Skills to uphold the law | Humber Et Cetera

Toronto Police show their support for Humber program

Andrea Bennington | IN FOCUS REPORTER

Police Foundation students stay active in community support to prepare for their work with the public later in their careers. | courtesy

An indication of the success of Humber’s Police Foundations program is a new $5 million contract with Toronto Police making them responsible for supervisor training over the next five years, said program co-ordinator Henri Berube.

“We have courses where the Toronto Police are coming to Humber as part of their upgrading training,” said Berube.

The success of the program lies in providing graduates with essential critical thinking and leadership skills, Berube said.

Police Foundation graduates employability was estimated at 88 per cent for 2005, according to the career centre.

Berube said the police hiring process can take several months as a result of extensive background checks and screening. Graduates must write provincial exams and pass a physical before beginning a six-month window to seek employment, said Berube.

The Police Foundations program is not required to become a police officer in Ontario. The basic requirement is a Grade 12 education. Peel Regional Police Recruiting Officer, Staff Sgt. Doug Grozier said “(It) is not necessary … but Police Foundations is an asset, but not required to get a job.”

Police recruiters said they are looking for self-motivated, adaptable and√quick decision-making individuals which Police Foundations provides its students.

“The RCMP and the OPP are rumoured to be having a big demand and other police agencies are hiring as well,” Berube said, adding the forces are having difficulty meeting current hiring quotas.

Many of the officers hired in a province-wide hiring boom in the 80s are reaching retirement age. Now the job prospects in policing have never been better.

Humber grads must still continue to train in the Ontario Police College (OPC). They may be exempt if they are an RCMP officer from another province and may only have to go through a three week provincial update, Berube said.

He stressed that Humber’s Police Foundations program is taking different routes in educating students. “Many colleges have opted for what I would describe as a police training model.”

Unlike the practical application of the law that the OPC focuses on, Humber’s program focuses on learning skills.
“We are not a police training program we are an academic institution and our program is academic,” Berube said.

“We’re focusing on critical thinking skills, ethical decision making and building maturity and complex thought processes towards leadership abilities,” Berube said.

Police Foundations, currently at Lakeshore Campus, will also be offered at the new Orangeville campus when it opens.