Canadian policing needs national standards

Better education, training vital to restore public trust,

The demonstrations about the brutality of George Floyd’s death have people calling for the “defunding ” of police services. Recently, Edmonton police Chief Dale Mcfee (formerly chief of the Prince Albert police and deputy minister for corrections and policing in Saskatchewan) described his police service’s vision for the future. That vision was bold and described a collaborative approach within the community. But it did not include the case for a standardized single educational curriculum for police recruits nationwide.

The rallying call for defunding has its origins in dysfunctional American police culture. It has drawn Canadians’ attention to our own cases of excessive use of power by police. Some of the cases are no doubt due to racism but others may be errors in judgment or emotional heat of the moment. How adequate is the training in these regards?

There are more than 18,000 separate policing agencies in the United States in contrast to about 300 in Canada.

The overwhelming majority are very small and have few resources for training police officers. As a consequence, knowledge and understanding about graduated “use of force” may be inadequate. The knowledge that could enable the recognition of bias, the understanding of mental health conditions and insight about how adverse childhood experiences affect behaviours in adults may not be taught.

But these areas of instruction are very important. Fundamental knowledge about racism is important. It is possible the deficits in American training could be deficits in recruit training in some Canadian cities.

How could Canadian policing be improved?

Let us implement national oversight of the training of police recruits. A system of oversight could be modelled after the existing governance of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Across Canada, faculties of medicine must demonstrate pedagogical standards, adequacy of curriculum and appropriate assessment of medical student performance. Exacting standards exist for accreditation, which is a recurrent process.

Right now, each police service establishes their own training using guidelines from the respective provincial solicitor general. No doubt, the particular elements of curriculum vary and the emphasis on particular knowledge like racism may be different depending on the preference of senior policing officials within each police service.

With a national process to establish best-in-world curriculum, an emphasis on knowledge about racism could be possible and the quality of training could be independently assessed. Specific units could be required about the history of minority groups in Canada and the danger of implicit bias. Recruits could learn about First Nations people and the sad history of residential schooling, the Sixties Scoop and the resultant trauma.

An example of excellence arises from the Edmonton Police Service. In conjunction with Dr. Peter Silverstone and Dr. Yasmeen Krameddine of the department of psychiatry, University of Alberta, the EPS introduced advanced training for officers in recognizing and supporting individuals with mental health conditions. The training uses actors to teach de-escalation techniques and to increase understanding of mental health conditions. At the time of implementation, no other police service in Canada offered this training. Training using scenarios and simulation of actual conditions should be ubiquitous in Canadian policing.

Proven methodologies like Silverstone and Krameddine’s course could be easily implemented if a national governing body was in place.

Why national oversight and not just provincial? Let us elevate policing as a profession. Let’s use national scope to allow policing experts from every province to work together and determine the best training for these important servants of society.

Let those who might balk at this proposal understand that change is critical if the citizens are to trust their police officers. The “father of modern policing” Sir Robert Peel defined the principles of modern policing in 1829. One of the principles is that the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.

This is a year in which a sea change in policing can and must occur. Otherwise the trust of the public will be irretrievably diminished.

John Lilley is a retired physician who is active in the social sector. He is a former Edmonton Police commissioner.