Welcoming Communities Initiative |
National Initiatives |
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Cross-Cultural Training in Support of Police Services
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Final Report>> Adobe® Acrobat format, size: 45.5 K, 8 ppEvaluation Report>> Adobe® Acrobat format, size: 1.03 MB, 49 ppTraining Materials (English and French)>> Adobe® Acrobat format, size: 762 K, 173 pp |
1. Project Background
1.1 The Organization
Settlement and Integration Services Organization (SISO) is a community organization, which provides services and programs to immigrants and refugees in the Hamilton-Wentworth region. SISO’s commitment is to assist clients and the communities it serves and represents in attaining economic self-sufficiency, self-directed integration and active participation in all aspects of the society. SISO’s services are primarily directed towards immigrants and refugees, with specific consideration for newly arrived and longer-term immigrants, women, youth and racial minorities. Over the past 15 years SISO has successfully served thousands of individuals in addition to providing support and resources to community groups, organizations and local agencies.
1.2 The Project
SISO was awarded a grant from CIC to develop and implement a project to address the specific needs for information, training and resources for new police recruits coming from a diverse cultural background, as well as current policing staff, with the goals of facilitating an understanding of cultural differences, bridging communication processes, promoting policing as a career of choice for members of our diverse communities and facilitating the integration of current and potential recruits representing diverse communities into the Police Services.
According to the HR Department of Hamilton Police Services, policing in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial community, such as Hamilton, can pose a number of issues. The Hamilton Police Services has made a strategic and operational commitment to become reflective of the community it serves; however, in doing so, the HR Department has identified a number of gaps in skills and training, with both recruits from diverse communities and their Canadian-born employees. The Hamilton Police Services has approached SISO and Mohawk College with the request to provide assistance and training in bridging identified gaps.
2. Project Requirements
2.1 Activities (Nov. 15, 2007-July 15, 2008)
- Develop a language and cultural integration curriculum to help members of diverse communities access employment in the Police Force
- Pilot the program with a small cohort (8-10 participants), evaluate and revise the program
- Develop Cross-Cultural Sensitivity Training Material for the field of policing
- Deliver Cross-Cultural Sensitivity Training to staff at the Hamilton Police Services (700 officers and staff)
- Deliver Enhanced Cross-Cultural Sensitivity Training to a nucleus of Champions/Diversity Leaders from the Hamilton Police Services, who can become resource persons for their peers
- Develop a best practice model for above and provide a final report
2.2 Outputs:
- A pilot police training program for new recruits from diverse communities
- Up to 35 one-day Cross-Cultural Sensitivity Training for approximately 700 staff members of the Hamilton Police Services
- Up to 5 two-day enhanced Cross-Cultural Sensitivity Training fro approximately 50 participants
2.3 Outcomes and Indicators
- Increased knowledge and skills of the Hamilton police officers and staff to better serve the diverse cultural and ethnic newcomer communities
- Better and faster integration of new recruits from diverse communities into the workplace
- More interest and participation from the newcomer communities in police services
- Improved relationship between Hamilton Police Service and diverse cultural and ethnic communities
3. Activities
Activities delivered through this project follow the Project Workplan, as per the chart below. The development and implementation of the Project were overviewed by a Steering Committee including representatives from: SISO, Mohawk College, Hamilton’s Centre for Civic Inclusion and Hamilton Police Services.ACTIVITIES |
CURRENT STATUS |
CURRICULUM AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT |
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Time frame: 6 weeks prior to start of delivery
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Recruitment of Program Coordinator, Curriculum Developers and Facilitators completed in the first month Curriculum for all three deliverable s was developed in the first quarter and revised according to feedback from participants. The individual assignments were renamed ‘Individual Personal Reflection’ and meant to be completed and submitted via email at the discretion of the participants (in keeping with Union bylaws). Additional resource material has been developed including a ‘Diversity Lesson Plan’ and an ‘Evaluation Form’. |
RECRUITMENT |
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Timeframe: Months 1-3
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Participant recruitment activities for the New Recruit Training and schedules for the CCST 1 and CCST 2 were completed at the end of February. An Information and Consultation session was conducted on Feb. 5th, to solicit feedback on current recruitment practices for Police Services and time has been allotted to introduce the new program. |
DELIVERY |
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Time Frame: Months 3-8
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Delivery commenced on February 2008. CCST1 was delivered through 32 sessions for a total of a total of 640 officers. CCST2 has been delivered over 2 full days to 25 staff sergeants and 24 commanding officers. |
EVALUATION |
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Time Frame: Months 3-8
Report Attached
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March-July 2008 Two evaluation forms were developed and piloted for selection of questions and format. Electronic versions of all the evaluation responses have been created. Evaluation graphs have been created using the numeric (quantitative) responses from the evaluation forms.( See Points 1-3 in Attachment 1) Evaluation graphs have been created by adding the number of qualitative responses that asses the quality of the workshop sessions. (see Point 4 graph in Attachment 1) The average response for each numeric answer has been calculated and included in the Cumulative Evaluation data in Appendix 1. See Attachment 1-2 for Evaluation Responses for all the sessions |
BEST PRACTICE MODEL |
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Time Frame: Months 7-8
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Program Model developed in June |
REPORT |
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Time Frame: Months 8
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Monthly reports have included thorough analysis of all activities, outcomes, feedback and adjustments. The Final Report includes the analysis of feedback received from participants, facilitators and organizers. |
SHARING WITH OTHER COMMUNITIES |
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Time Frame: Months 7-8
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June-July 2008 |
4. Project Components
The project comprised of a number of components including both development and delivery of two-fold training:- Police Staff:
- CCST1: generic diversity training for all staff
- CCST2: advanced diversity training for staff sergeants
- New Recruits:
- 20-week training for potential/new recruits
Given the constraints of logistics behind the scheduling of delivery, the CCST1 included Individual Personal Reflection Assignments to complement the sessions.
In addition, the training for new recruits included a mentoring and workplace exposure component comprised of a combination of mentoring activities by police staff with program participants as well as participation in Court activities.
5. Model
The practical experience gained through this project leads to the development of a 10-Step Best Practice Model to assist the replication of the project in other communities.- Assess Need
The needs for this program was identified by Hamilton Police Services who approached SISO and Mohawk College, requesting the development of a Communication Training for New Recruits belonging to diverse communities, to ensure that they are successfully passing the requirements related to employment in the Hamilton Police Services.
During discussions related to the development of such a program, the parties involved identified the need for some form of Diversity Training with current staff to ensure that the environment is conducive to integration of diversity.
- Identify Components for the Solution
In the summer of 2007, the parties contacted HCCI and requested an assessment related to the recruitment and integration of diversity at the Hamilton Police Services. The assessment conducted by HCCI provided a series of recommendations, which formed the basis for the development of the First Stage intervention, later materialized through the project that makes the object of this report.
- Identify Partners
Hamilton Police Services has specifically identified SISO for the development of this intervention. The other partners, Mohawk College and HCCI, have been identified as a logical extension in the process of defining areas of expertise for various components of the project
- Develop Partnership
In the case of this project, the partners have a long standing history in working together in the areas of development and delivery of a variety of project involving cultural diversity and/or immigrants.
We acknowledge, however that in other communities this aspect needs to be separately addressed and appropriate trustful relationships have to be built over time.
- Secure Funding
Funding for both development (and adjustment) and delivery is an important component. Interventions of this nature require multi-disciplinary teams and an investment of resources, which no one single organization can afford to make.
A variety of funding streams can be targeted, based on the main goals of the project and the way they match funding priorities. - Develop Curriculum
The curriculum developed is generic enough to apply to a variety of settings related to law enforcement. Some components are also generic enough o apply to any organization. However, best practices would require that the curriculum should be reviewed and tested before transferring all its components to a different community or organizational setting.
- Recruit Participants – Organization Commitment
For CCST1 and CCST2 the entire recruitment has been conducted at the organization level (Hamilton Police Services). The commitment to the training has been communicated by the Local Police Chief and his Deputies, while the HR Department has worked out the logistics related to scheduling of sessions and advertisement. One of the Deputy Chiefs has also participated in 2 meetings of the Steering Committee and received regular briefings from the HR Manager.
- Deliver Training
Given the extent of the delivery component, logistics related to scheduling of sessions may pose challenges. In the case of this project, the Professional Development schedule for the Hamilton Police Services was already developed and approved at the date of project start-up and delivery has been organized over weekends. Other issues related to Emergency Calls for duty staff needed also to be managed.
- Adjust curriculum/methodology based on feedback
Evaluations have been conducted at the end of each session and feedback compiled and analyzed at the months end. Since each group is slightly different in terms of the mix of participants, analysis of the feedback from 4-6 sessions allowed curriculum developers and facilitators to get a more accurate sense of the adjustments they needed to make and which have related mainly to: the volume of information, pace and methodology.
- Measure Success
The analysis of feedback received from each session has also allowed to measure qualitative impact. In addition, the broader impact consisting of organizational commitment to continue with a Stage 2-3 of training as well as the wait list for the Communications component piloted by Mohawk College represent clear qualitative indicators of success.
6. Challenges
The main challenges were related to the timing of the project approval and start-up date. The challenges related to the fact that at the time of approval, the Annual Training Plan for Hamilton Police Services has been already submitted and approved and consequently work schedules were developed around an Organization Professional Development Plan, which did not include the current project. Special arrangements had to be made with the organization around delivery as “Sunday School” over weekends. Weekend delivery has also posed issues related to staffing and facilitation; in the end the delivery has been contracted to 3 facilitators, with the Lead Facilitator working closely with the Project Coordinator to ensure that participant feedback is included in the adjustment of curriculum and to ensure consistency between delivery partners.7. Project Highlights
The commitment of all organizations involved has created a special environment for the development and delivery of this project. The flexibility of all parties in accommodating the specifics of the project has been reflected in a number of areas, including:- Special support and accommodation of job shadow opportunities for curriculum developers to understand challenges and develop the ability to produce a relevant curriculum
- Special support in providing mentoring and workplace exposure to program participants enrolled in the Communication Module (potential/new recruits)
- Special support in providing the facilities and encouraging police officers to attend the training during weekends
In addition, the Hamilton Police Services and HCCI (project partners) have secured both funding and commitment to continue Stage 2 and 3 for Diversity Training. This speaks highly of the partners’ commitment to ensure both representation and integration of diversity in our local Police Services at all levels.
For the Communications Module, the interest has been steadily growing, with 8 potential participants interested in registering for a fall program at Mohawk College.
8. Evaluation
See Evaluation ReportAttachments: