The Comms Centre of the Police Sector Council is a centralized place for those within the sector to read and engage in discussions on important issues of the day. Participate by reviewing position papers and posted discussion papers and add your own comments.

If you have a submission, please send it to us: pdewhirst@policecouncil.ca

Lastest Submissions

Police – Community College Partnerships: increasing the number of suitable police candidates
Discussion Paper – Part 3
Gino Arcaro M.Ed., B.Sc.
Posted August 06, 2008

Parts 1 and 2 of this discussion paper provided evidence that showed:
(i) suitable ‘applicants’ and police officers are developed, not born,
(ii) community colleges annually have a large pool of police ‘candidates’
(iii) the benefits of a Ride-along partnership between a police service and a community college.

Part 3 proposes that:
(i) a Police Foundations diploma becomes the equivalent to an OACP certificate, and
(ii) a Ride-along certificate becomes the equivalent to the Constable Selection Process

These proposals are intended to supplement, not replace, the current police hiring practices. They provide
a flexible approach to police recruiting by adding another pathway to hiring.

Part 3
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Police – Community College Partnerships: increasing the number of suitable police candidates
Discussion Paper – Part 2
Gino Arcaro M.Ed., B.Sc.
Posted July 29, 2008

Police services are facing unprecedented recruiting challenges. Community college law enforcement programs have enormous numbers of students. Colleges are a potential source of candidates but there is no organized or structured developmental path that links them directly to police recruiting by legislation or policy. The goal of this three part discussion paper series is to share insights, generate
meaningful discussion about recognizing colleges as one source of increasing suitable applicants, and explore ways to connect community college law enforcement programs with police recruiting through structured partnerships.

Part 1 was the starting point – a general explanation of the Niagara Regional Police – Niagara College
Ride-along partnership. This Ride-along program has been acknowledged as a ‘model’ for police- community college partnerships. The general benefits were listed in Part 1 to form the ‘core discussion’ component. The Ride-along program is a work-in-progress and is evolving into the formative stages of a ‘mentoring program’ pilot project. The Ride-along/mentoring protocol is premised on both formal empirical research and anecdotal research. The goal is to increase the number of suitable applicants. For the
purpose of the mentoring program, ‘candidates’ and ‘applicants’ are viewed as two separate concepts. An ‘applicant’ refers to a person who has met pre-application requirements (eg: minimum legislative
standards and provincial requirements such as the Ontario Chief of Police Certificate) and has formally applied for a constable or cadet position. A candidate is a person working toward becoming an ‘applicant.’

Part 2
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Police – Community College Partnerships: increasing the number of suitable police candidates
Discussion Paper – Part 1
Gino Arcaro M.Ed., B.Sc.
Posted July 7, 2008

Police services are facing unprecedented recruiting challenges. Community college law
enforcement programs have enormous numbers of students. Colleges are a potential
source of candidates but there is no organized or structured developmental path that
links them directly to police recruiting by legislation or policy.

The goal of this discussion paper series is to share insights, generate meaningful
discussion about colleges as one source of increasing suitable applicants, and explore
ways to connect community college law enforcement programs with police recruiting
through structured partnerships.

The series will be organized as follows:
Part 1 is a starting point that generally explains the Niagara Regional Police –Niagara
College Ride-along partnership. This Ride-along program has been acknowledged as a
‘model’ for police- community college partnerships. The general benefits will be listed in
Part 1 to form the ‘core discussion’ component.

Part 2 explains anecdotal research and findings that explores specific strengths and
weaknesses of the Ride-along partnership.

Part 3 explains anecdotal research and finding that explores: (i) the ‘reality’ referring
to the ‘potential’ of community college law enforcement programs as a source of
candidates, and (ii) partnership strategies to develop candidates to full ‘entry-level’
potential

Part 1
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