Police force struggles to recruit women

Edmonton’s police chief says his department is “trying everything and anything” to increase diversity in its ranks, but a police commissioner says she would like to see more progress getting women into uniform.

Commissioner Micki Ruth says she has heard the same discussions about a lack of women in policing since she worked as a police constable in Ontario 30 years ago

“We are still having this conversation,” she said about the lack of progress after a presentation on the police diversity positive recruiting advisory committee at an Edmonton Police Commission meeting in City Hall last Thursday.

Recruiting women “should be the norm,” Ruth said.

Though 40 per cent of those attending recruitment information sessions identified as female, there was a significant drop off when it came to applications, with women making up only 27 per cent of those who wrote the test required prior to the formal application process.

While the total number of people applying to the EPS in 2016 increased by about seven per cent to 677 compared to 2015, the number of female applicants remained static at 113 candidates.

That means while women represent more than half the population of Canada, they made up less than 17 per cent of applicants to become an Edmonton police officer in 2016.

Chief Rod Knecht said police are serious about encouraging more recruits from diverse groups.

“We want the Edmonton Police Service to reflect the communities we police. It is a challenge,” Knecht said.

The Edmonton police intend to double the amount of women-specific recruiting information sessions after seeing success from two women-in-policing events.