can be better communicated,analyzed and assessed. Additionally, standards couldprovide the benchmarks against which professionaldevelopment progress can be measured and performancemonitored.

Common minimum standards pave the way for greaterexploration of the possibilities afforded by collaborating todevelop training initiatives and share training resourcesand expertise across jurisdictions.

Even though national occupational and training standardscurrently do not exist within the Canadian public policingsector, many police services and police academies have orare in the process of defining competencies for swornpersonnel – these in the absence of national standardsallow individual police services to focus on outcomes ofperformance rather than on how a skill or ability isacquired, or knowledge is learned. A competency iscommonly regarded as a description of a skill one has toperform, or knowledge, ability or behaviour that one hasto demonstrate. Police services that have developedcompetency profiles can therefore use them to focus onwhat is expected of an employee in the workplace, rather

than on the learning process. In addition, defined compe-tencies enable the determination of training and otherperformance improvement interventions and facilitate thebasis for professional development and the delineation ofcareer paths. The RCMP for example, used their compe-tency model CAPRA, to develop their cadet-trainingprogram. Other police services are using their competencymodels to assist in planning training offerings and deter-mining needs – the knowledge, skills, abilities and attrib-utes sworn personnel require to do their work.

Another method that is commonly used to determinetraining needs is the use of professional developmentplans. These plans can be completed by individuals toreflect what training they would like to obtain to reachtheir career goals and aspirations, or by the organization toindicate at a high level, the training priorities of the policeservice. The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey revealed that66% of police services that responded (representing 90%of sworn officers) had formal training plans for swornpersonnel, while 41% of police services that responded(representing 77% of civilians) had formal training plansfor civilians (Figure 33).78 These percentages indicate thata number of police services have adopted this technique.However, despite the use of these mechanisms, interviewresponses collected from sworn personnel and civiliansduring the course of this study revealed that generally theyare not satisfied with how their training needs are beingaddressed.


Canadian Practices in the Development of TrainingStandards: The Canadian Nurses Association Canadian Nurses Association defines certification as a voluntaryand periodic process (recertification) by which an organizedprofessional body confirms that a registered nurse has demon-strated competence in a nursing specialty by having met prede-termined standards of that specialty. Recertification is inter-preted as renewal of certification.

The Purpose of Certification is Threefold:

• To promote excellence in nursing care for the people ofCanada through the establishment of national standards ofpractice in nursing specialty areas;

• To provide an opportunity for practitioners to confirm theircompetence in a specialty; and

• To identify through a recognized credential, those nursesmeeting the national standards of their specialty.

International Practices in Training Standards:Great Britain’s HM Inspectorate of Constabulary decided thattraining standards were needed within their jurisdiction toensure consistency and that training efforts were harnessedwithin the sector and placed within a national framework.1

They felt that such a strategy would enable them to take fulladvantage of all the training work currently under developmentand eliminate wasted and duplicated effort. To accomplish thisgoal, they proposed that a National Training Organization beset-up to:

• Set common standards for the service;

• Take advantage of the funds that can be drawn down toundertake research and development in finding new andinnovative training solutions; and

• Enable advantage to be taken of the work and the relevantstandards already set for many aspect of the training andhuman resource function.

It is important to note that the accurate identification oftraining needs on a macro and individual basis is key tothe achievement of police service goals. Failure to correctlyidentify needs can result in a substantial waste of resourcesand frustration among personnel.

b Design, Development and DeliveryPolice services have contributed to the design, develop-ment and delivery of police training programs at nationaland provincial police academies in Canada. This coopera-tion has led to the development of training solutions thatmeet the general needs of police services. However, forlocalized training needs, individual police services havetraditionally offered their own internal training, partici-pated in training initiatives with other police services thathave experts in a specific subject matter area or technique,or looked to training suppliers outside of the public policesector. This has resulted in a great deal of individual effortbeing expended by the Canadian public policing sector inthe area of training – instead of leveraging resources andcapitalizing on economies of scale. In addition to the greatdeal of effort being expended on training, there are seriousquestions regarding whether the “one size fits all” trainingdesign model within the public police sector is the mosteffective and affordable approach to learning. More indi-vidualized approaches to training are increasingly provingto be effective and affordable – especially those that opti-mize technological capabilities.


International Practices in Training:Great Britain’s HM Inspectorate of Constabulary faced a similarproblem in the area of fragmented training offerings and dupli-cation and recommended that solutions to this issue in theirjurisdiction may include :

• Development of a national strategy for police training thataddressed the needs of all services yet is flexible enough totake account of local needs; and

• Requirement of services to subscribe to the nationalapproach to police training.

Great Britain’s HM Inspector recommended in their 1999 reportManaging Learning that:

• The tripartite partners responsible for police trainingdevelop a national human resource and national trainingstrategy, which take account of all the needs of the Service.

• The Home Office explores mechanisms to ensure that,where police training has been designed in accordancewith the national strategy, forces subscribe to the nationaltraining provision.

FIGURE 33

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn

Services Officers

Source: PwC Survey

66%

34%

90%

10%

% of Police Services that have a FormalTraining Plan for Sworn Officers

No

Yes

FIGURE 34

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn

Services Officers

Source: PwC Survey

41%

59%

77%

23%

% of Police Services that have a FormalTraining Plan Covering Civilians

No

Yes

Most training curricula within the public police sectortakes a traditional approach to learning –a topic or an areaof content is presented, followed by example scenarioswhich are related to that specific content area to reinforcelearning. Some training academies are gradually adoptinga more integrated approach to learning. The RCMP CadetTraining curriculum for example, addresses issues of law,policy, procedures, ethics, and population diversity in anintegrated way, presenting material in the context of anunfolding scenario presented to students. Integratedapproaches to learning move students away from focusingsolely on the content to developing an overall under-standing of the process and preparedness to make deci-sions. Information is changing daily and knowledge isdoubling approximately every 11 hours. Police trainingsuppliers need to focus on the development of curriculathat teaches individuals where and how to find the bestpossible information and knowledge as efficiently aspossible. This learner-centered approach teachespersonnel how to hone their decision-making skills andprovides them with the opportunity to develop criticalthinking skills, innovative thinking patterns, continuouslearning and knowledge management capacity, flexibilityand adaptability. None of these complex skills can betaught in isolation in a classroom environment.

Because all people learn in different ways, it is widelyrecognized and accepted that there is no “best” way todeliver training. However, greater use can and must bemade of the range of training delivery options available ifthe policing sector is to realize a maximum return on theinvestment they make in training.

Given the continued predominance of traditional class-room-based training and the limited amount of distancelearning and computer-based training currently takingplace, as illustrated in Figure 3579, there is an evolutionneeded in the Canadian public policing sector towards thegreater use of alternative learning methods. Such methodsas understudy (also known as job-shadowing) andsecondment for development purposes are also currentlyunder-utilized within the sector according to thePricewaterhouseCoopers survey of police services (Figure35). As noted in the Sector Context and OperatingEnvironment chapters of this report, the ageing Canadianpopulation and the forecasted high attrition rate of swornpersonnel in the public police service requires that policeservices focus on the need to move towards just in-timelearning to meet learning and development requirementsfor the future. Further information on how Canadian

police training academies deliver training can be found intheir individual tables presented earlier in this chapter.

Training and development literature suggests that anevolution towards greater use of non-traditional learningmethods and technological training solutions must beaccompanied by clear organizational policies and seniormanagement support.

Another important aspect of training delivery is ensuringwider accessibility to the courses and programs thatpersonnel require to stay at maximum efficiency. Thisinvolves reducing economic, time and workloadconstraints which can act as barriers to prevent personnelfrom taking training.

Interviews conducted during the course of this studyrevealed that many police service personnel feel that thevariety of training opportunities that are currently beingoffered meets their general needs – but that availability didnot necessarily mean they could obtain adequate training.They noted that accessibility barriers exist in the form ofcosts and the time commitment required.

Interviewees noted that training offered outside of theirpolice services can be expensive. Airfare and accommoda-tion costs, on top of the registration fees, often result inpersonnel either not attending, partially paying for thetraining themselves, or prioritizing what training initiativesthey can afford to take rather than what they want to take.

Interviewees also noted that the time commitment neces-sary to attend training can also be a barrier. Personnelcommented that work comes before training and that thisconcept applies to training offered inside and outside ofthe individual police service, including training that can beaccessed by the individual via CD ROMs, the Internet andcomputer-based training.

The process for selecting candidates to attend training canalso present accessibility issues. Within the Canadianpublic police service, numerous courses and programsrequire pre-requisites in the form of previous training,experience, or occupation of a particular job or position.Because some courses require that the individual bealready working in a specific area or discipline, those whowould like to take these courses for career developmentpurposes are often not eligible to attend.

One of the most important roles in delivering training isthat of the trainers themselves. Police officers, formerpolice officers, private consultants, and university andcollege professors under contract, often teach courses at


the various Canadian public policing training facilities.Attention must be paid to ensuring that these trainers areappropriately selected, trained and qualified to teach givenareas of expertise. Often, trainers within the Canadianpublic policing sector volunteer to teach a course orcompete through a selection process to be seconded as aninstructor. It is important to note however, that the bestwill only continue to put themselves forward for selectionif there is a sufficient challenge to be met and they perceivethat the status, rewards and recognition afforded to themreflects the responsibility of the role that they are beingcalled upon to perform.

b Administration and EvaluationOften the administration function needed to support thedelivery of training is provided by the facility offering thetraining. Whether it is a police academy or training insti-tution providing the training, their own staff look aftercoordinating the registrations and logistics of the sessions.If it is a police service that is providing the training,responsibility for coordinating the sessions often falls onthe training department, training co-ordinator, or in somecases, the human resources department. Often the tracking

of enrolments and registrations is not linked to the othercomponents of the training cycle, such as planning andevaluation. Ensuring all these areas are more fully inte-grated would go a long way to facilitating individual plan-ning activities and needs analysis.

Generally, the onus is on the individual training candidateto sign-up for training courses and programs. Most policeservices require that these requests are first approved bya supervisor and/or human resources to ensure that thetraining is appropriate and that sufficient funding isavailable.

A key component of any training initiative is evaluation.Training evaluations provide organizations with feedbackon whether the training has achieved the objectives andgoals it was designed to meet. In the Canadian publicpolicing service, evaluation of training courses andprograms often takes the form of participant feedbackcollected immediately after the training session has beencompleted. Feedback of this nature is known as reactivefeedback as it only collects information on whether theparticipant liked the session. The most useful evaluation


FIGURE 35

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Train-the- In-house Mentoring Computer- Understudy Distance Police College or Other

Trainer Classroom & Field based & Secondment Learning College University

Source: PwC Survey

83%

95%

67%

98%

44%

74%

27%

53%

29%

69%

26%

58%

95%100%

61%

95%

10%1%

Percentage of Training Methods Police Services Used or Paid for in the Last Year

Police Services Sworn Officers

feedback is based on behaviour and results. Evaluationsthat determine if the training has been transferred to thejob and whether the training has resulted in improvementsto on-the-job performance provide organizations with asense of whether or not the training program has delivereda return on investment. As police services adopt compe-tencies as a framework around which changes in skills,knowledge and abilities can be measured, there will begreater opportunities to move towards more performance-based training evaluations.

Learning and Development Requirementsfor Future Policing IssuesAs noted throughout this chapter, learning and develop-ment is an area in which the public policing sector hasinvested a great deal of financial, time and human resourceeffort. Despite these efforts, PricewaterhouseCooperssurvey revealed that only 81% of responding police serv-ices (representing 62% of sworn officers and 59% of allemployees) were able to deliver all training mandated bylegislation in the past year (Figure 36). Although thepercentage that could deliver seems high, the inability of

some police services to deliver legally mandated trainingcould have serious implications. Sworn personnel play asignificant role in upholding the peace and order insociety, and have placed upon them a great deal of respon-sibilities. Without the proper training, some swornpersonnel may not be operating within the lawwith regards to policies and practices and could beleaving themselves open to dangerous situations andcircumstances.

Police services that indicated, in the PricewaterhouseCooperssurvey, that they were unable to provide legally mandatedtraining, cited a number of reasons why training was notcompleted. These reasons included staff shortages, budgetcuts and unavailable courses (Figure 37). Clearly, with theincreasing complexities of the policing world, solutionsmust be found to remove barriers that prevent policeemployees from obtaining the training necessary to notonly continue to do their jobs, but to provide the highquality service that the public expects and is demanding.

The public policing sector needs to start to proactivelydefine the strategic direction for police training in thelong term. Police services are starting to work towardsthis with the development of competency frameworksthat are linked to such aspects of the training cycle as the


FIGURE 36

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0Police Sworn All


81%

19% 38%

59%

41%

Percentage of Police Services Able to Deliver allTraining Mandated by Legislation in the Past Year

No

Yes

62%

Source: PwC Survey

FIGURE 37

9%

8%

7%

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0Police Civilian

Services Employees

Note: Percentages may add up to more than 100% as multiple responses were possible.Source: PwC Survey

Major Reasons Training was Not Completed

StaffShortage

BugetCuts

CourseUnavailable

7%

2%

8%

1%

3%

1%

determination of needs, the design and delivery of coursesand evaluation. Significantly though, all of this effort isbeing conducted outside of a national strategy for policetraining and training standards. If the public policingsector is going to address changing skills, knowledge andabilities that employees will require to work in the contin-uously evolving and complex world of policing, it isimportant that these changes be accommodated within anational strategy for police training and training standards.

Significant effort will be needed amongst the variouslearning and development stakeholders to ensure thattraining within the public policing sector keeps pace withthe changing world of policing – particularly the shift froma police-centered to a client-centered culture. This repre-sents a significant cultural and behavioural change, forwhich new values and ethics must be consistently inte-grated across all learning opportunities.

More collaborative training efforts within the sector arerequired to address the steady pace of change. This sectorstudy sets the stage for broader collaboration, sharing andthe creation of alliances to leverage the learning and devel-opment strengths that exist across Canada.


National Strategy

KNOWLEDGE AREA LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

Management and Communication skillsOrganizational Knowledge Facilitation skills

Team work and leadership skills

Knowledge management and transfer skills

Business planning and management skills

Change management skills

Personal and organizational development skills

Basic Knowledge Ethics and professionalism

Problem solving and analytical skills

Oral and written communication skills

Second and foreign language skills

Understanding and appreciation for differences in cultural or ethnic group activities

Knowledge of other agencies and networking skills

Technical Knowledge Computer hardware and software skills

Policing-related technology skills

Knowledge related to Policing Activities Detailed knowledge of police practices, regulations and legislation

Community policing knowledge

Knowledge of specialized policing disciplines


Future Directions for the Canadian Public Policing Sector

The main objective of this study is to provide a vehicle forpositive change. This final chapter of the report presentsthe priorities and recommendations identified by theCommittee to provide direction for the development of ahuman resource strategy for the Canadian Public PolicingSector. It should be noted that the recommendations inthis report are intended to be useful and relevant to thevarious police jurisdictions in Canada and to be adaptedby them for their use where relevant. They are not,however, intended to be prescriptive or obligatory withrespect to any particular jurisdiction.

PRIORITY: Attracting the next generation oftalent for policing organizations

Effectiveness of the attraction of talent to the police sectoris a critical factor in ensuring the on-going effectiveness ofpolice services. The impact of the ageing police workforce,the need for a representative workforce, new policing skillsrequired to respond to the changing environment and theincreased competition for some specialist skills will requirepolice services to rethink and adapt their recruitmentactivities.

In the past, police services easily attracted large numbersof candidates due to the high profile of the Sector and theappeal of policing as a career choice. In order to screen thelarge numbers of applications and to ensure that they wereselecting candidates who would be suited to a policingcareer, multiple selection mechanisms had been developedand tested to ensure their validity and reliability.Traditionally, the focus for recruitment in the PolicingSector was one of selection – selecting qualified individ-uals from among many applicants. This meant that policeservices invested large amounts of time and money to sortthrough applications in order to identify qualified candi-dates. This focus on selection assumes there will continueto be enough applicants to satisfy demand and that theseapplicants possess the skills required. It is also based onthe assumption that police constables, once hired, can betrained to acquire specialist skills as the source for special-ized expertise within the police service.

Given the anticipated retirements over the next five yearsand the fact that, as with other Sectors, police services willincreasingly be competing with the broader labour market,

there is a concern that the Police Sector will no longer beable to rely on recruitment methods that assume anadequate applicant pool. Competing in a dynamic labourmarket to attract specialist skills, visible minorities andwomen requires employing a proactive approach torecruitment that actively seeks out potential candidates,and requires an open and flexible work culture to attract adiverse range of candidates. The increasing need forspecialized skills will also require a more flexible andcreative approach to how police services obtain them. Theshift in focus will need to include employment of civilianspecialists as well as police officers, in a variety of employ-ment arrangements – full time, temporary, part time, or feefor service contracts.

Proactive recruitment focuses on screening potentialcandidates into the applicant pool through increasingefforts to attract the new skills that are needed. This repre-sents a shift from the current method of screening candi-dates out of the applicant pool. Continuing to rely onpassive attraction activities will leave the sector at risk ofnot creating the workforce it requires.

The anticipated retirements over the next few years andthe resulting increase in the number of new recruits to behired to fill vacant positions, will also have an impact onthe training facilities across the country. Training facilitieswill have to re-examine their enrolment capacities toensure that they are able to train the number of newrecruits that police services will require in the near future.

As such the Steering Committee recommends that thepolice sector:

• Develop a sector-wide strategy to attract public policeand support personnel.

• Develop new mechanisms to attract candidates to meetrequirements for diversity and to retain these candi-dates once hired.

• Develop new strategies to retain talent in the policing sector.

• Develop new methods of acquiring specialist skills, toinclude civilians as well as police officers, through avariety of employment arrangements – full time, parttime, temporary, or fee for service contracts.

• Remove barriers to entering public policing, includingthe financing of initial training.

• Develop national standards for physical and otherentry requirements.

Recommendations

• Increase recruit mobility through initiatives such asmutual recognition of the equivalency of qualificationsfrom various jurisdictions.

• Develop a national media strategy to highlight thepositive aspects of policing to attract qualified recruits.

PRIORITY: Increasing Sector-wide Efficiencies

The jurisdictional framework for public policing inCanada means that, although there are similarities inPolice Services across the country, there are distinct differ-ences in how police services are organized and how theyoperate. While recognizing and respecting jurisdictionaldifferences is essential, the Steering Committee has identi-fied that the sector has created barriers along these juris-dictional lines that have resulted in duplication of effortsand created some inefficiencies among the jurisdictions.

For example, requirements for police education haveevolved differently in each jurisdiction. Each jurisdictionhas developed its own approach to police education,including the creation of separate police academies, andthe responsibility for design, development and delivery ofpolice curriculum within each of the jurisdictions. Giventhat the criminal code forms a common base for policing,there is significant similarity in core skill and knowledgerequirements for police across the country. However, eachjurisdiction spends a great deal of time and money on thedevelopment and maintenance of police training and educa-tion that could otherwise be shared among jurisdictions.

Other public sectors, such as the Health Care Sector, havefaced similar challenges in working in a jurisdictionalframework. For instance, nursing is governed by a varietyof legislation requirements across jurisdictions in Canada,however the various provincial governing bodies haveworked together to create a system that helps to maximizeefficiencies and reduce duplication of effort through thedevelopment of national competency standards.

Police academies and police services have been collabo-rating on an informal basis. For example, under theauspices of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, aproject was coordinated by the Ontario Police College, theCanadian Police College and the Learning andDevelopment Unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police(RCMP), which brought together federal, provincial andmunicipal police representatives. These representativesdeveloped a national framework for the use of force. Thework was supported by chiefs of police from across thecountry. To date, this type of collaboration has been theexception rather than the rule.

The absence of harmonized training and educational stan-dards limit the extent and actual economic benefits ofcollaboration. While standards themselves will not elimi-nate duplication, they provide police services and thevarious jurisdictions with the foundation for sharingresources particularly in, but not limited to, the design,development and even the delivery of education andtraining.

Increased collaboration across polices services can supportmore than training and development. In order to betterrecruit, police services can jointly develop attraction strate-gies, products and tools among jurisdictions and amongpolice services within a jurisdiction which will help todefray the costs of such new activities. In addition, collab-oration across jurisdictions can also support the develop-ment of strategies to address new and evolving types ofcrime, particularly national and international criminalactivities.

The Steering Committee has identified a number ofrecommendations that are aimed at improving the sharingof information, practices and methodologies across juris-dictions and police services. In particular the SteeringCommittee recommends that the police sector:

• Explore co-operative ventures between publiclyfunded training and education institutions.

• Develop a Sector toolbox or repository of best practicesin human resource management, which could bedrawn on by police services across Canada.

• Create a national human resource group under theauspices of the national police service to do futurework on the Sector toolbox and other Sector-widehuman resource initiatives.

• Develop competency profiles and training standardsfor all jobs in policing, including specialist andmanagement functions, executives, recruits, auxiliariesand volunteers.

• Increase collaboration across police services for thedesign and delivery of training for skills and knowl-edge that are common to policing across jurisdictions

• Develop protocols governing the human resourceaspects of police service takeovers in order to minimizeuncertainty and facilitate transitions.

• Develop an internet-based learning resource accessibleto police across Canada that would enable just-in-timelearning. This learning resource should be appropri-ately funded so that financial barriers do not limitaccess to content.


• Continue to provide assistance and support for thedelivery of training for police governance bodies andpolice personnel so they can understand and carry outtheir respective legislated roles effectively.

PRIORITY: Improving the Police Sector’sHuman Resource Planning Capacity

It was widely recognized throughout this study that publicpolice services in Canada would continue to face achanging environment. Changes in the demographicprofile of the population, new and emerging types of crimeand the impact of technology, for example, are, and willcontinue affecting public policing in Canada. Many in theSector have expressed concern over the accelerating paceof change and the ability of public police services torespond adequately and effectively. Changes to the envi-ronment in which police must operate will likely impactthe type of services, the mode of delivery and humanresources required in the Policing Sector.

The Steering Committee recognized the need and impor-tance of improving the ability of police services to respondand adapt to new and emerging service delivery models.The cost and time required for identifying new servicedelivery models and measuring their impact on HRrequirements can be overwhelming for individual policeservices. In addition, the primary focus for police servicesmust be on front line service delivery, which limits theextent of resources that can be allocated to adapting tochange.

The challenge is in balancing the resources betweenservice delivery for current needs and identifying andreadying resources in order to respond to future needs.While this is a critical dilemma shared with other sectorswithin Canada, it remains critical for police services to beprepared to respond to new and evolving environmentalchanges.

Developing and improving the capacity of police servicesto plan their human resources strategically is a key elementin ensuring that the Sector as a whole is ready and able torespond to a changing operating and external environ-ment. However, this requires more than just committing tobetter HR planning. There must be renewed importancegiven to the role of strategic HR planning, establishingvehicles for strategy development and developing tools tosupport HR planning, such as planning models, andinformation systems.

HR planning, at both local and national levels, requires anunderstanding of the current human resource configura-tions in the police service, including the ages, years ofservice, mode of employment, skills and experience,retirement entitlements, and employment equity charac-teristics of the human resource base. While few wouldquestion the necessity of HR strategy and planning, manypolice services are not well equipped with human resourcedatabases that will provide the type of information neces-sary for effective HR planning.

Another key element of HR planning for police services isensuring the adequacy of deployable resources. Like manyother Sectors in which emergency response is a keycomponent of the work, police services are continuallybeing challenged with what is the appropriate level ofresourcing. While there has been some progress on thedevelopment of personnel strength assessment tools insome regions, the Sector is not yet equipped with anyformal personnel strength assessment guidelines andmethodologies to assist in HR planning.

The Steering Committee has identified a number of recom-mendations that are aimed at improving planning withinpolice services. In particular, the Steering Committeerecommends that the police sector:

• Develop strategies for succession planning and execu-tive development that can be drawn on by policeservices across the country.

• Develop a computer model to project attrition / retire-ment that can be used by police agencies to projecthiring needs.

• Conduct an overall review of the ability of policetraining institutions to accommodate projectedtraining demands including supply / demand forecast.

• Develop models for determining police staffingrequirements.

• Ensure that changes to cost-shared policing agree-ments (for example RCMP 90/10 or 70/30) are negoti-ated in a timely manner to ensure that the humanresource impacts are addressed.

• Resolve issues of quality and consistency in statisticsabout policing, including human resource informationand other data relevant to planning and performanceevaluation.


PRIORITY: Improving labour-management relations

Although the labour-relations climate in most police serv-ices has changed very little in the past few years, there havebeen some significant improvements in some organiza-tions. These improvements can generally be attributed toincreased communication between management andlabour and to proven approaches to contract negotiationsuch as interest-based bargaining and other similar tech-niques. Many police services have established a joint-labour management committee to try to improve commu-nications between management, the rank-and-file officersand in some cases, civilian employees. These committeeshelp to create a more collaborative approach to solvingproblems. New bargaining approaches such as interest-based bargaining have also proven helpful in improvingunderstanding and cooperation between labour andmanagement. Some police services have used thisapproach in the latest round of contract negotiations withsome success.

While labour-management relations have improved insome police services, there is evidence that in others, rela-tions between management and labour have becomeincreasingly strained and adversarial. These strained rela-tions are due to a number of factors that vary from onepolice service to the next, but in general, they can beattributed to contract disputes, externally imposed budgetrestraints and disagreements over management appoint-ments and adequate staffing.

The Steering Committee recognizes that while someprogress has been made in improving labour-managementrelations, there still remains some work to be done tocreate a less adversarial climate in contract negotiations.The Steering Committee members therefore recommendthe following:

• Develop mechanisms to aid police, management andassociations in moving their labour relations from amore adversarial to cooperative relationship.

PRIORITY: Increasing funding and resources

The Canadian public policing sector, like many othersectors, has experienced a considerable number of inter-related economic and fiscal pressures over the past fewyears. These pressures have culminated in resourceconstraints for police services across Canada. At the sametime, both the amount and the complexity of police workhave increased due to a combination of influences such asnew technology pressures, increasing administrative work,changing roles demanded by community policing andother trends. When these influences are combined withthe budget freezes and/or cutbacks that have affected thesector over time, this increased scope of policing meansthat “everyone is doing more with less”. The Federation ofCanadian Municipalities has raised the concern that withone source of revenue (property tax), Canadian munici-palities cannot sustain increased policing costs ofaddressing national and international crime, as well asproviding policing service at the local level.

The Steering Committee members therefore recommendthat the policing sector:

• Conduct a review of mechanisms for financing publicpolicing across Canada, including the roles of thevarious levels of government in providing funds.

In addition to the other recommendations in this report,the Steering Committee recognizes that implementing anyrecommendations stemming from this Human ResourceStrategic Analysis will require dedicated and specializedresources. As such, the Steering Committee recommendsthat:

• A working group be established in order to promotethe implementation of these recommendations onbehalf of the sector;

• Funding be provided for the working group in order tohelp them implement the recommendations proposedin this report.



b APPENDIX A

Steering Committee Members

Chairpersons

Ms. Nancy Caney Mr. Dale KinnearCommander Director of Labour ServicesHuman Resources Bureau Canadian Police AssociationOntario Provincial Police Ottawa, OntarioOrillia, Ontario

Members

Appendices

Ms. Noreen AlleyneDirectorOntario Police CollegeAylmer, Ontario

Mr. Phil ArbingProvincial AdvisorJustice and CorrectionsOffice of the Attorney GeneralCharlottetown, PEI

Mr. James C. BeaverExecutive Director Police and Public Safety Services,Nova Scotia Department of JusticeHalifax, Nova Scotia

Mr. Kevin BeggDirectorPolice Services Division, British Columbia Provincial

GovernmentVictoria, British Columbia

Mr. Harper BoucherCommanding Officer “F” DivisionRCMPRegina, Saskatchewan

Ms. Lenna BradburnFormer ChiefGuelph Police ServiceGuelph, Ontario

Mr. Simon BradfordPresident Ontario Association of Police

EducatorsOrillia, Ontario

Mr. Tony CannavinoPresidentAssociation de policiers

provinciaux du QuébecSte-Julie, Québec

Mr. Les ChipperfieldPresidentCanadian Association

of Police EducatorsHamilton, Ontario

Mr. John ClarkDirectorPolicing Policy DivisionSolicitor General CanadaOttawa, Ontario

Mr. Michael ConnollyDirector of Policing ServicesSolicitor General DepartmentFredericton, New Brunswick

Mr. Robert DavidsonNational RepresentativeCanadian Union of Public

EmployeesSaint John, New Brunswick

Mr. Ted DoncasterPresidentNew Brunswick Police Association Sackville, New Brunswick

Mr. James DrennanFormer Chief AdministratorOntario Provincial Police

AssociationBarrie, Ontario

Mr. Warren DuthieSenior AnalystSectoral and Occupational

Studies DivisionHRDCOttawa, Ontario

Mr. Lonnie DynnaAssistant DirectorSaskatchewan Police CollegeRegina, Saskatchewan

Ms. Wendy FedecExecutive DirectorCanadian Association of

Police BoardsOttawa, Ontario

Ms. Dorothy FranklinFormerly with the Law

Enforcement DivisionSolicitor GeneralOttawa, Ontario


Ms. Louise Gagnon-GaudreauDirector GeneralÉcole nationale de police du QuébecNicolet, Québec

Mr. William GibsonDirector, Human ResourcesToronto Police Service,Toronto, Ontario

Dr. Frum HimelfarbOfficer in ChargeLearning and Development Branch,Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceOttawa, Ontario

Ms. Lise HodgsonProject AdministratorCanadian Association of

Chiefs of Police

Dr. Murray KnuttilaDean of ArtsUniversity of ReginaRegina, Saskatchewan

Mr. Ron Lewis Divisional Staff Relations

Representative,RCMP HeadquartersOttawa, Ontario

Ms. Madeleine LussierDirectorSûreté du QuébecMontreal, Québec

Dr. Randy MackoffProfessorFaculty of Criminology,Douglas CollegeNew Westminster, British Columbia

Mr. Bryan McConnellExecutive DirectorCanadian Association of Chiefs of

PoliceOttawa, Ontario

Mr. John McLaughlinSenior ConsultantPublic Safety DivisionNew Brunswick GovernmentFredericton, New Brunswick

Ms. Magda MitilineosProject AdministratorCanadian Association of

Chiefs of PoliceOttawa, Ontario

Mr. Paul Noble Legal CounselNewfoundland Department

of Justice,Royal Newfoundland ConstabularySt. John’s, Newfoundland

Mr. Eric PerreaultAnalystSectoral and Occupational


Mr. Murray SawatskyDirector Saskatchewan Justice,Saskatchewan Police CommissionRegina, Saskatchewan

Mr. John SchmalAldermanCity of Calgary2nd V.P., Federation of Canadian

MunicipalitiesCalgary, Alberta

Mr. Donald SmithProgram CoordinatorTechniques policières Cégep de Trois-RivièresTrois-Rivières, Québec

Dr. David SunaharaManagerResearch and Development Branch,Canadian Police CollegeOttawa, Ontario

Mr. Al SwimExecutive DirectorAtlantic Police AcademySummerside, Prince Edward Island

Dr. Gene SwimmerProfessor School of Public Administration,Carleton UniversityOttawa, Ontario

Ms. Lynne TwardoskyChief SuperintendentRCMP Training, AcademyDepot DivisionRegina, Saskatchewan

Ms. Kathleen WalfordFormer Senior Analyst Sectoral and Occupational


Mr. Steve Watt Director, Police Academy Justice Institute of British ColumbiaNew Westminster, British Columbia

b APPENDIX B


Site Visit List for Strategic HR Study of Public Policing in Canada

PROVINCE POLICE SERVICE TRAINING INSTITUTE

Newfoundland Royal Newfoundland Constabulary

New Brunswick Saint John City Police Service

Fredericton Police Service

Nova Scotia Tantalon, RCMP

Bridgewater Police Service

Halifax Regional Police Services

Prince Edward Island Summerside Police Service Atlantic Police Academy (Holland College)

Québec Sûreté du Québec (HQ) École nationale de police du Québec

Service de police de Jonquière Cégep de Trois-Rivières

Service de police de la communauté urbaine de Montréal (SPCUM)

Service de la sécurité publique de Trois-Rivières

Montreal, RCMP

Ontario Toronto Police Services C.O. Bick Police College

Ontario Provincial Police, Orillia Canadian Police College

Ottawa – Carleton Regional Police Services Ontario Police College

RCMP Headquarters, Ottawa Ontario Provincial Police Training Academy

London RCMP Algonquin College

Brockville Police Service

North Bay Police Service

Manitoba Winkler Police Service

Winnipeg Police Service

Saskatchewan Regina Police Service RCMP Training Academy

Weyburn Police Service Saskatchewan Police College (University of Regina)

Alberta Calgary Police Service Mount Royal Community College

Drumheller RCMP

Lethbridge Police Service

Fort McMurray, RCMP

British Columbia Vancouver Police Department Justice Institute of British Columbia

Surrey, RCMP Douglas College

Saanich Police Department

Territories Iqaluit, RCMP

Whitehorse, RCMP

Yellowknife, RCMP


Participant List for Strategic HR Study of Public Policing in Canada, by Number, Organization and Type

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary 1 4 5 3

Saint John City Police Service 1 1 2 4 4 5

Fredericton Police Force 1 1 1 4 2

Tantalon RCMP 1 1 5

Bridgewater Police Service 1 1 2 1

Halifax Regional Police Services 1 1 4 4 3 4

Summerside Police Service 1 1 1 3

Atlantic Police Academy (Holland College) 2

Sûreté du Québec 1 2 1 18 10 6*

Service de police de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal (SPCUM) 1 1 1 17 5 4

Service de la sécurité publique de Trois-Rivières 1 1 2 4 2

Services de police de Jonquière 1 1 2 17 5

Montreal RCMP 2 1 2 8 9

Institut de police du Québec 5 12

Cégep de Trois-Rivières 3 9

Toronto Police Services 2 1 1 9 6 5

Ontario Provincial Police, Orillia 1 1 7 10 10 2 10

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police 1 1 4 10 5

RCMP Headquarters, Ottawa 1 2 2 1

London RCMP Detachment 2 8 8

North Bay Police Force 1 2 1 5 8

Brockville Police Services 1 1 2 2 2 3

Ontario Police College 2 12

Algonquin College 1 8

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Participant List for Strategic HR Study of Public Policing in Canada, by Number, Organization and Type

C.O. Bick Police College 1 8

Ontario Provincial Police Training Academy 2 6

Canadian Police College 7 2

Winkler Police Service 1 2 1

Winnipeg Police Service 1 1 3 9 9 8

Weyburn Police Service 1 1 9 2

Regina Police Service 1 2 1 5 8 6

RCMP Training Academy 4 8

Saskatchewan Police College 1 6

University of Regina

Calgary Police Service 1 4 4 28 7 8

Lethbridge Police Service 1 1 4 13 4 2

Fort McMurray RCMP Detachment 2 13 6 3

Drumheller RCMP Detachment 1 2 1 2

Mount Royal Community College 1 5

Vancouver Police Service 1 1 16 15 10

Surrey RCMP Detachment 1 2 10 9 4 2

Saanich Police Services 1 1 3 6 5 5 2

Justice Institute of BC 1 10

Douglas College 4 9

Iqaluit RCMP Detachment 1 1 3 1

Whitehorse RCMP Detachment 1 2 2 5 6 3

Yellowknife RCMP Detachment 1 1 4 1

Total 35 33 62 258 156 63 33 35 95

* At the Sûreté du Québec, auxiliaries are temporary officers.

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b APPENDIX CHuman Resources Survey of Public Police Services


General Survey Instructions

1. Numbers of employees throughout this survey refers to the actual number of full-time and permanent part-time employeeson the personnel roster. Do NOT include temporary or casual workers who are not employed on a permanent basis.

2. Convert permanent part-time employees to a full-time equivalent. For example, four permanent part-time workerswho each work ten hours a week would be considered one full-time employee.

3. Ensure that the sub-totals are completed for Total Police Officers and Total Special Constables and Civilian Personnel.These two lines are then added together for Total Personnel.


Question 5: Actual Personnel as of Reference Date (rounded to the nearest full-time equivalent)

Police Officers: Include only fully-sworn, active police officers and constables. Do not include police on long-term disability.

Senior Officers This includes personnel who have obtained senior officer status, normally at the rank of lieutenant or higher, such as chiefs,deputy chiefs, staff superintendents, superintendents, staff inspectors, inspectors, lieutenants, and other equivalent ranks.

Non-Commissioned Officers Include personnel between the rank of constable and lieutenant, such as staff-sergeants, sergeants, detective-sergeants,corporals and all equivalent ranks.

Constables All classes of constables, except Special Constables are included in this category. Special Constables are included underSpecial Constables and Civilian Personnel as they are not fully-sworn police officers.

Total Police Provide the total number of police officers for each gender and the total number of all police officers on the force. Thisgrand total is the total current police strength for the department as of the reference date.

Special Constables and Civilian Personnel: Include all full-time and permanent part-time special constables and civilian personnel who are paid from the police department’s budget. Exclude special constables and civilian personnel that the municipality supplies at no charge.

Native Special Constables Native special constables are personnel with limited law enforcement authority. They provide a restrictive policing role withinaboriginal communities and act as liaison between fully-sworn police officers and aboriginal members of the community.Many of the Native Special Constables were part of the Native Special Constable Program that was sponsored by the R.C.M.P.

Security Officers / Guards Includes special constables employed as court security officers and other security guards who provide security for personsin custody and in court.

By-Law Enforcement Officers This category includes special constables with authority to enforce municipal by-laws such as parking control officers.Do NOT include officers paid by the municipality.

Cadets / Trainees Includes all paid personnel engaged in training programs intended to enable them to achieve the status of fully-swornconstables, but who have not yet achieved that status. This category excludes fully-sworn police officers on in-servicetraining programs.

Communications – Dispatch This category includes all civilian dispatchers, telephone switchboard operators, call evaluators and complaint takers. Theseresponsibilities may be assigned to separate individuals in larger forces, while one person may be responsible for all of theabove tasks in a smaller force.

Management / Professionals This category includes civilians in any of the following positions: managers, administrators, systems/ computer analysts,scientists, and other skilled civilian personnel.

Clerical Support This category includes all civilian personnel who perform clerical support, secretarial or reception duties.

School Crossing Guards This category includes paid personnel who are assigned to ensure the safety of children while they are crossing intersections.As school crossing guards tend to work on a part time basis (eg. 3-4 hours per day and for about three quarters of the year),please convert the number of school crossing guards to their full time equivalent taking into consideration the number of hoursworked per day and the number of months worked per year. The following formula could be used for the example above:Actual number of school crossing guards x 0.5 x 0.75 = full time equivalent.

Other Include all other special constable or civilian personnel not counted in the above categories. Examples of personnel in this(please specify) category are blue-collar workers, mechanics, and building maintenance personnel. Total Special Constables and Civilian

Personnel Provide the total number of special constables and civilian personnel for each gender and the total number of allspecial constables and civilian personnel on the force. This is the total current special constable and civilian strength for thedepartment as of the reference date.

Total Personnel This is the total of all personnel by gender and the grand total of all personnel.


Question 6: Authorized Strength as of the Reference Date

Authorized Police Officer StrengthReport the number of fully-sworn police officers the police department is allowed to employ this calendar or fiscal year. This number is independent of the actual number of police officers on strength on thereference date in question 5.

Question 7: Other Police Services Roles

Auxiliary / Reserve Police PersonnelAn auxiliary or reserve member is a law enforcement assistant who works, on a volunteer basis, under thesupervision of a regular member of a police force and whose involvement in law enforcement is limited under the terms oftheir appointment. Generally, reserve/auxiliary police personnel are restricted from involvement in direct enforcement.

Casual / Temporary Police OfficersThis category includes all paid, casual (non-permanent) sworn police officers who have full law enforcementauthority. These individuals do not occupy authorized positions or person-years and as a result are excluded from the policepersonnel counts. This category includes employees who because of the casual or temporary nature of their employmentmay not qualify for benefits such as sick leave or vacation leave. These workers are generally on an “on-call list” and canbe called in to replace permanent police officers when needed. Permanent part-time police officers who work on a regularschedule should be excluded from this count and included in the personnel counts for question 5.

Casual / Temporary Civilians This category includes all paid, casual (non-permanent) civilian workers. These individuals do not occupy authorized posi-tions or person years and as a result are excluded from the civilian personnel counts. This category includes employees whobecause of the casual or temporary nature of their employment may not qualify for benefits such as sick leave or vacationleave. These workers are generally on an “on-call list” and can be called to replace permanent civilian personnel whenneeded. Permanent part-time civilian employees who work on a regular schedule should be excluded from this count andincluded in the personnel counts in question 5.

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1 Ceyssens Paul, Legal Aspects of Policing, Earl’s Court Press Inc., 1994.

2 Many different terms have been used to refer to community policingconcepts, including community-based policing, community-orientedpolicing, and others. For the sake of simplicity and consistency, thisreport uses the term community policing to refer to these concepts.

3 Richard Linden, “Future demographics and their influence on crimeand security”, paper presented at the National Conference on Policeand Private Security, Toronto, Nov. 30, 1999.

4 Richard A. Loreto, “The Functions of Police and Private Security in aChanging World”, paper presented at the National Conference onPolice and Private Security, Toronto, Nov. 27, 1999.

5 Richard Linden, “Future demographics and their influence on crimeand security”, paper presented at the National Conference on Policeand Private Security, Toronto, Nov. 30, 1999.

6 Peter Walton, Multicultural Policing, Policing in British ColumbiaCommission of Inquiry, 1994

7 William Doerner and Terry Nowell, “The Reliability of theBehavioral-Personnel Assessment Device (B-PAD) in Selecting PoliceRecruits,” Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies andManagement. 1999, 22 (3).

8 Nancy Marion, “Police Academy Training: Are We Teaching RecruitsWhat They Need to Know?,” Policing: An International Journal of PoliceStrategies and Management, 1998, 21 (1).

9 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca, 1999.

10 Statistics Canada 1996 Census data, released Tuesday, January 13,1998

11 Toronto Sun August 3, 2000

12 RCMP, 1999 Environmental Scan.

13 At an August 2000 summit in Toronto, organized by OntarioAttorney General Jim Flaherty and Solicitor General Dave Tsubouchi,to discuss ways of curbing the billion-dollar underworld business, asreported in the National Post, August 3, 2000

14 Ibid.

15 Canadian Press, Wednesday, July 28, 1999, p. A17.

16 Paul Culver, chief Crown attorney for Toronto Canadian Press,Wednesday, July 28, 1999 p. A17.

17 Swol, Karen (1999). “Private Security and Public Policing inCanada.” Juristat Reader, pp. 15-25.

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

20 Ed Keyton, “Reaching for the Stars: How Training Can BoostEmployee Morale and Motivation,” Sheriff, May/June, 1999.

21 Dale Kinnear, Policing the Auxiliary. Ottawa: Canadian PoliceAssociation, 2000.

22 Murray & McKim, “Introduction: the policy issues in policing andprivate security”, Police and Private Security: What the Future Holds.2000, p3.

23 George S. Rigakos, “The Significance of Economic Trends for theFuture of Police and Security,” paper presented at the NationalConference on Police and Private Security, Toronto, Nov. 30, 1999.

24 Colin Saldanha (1995). “Local Police Boards: Invisible, Inevitable,Invaluable.” Management Challenges in 21st Century Policing: ConferenceProceedings. Ottawa: Solicitor General Canada, pp. 39-46.

25 Colin Saldanha (1995). “Local Police Boards: Invisible, Inevitable,Invaluable.” Management Challenges in 21st Century Policing: ConferenceProceedings. Ottawa: Solicitor General Canada, pp. 39-46.

26 Gail Johnson, “Amalgamation of Police Services,” CanadianAssociation of Police Boards Conference, 1998.www.rmoc.on.ca/capb/99_Conf_Disucssion _grps.htm

27 Ibid.

28 Gail Johnson, “Amalgamation of Police Services,” CanadianAssociation of Police Boards Conference, 1998.www.rmoc.on.ca/capb/99_Conf_Disucssion _grps.htm

29 Personal Interview, 2000.


31 Joseph P. Hornick (1995). “Community Policing in Canada: Areas ofAgreement.” Management Challenges in 21st Century Policing: ConferenceProceedings. Ottawa: Solicitor General Canada, pp. 89-92.

32 Ibid.

33 Service de police de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal, La policede quartier, http://www.spcum.qc.ca/Francais/Rubriq03/R03Som_f.htm,2000.






39 Richard D. Morrison (1998). “Measuring Performance: What Effectis Community Policing Having on Crime Statistics?” Law EnforcementTechnology. October, pp. 26-28.

40 Getting computers into cruisers is a tough job”, Blue Line Magazine

41 Special Report – Law Enforcement Computers” and CIPC Bulletin,“CIPC Internet Project on the National Police Services Internet Site”

42 “Advances in Police Technology: A 25 year-retrospective”, LawEnforcement Technology, Aug. 1999

43 Personal Interview, HR Director, 2000.

44 The term “civilian” is used in most police services to designate thoseemployees who are not sworn police officers. In the case of the RCMP,however, the term “civilian member” is used to designate a specialgroup of persons who are performing functions formerly performed bymembers of the RCMP. The term “public servants” is used to describeother supporting employees.

45 Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada, Police AdministrationAnnual Survey, 1998.

Endnotes


47 T. Stone and N. Meltz, Human Resource Management in Canada,1993.

48 T. Stone and N. Meltz, Human Resource Management in Canada,1993.

49 Kenneth Ross Turriff, Learning and the Changing Police Role: FromPatrol Officer to Chief Executive Officer, 1997.

50 Ontario Task Force on Race Relations and Policing (1989). 1989Report of the Task Force on Race Relations and Policing. Toronto

51 Justice Institute of British Columbia, The Provincial Committee onDiversity & Policing. Diversity in Policing Conference, September 24and 25, 1999.

52 Marcel-Eugene LeBeuf and J. McLean, Women in Policing in Canada:The year 2000 and beyond – its challenges, Workshop Proceedings,Canadian Police College, 1997.



55 Justice Institute B.C. Police Academy, The assessment centremethod, 2000.

56 W. Doerner and T. Nowell. “The Reliability of the BehaviouralPersonnel Assessment Device” Policing: An Internal Journal of PoliceStrategies and Management, 1999.

57 Sûreté du Québec, Plan de renouvellement 1999-2000, Septembre1999


59 Kim Polowek, Retention of British Columbia’s Municipal PoliceOfficers: An Examination of Reasons for Leaving, Summary Report, April1996.


61 Dave Brown, “Breaking Through the ‘Glass Walls’”, Blue LineMagazine, October, 1999.

62 Kim Polowek, Retention of British Columbia’s Municipal PoliceOfficers: An Examination of Reasons for Leaving, Summary Report, April1996, and Griffiths, Whitelaw and Parent, Canadian Police Work,1999.

63 Marcel-Eugene LeBeuf, Women in the Police: Integration, Evolutionand Influence, 1997.

64 Richard L. Jackson, “Police and Firefighter Labour Relations inCanada,” Public Sector Collective Bargaining in Canada: Beginning of theEnd or End of the Beginning?, 1995.

65 The figure is for all non-commissioned police officers, constablesthrough sergeant.

66 Kevin Wardman and Carl Mason, “The Working Time Directive:Officer Health and Safety and Police Efficiency,” The Police Journal,1999.

67 RCMP “E” Division, Shift Pattern Study, (1995).

68 Kevin Wardman and Carl Mason, “The Working Time Directive:Officer Health and Safety and Police Efficiency,” The Police Journal,1999.

69 Carol Jenkins (1999), “Beat the Clock”, Police Review, August, p. 16.

70 Richard L. Jackson, “Police and Firefighter Labour Relations inCanada,” Public Sector Collective Bargaining in Canada: Beginning of theEnd or End of the Beginning?, 1995.

71 “Police Services” is the simple proportion of police services thatresponded to the survey, with each service counting as one regardlessof size. “Sworn Officers,” “Civilian” and “All Employees” offer similarinformation, but instead of counting each police service as one, eachresponse is “weighted” by the number of personnel they have in eachof those categories.

72 It is important to note that the CPC is currently undergoing signifi-cant organizational change, and that much of its approach discussedhere is still in the planning stages and is not expected to be imple-mented until the spring of 2001.

73 http://www.fbi.gov/programs/academy/msu/msu3.htm

74 http://www.fbi.gov/programs/academy/msu/msu2.htm

75 Personal Interview, 2000

76 Canadian Police College, Draft Action Plan of the Canadian PoliceCollege for Responding to the Auditor General’s Report, 2000.

77 Strategic Planning Committee on Police Training and Education(1992). A Police Learning System for Ontario: Final Report andRecommendations. Ministry of the Solicitor General.




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