Community Orientation and Cultural Awareness (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Northwest Territories

City/ Region:

Northwest Territories

Description of Initiative:

To formalize and document the basic community introduction of every new member at a detachment within the division.

Upon the arrival of a new member at a detachment, the Detachment Commander, or his/her delegate, is required to conduct a community and cultural orientation with the new member. A divisional document has been developed which requires each item to be signed off by the person presenting the information to the member.

The orientation is to cover off the following five points:

    1. Meet with the Mayor/Chief and Council of the community and discuss te Council's expectations for policing the community.

    2. Attend cultural awareness training either by way of attending a community feast or a more formal cultural camp.

    3. Learn of the various programs and activities provided by local groups, organizations, programs, events, special needs, sports and community groups.

    4. Attend an inter-agency meeting to be introduced to various agency representatives within the community who will advise the member on their roles and how they partner with the RCMP.

    5. Be advised of th detachment’s Annual Performance Plan, Unit Supplements, protocols, processes, crime statistics, list of contacts and their roles, patrol of community to identify key addresses including crime hot spots, police haters and local hangouts.

Initiative Key Objectives:

To ensure that every new member arriving at a detachment becomes familiar with the community that they will be policing.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Each individual detachment commander is responsible for this program and is required to report through to his/her district commander.

Key Contact:

Ron Smith
Ron.Smith@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • community groups

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

Each of the noted groups is more consultative (information sharing).

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

Since 2011.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

The initative was undertaken to ensure that all new members coming into the division are aware of the community’s resources, expectations and cultural make-up.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

No financial costs were required for this program to be set up. The only cost associated with this program would be human resources, i.e., the time taken to meet everyone.

Method of Implementation:

The initiative was developed by the senior management of the division and passed onto the each detachment to implement.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

The initiative has met its objectives. Every new member has to complete and document his/her compliance with the requirements.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

No

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

N/A

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • internal
  • qualitative

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

Yes

Summary of the Outcomes:

There is no evaluation available, as this is an internal police document, with information gathered on feedback from both their policing plans and their community visits.

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

The project falls within pillar one as it improves the efficiency and effectiveness of each detachment.

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

There are community safety concerns when the individual RCMP member is not fully oriented within the community. These are diverse communities as well as geographically challenging in their remoteness and isolation. Many new members are coming to the North from southern locations for the first time and many, while fully trained police officers, have never experienced such a demanding environment.

If the RCMP members do not fully engage themselves in the community on arrival, then their responses to the community needs may be hampered by not knowing culturally sensitive and local traditions. As well, survival on the land when responding to incidents or search and rescue can pose life-threatening circumstances and the orientation is critical to this safety and survival. As well, community contacts with Elders are also critical to the success of serious investigations, including the needs of both the offender and the victim of the crime.

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01

Date modified: