"You were on the road for the entire shift and this is all you have to show for it?" chastised the corporal.

"ICBC paid your salary and this is all you've got to show them?"

The irate supervisor was angry that his subordinate had not written more traffic infractions.He was totally oblivious to my presence a few feet away.

Wishing I could slink away from the embarrassment to which the Member was being subjected, I endured until the tirade ended. The Member turned to me, face red from the humiliation, turned and left the detachment.

Photo credit to Shaun Best/Reuters

A recent incident involved a female Member pulling her service pistol on a sexually harassing colleague while their nearby fellow male officers grinned, apparently thinking the behavior was acceptable and did nothing.

A Vancouver PD officer committed suicide last year rather than endure the embarrassment of further investigation into sexual harassment. The male officer was discharged.

Photo credit to Unsplash

Scrutinization by superiors is a fact of life, albeit not always in a harassing manner. Should police officers scrutinize each other?

"ABLE"

Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement

Created by the Georgetown Law Center for Innovations in Community Safety, focuses on the prevention of officer misconduct.

"Research has repeatedly demonstrated that internal professional standard investigations are the most stressful part of police officers' jobs."

Chief Neil Dubord

& Jassie Ram (Padda)

Delta Police Department

Blue Line February 2023

"Transforming the culture of policing".

"...police leadership should be taking a proactive approach to prevent officer misconduct while promoting officer wellness.

"By preventing harm and avoiding mistakes, which are the intended outcomes of the active bystandership training, we support the mental and physical well-being of our officers."

Photo Credit Vancouver Riots

ABLE STANDARDS

Community support:

DPD submitted four letters of support, two from community-based organizations, one from myself as the leader of the organization, and one from the leader of the jurisdiction in which the agency is based (e.g. the Mayor).

Meaningful training: all sworn officers and recruits must receive at least eight hours of initial and at least two hours of annual refresher training, with a maximum class size of 25.

Dedicated coordination:

ABLE training implementation must be spearheaded by a designated program coordinator at the organization. This person will roll out, promote and reinforce the program, providing guidance and assistance to the department as necessary. Additionally, officers from the department must be sent to the ABLE Train-the-Trainer (TTT) events with uninterrupted time to attend and train the event and complete homework assignments. The trainers then facilitate the training to the rest of the department.

Program awareness: the agency must create internal and external awareness of the program, including the benefits and principles of peer intervention.

Accountability:

the organization must have a robust anti-retaliation policy to ensure that interveners are not punished, targeted or ostracized in any way, and the organization will investigate any alleged instances of retaliation and hold those accountable if found to be true.

Officer wellness:

the organization must have a meaningful officer wellness program providing officers access to professional counsellors for guidance and support.

Reporting:

ABLE training isn’t intended to alter an agency’s reporting policies, and thus, an agency must continue reporting as standard practice.

Measuring officer perceptions:

the organization must conduct a pre-implementation and post-implementation perception survey amongst those who receive the training.

Follow-through:

ABLE training must be implemented department-wide with the full support of management and leadership.

Pay it forward:

organizations with ABLE-certified instructors are to make reasonable efforts to make the training and instructors available to surrounding law enforcement agencies that have been accepted into the program.

Our appreciation to Blue Line magazine, Delta Police Department (BC) Chief Neil Dubord and Corporate Service Manager Jassie Ram (Padda) for the article.

https://www.blueline.ca/transforming-the-culture-of-policing/