Provincial public safety training committee seeks to set standard ‘right across the country’

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This article was published 04/04/2023 (408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Standardized training for all police in Manitoba will make everyone safer, say proponents of a public safety training strategy that’s starting to take shape.

“Currently, we don’t have province-wide consistency when it comes to training,” Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said at a news conference Wednesday, along with former Winnipeg Police Service chief Devon Clunis.

Clunis was hired in November 2022 to come up with a training strategy that’s equitable, consistent and culturally relevant.

“This is really an important day when it comes to the future of policing in our province,” Goertzen said. “We know it’s a difficult job. It’s a dangerous job.

“We’ve seen nine police officers lose their lives over the last several months in Canada.”

Consistent training and a common curriculum will ensure officers “are prepared for all those things they’re going to meet,” the Manitoba justice minister said.

Clunis likened the recent police homicides on the job (among them two Edmonton officers shot to death in mid-March) to the “canary in the coal mine.”

“If that is happening to the police officers who are out there, out front — what does that say about society, our community and our own well-being?” the former police chief said.

There has been growing tension and mistrust between police and community members in recent years, especially among Black, Indigenous and people of colour in Manitoba. Clunis said a steering committee he co-chairs will help develop a training strategy that will build relationships.

The other co-chair is Ron Evans, former grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and former chief of Norway House Cree Nation. The 15-member steering committee includes municipal, First Nations and provincial police agencies, provincial employees and educators.

“We have serving police officers, retired police officers, academics and community members — even individuals who people might say are detractors,” Clunis said. “I don’t consider them to be detractors. I believe they’re pointing out things that are really critical and important for us to build a community safety training strategy.”

The steering committee doesn’t include a representative of the Winnipeg Police Association. Clunis said the province’s largest police union is one of the working groups to be consulted.

The steering committee is looking at what officers should be trained on, how and where to deliver the training and “nothing will have to be status quo,” Clunis said.

The committee will look at “strategic partnerships… We recognize that there are individuals with incredible skills, knowledge and ability that can actually help us train police offices and public safety personnel to effectively serve the community.”

The service being delivered by police is only as good as the individuals delivering it, Winnipeg Police Board chairman Coun. Markus Chambers said at Wednesday’s news conference.

“Consistent training by informed experts and those with lived experiences contributes to improved public safety, public confidence and increased trust between communities and the police,” Chambers said.

A deadline for having the safety training strategy in place hasn’t been set yet.

“I have no doubt that what we are about to do in this province — trust me — will actually set the standard right across the country, will impact policing globally and look at relations between police and the community,” Clunis said.

“I hope the process that we’ll undertake will actually start rebuilding those relationships.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca