St. Albert's RCMP detachment was the host to police officers across Alberta – and Bermuda – this past weekend for an innovative police-training course.
The three-day workshop was part of the police leadership certificate program offered by the College of Continuing Education at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
The leadership course, which brought 24 RCMP officers to St. Albert from across Alberta, Saskatchewan and even Bermuda, was based on the principles of sports coaching.
This was the first leadership training done at the detachment with a sports coaching focus, said Cpl. Laurel Kading, one of four local officers who participated.
"A lot of police officers often will coach sports, or are sports-oriented people so (using) a sports coaching model makes sense," she said.
Police officers and athletes can speak a common language, noted Kading. Great coaches in sport have helped athletes excel for decades, while police can use these same techniques to enhance their performance and leadership.
"When police officers perform more effectively, the overall service is stronger which creates a safer community," added Dr. Merry Miller, a sports and performance psychologist and workshop instructor from Dalhousie.
The course covered topics including goal setting, motivational techniques, team building principles, team leadership skills and psychological and physical preparation. Constables, sergeants, inspectors and deputy chiefs have participated in the program in past years.
"Policing in the new millennium is a challenging career," said Sgt. Carolyn Cameron, officer in charge of operations support and who helped bring the workshop to St. Albert.
"As a supervisor in the RCMP, it is important to coach our officers to maximize their skills and performance in order to maintain the level of excellence the RCMP is famous for."
"St. Albert not only deserves it, but they expect it and we want to be that kind of police force they are expecting," added Kading.
The cost to attend the course was $845 per person, which was covered by individual officers. If officers complete the full police leadership certificate, they may be eligible for reimbursement by the RCMP.
A piece of St. Albert in Bermuda
Two police officers from the Bermuda Reserve Police Service also flew in for the leadership course.
Bermuda has a population of approximately 65,000 people living on an island about 22 square kilometres. The island is served by two police services – 450 officers who handle criminal investigations and 100 officers in the reserve force that handle non-criminal investigations.
In comparison, St. Albert has an approved 66 officers that handle criminal code matters and nine municipal enforcement (also known as community peace officers) who handle general complaints and traffic enforcement.
Crime statistics compiled by the Bermuda Police Service show that all levels of crime are experiencing a five-year downward trend. The number of serious assaults and firearm injuries and fatalities has significantly decreased since 2010.
"When we look at the level of policing per population, they seem to have chosen a very different ratio than we have here in Canada," said Kading, noting that the types of calls they respond to in Bermuda are not that different from St. Albert.
The officers from Bermuda also attended a ride-along with St. Albert RCMP to get a taste of policing in Canada.
"It was really exceptional, allowing us to compare notes on policing approaches," said Kading.
