International award lauds police work with refugees
An Edmonton police program that builds relationships between officers and new Canadians has gained international attention.
On Saturday, the International Association of Chiefs of Police awarded the Edmonton Police Service the Human and Civil Rights Award for the Emerging Communities Framework.
As Canada settled 25,000 Syrian refugees between November 2015 and February 2016 in the wake of a refugee crisis, Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht and the EPS Equity, Diversity and Human Rights Section recognized the need to reach out to new Canadian communities within the city.
“There are a lot of emerging communities here in Edmonton, and we recognize that. We recognize that to have a true representation of what the community needs, we need to understand them, we need to be able to communicate with them,” said Iman Saidi, community operations co-ordinator with the Edmonton police.
Starting in January, Saidi and Sgt. Gary Willits reached out to Catholic Social Services, the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers and Islamic Family Social Services to meet with new immigrants and refugees face-to-face to promote cultural understanding and dispel negative stereotypes and misconceptions about police officers.
Willits said refugees fleeing areas of political unrest may not trust the police. “We wanted to make sure we addressed that and dispelled all of those fears,” Willits said.
By meeting newcomers at reception centres, joining in orientations and taking part in community events, Willits and Saidi were able to start a two-way dialogue and build mutual understanding to overcome cultural barriers.
But while Saidi and Willits’ plan may have started as a way to encourage new immigrants to get to know their local police, Willits said they learned valuable information that could help improve the way officers police on the street.
For example, Willits said in some cultures a police officer is never to be left waiting, so when an officer pulls someone over, they immediately run toward the officer while digging through their pockets for a suitable bribe. “In Canada, we definitely don’t want you diving into your pockets and running up to police,” Willits said.
By understanding these cultural differences, Willits was able to share this information with other police officers so they wouldn’t feel threatened if they encountered this.
As a female, Arabic-speaking civilian member of the Edmonton Police Service, Saidi said as a team, she and Willits were able to serve as proof that in Canada, all people are treated as equals and shouldn’t feel limited by race, culture or gender.
“It’s nice to know that this type of work is being recognized on an international level, because this kind of work is what we need as an organization to help us reach out to the community and police the community in a much more effective way,” said Saidi.