Vol. 77, No. 1Cover stories

Making an impact

Canadian police join unique international partnerships

Montreal City Police Cst. Johanne Lesage mentors Rwandan policewomen on driving a 4x4. Credit: Cpl. Tai Chang

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With more than a quarter-century of experience in international peace operations, Canadian police are in high demand to contribute to international programs. In fact, their hard work and dedication over the years has helped Canada earn a reputation for leadership in peacekeeping.

Currently, through the RCMP's International Policing Development (IPD) office, Canadian police are involved in three unique partnerships that are having global impacts.

First, they are helping the United Nations (UN) boost the number of female police officers in peacekeeping missions.

Second, they are part of an international roster that will assist Cambodia with investigating crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge era.

And finally, they are contributing to a one-of-a-kind peace operations development program for senior police leaders in collaboration with several European countries.

Policewomen in mission

In the fall of 2014, seven Canadian police officers from four police services were in Africa as part of the UN's all-female Selection Assistance and Assessment Team (SAAT) training project, aimed at helping more policewomen to serve on UN peacekeeping missions.

The UN's SAAT travels to police-contributing countries for a week to evaluate police applicants for UN missions on French or English comprehension, report writing, shooting and driving skills, understanding the UN context and passing a job interview.

In 2013, as part of its efforts to recruit more women for missions, the UN launched all-female SAAT assessments. After initially low pass rates during SAAT testing, the UN approached Canada to provide instructors to help implement a two-week training course. This would allow candidates to hone the skills required for mission before being tested by the UN SAAT.

Between September and November 2014, the seven specially trained police officers, from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), le Service de police de la Ville de Québec, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, travelled to Rwanda, Burkina Faso and Cameroon to provide this training, working with colleagues from the UN's Police Division.

Overall, the instructors worked with some 400 policewomen from these three countries.

"Having previously served on an African mission, I understood the need to have more female police officers in mission, for example, to attend to women or children who are victims of crime," explains S/Sgt. Marc Charron, who was an instructor in Rwanda and Burkina Faso. "I was proud to be a part of this project, which resulted in more female officers deploying to peacekeeping missions."

To date, the project has yielded impressive results. Pass rates increased from 35 per cent to 80 per cent of candidates in Rwanda and from 36 per cent to 80 per cent in Burkina Faso. (Results from Cameroon are still being processed.)

"Through this training, we were able not only to share our expertise with these policewomen, but also give them the confidence to serve on a peace operation and represent their country, just like their male counterparts," says Cst. Johanne Lesage of the SPVM, who was an instructor in all three countries. "It was an amazing experience to be able to make such a positive impact on them."

The training has indeed made a difference in increasing female participation: the UN has initiated deployment for 90 applicants from Rwanda and 16 from Burkina Faso, and is considering deployment for five candidates from Cameroon.

The RCMP is currently reviewing this project to determine the role of Canadian police in such initiatives in the future.

Major crime investigations

Based in Switzerland, Justice Rapid Response (JRR) is an intergovernmental organization that manages the rapid deployment of criminal justice professionals from a stand-by roster. Coming from every region of the world, these professionals are trained in the investigation of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

Since 2012, five Canadian police officers have successfully completed JRR's Investigating Cases of SGBV in International Crimes course. Candidates attend a two-week intensive training session to become part of the JRR - UN Women Special SGBV roster. Two more Canadian police officers will be attending the JRR training in the near future.

These officers can now be called upon for rapid deployment to assist in investigating human rights or international criminal violations, including gender-based violence offences around the world.

In October 2014, JRR called upon Canada to contribute international crime investigators to assist the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in investigating crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide allegedly committed in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 during the Khmer Rouge regime. Three candidates from the JRR roster (from the Ottawa Police Service, Vancouver Police Department and RCMP) have been selected and were deployed in January 2015.

Leadership roles in missions

Many countries such as Canada boast dedicated and talented police officers who want to assist in emerging and developing nations. However, they may sometimes find themselves at a competitive disadvantage when applying to international missions due to their lack of exposure to multinational and cultural issues.

To help remedy this issue, the RCMP has been involved over the past three years in the Senior Strategic Advisors' Master Class on police reform in an international and security sector reform context.

This innovative program prepares senior police advisors for strategic-level international deployments by providing them with the skills, knowledge and aptitude to contribute to effective and accountable policing.

The concept of the Master Class was initiated in 2010 by the National Police of the Netherlands and the International Security Sector Advisory Team of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Switzerland. The two countries approached Canada, the United Kingdom and Norway to collaborate on developing an international development program for senior police leaders. Each country was asked to contribute curriculum based on an area of expertise and to take turns hosting the two-week program.

First piloted in the United Kingdom in 2011 and 2012, the sessions are now held annually, with sessions held in Switzerland in 2013 and in Norway in October 2014.

The program is designed to give participants a thorough knowledge of security sector reform principles in order to be able to adapt those principles to a variety of local contexts. It teaches strategies to stay grounded, retain a strategic perspective and maximize effectiveness when operating in a variety of local contexts, taking into account national and organizational culture.

Participants consider specific cases and their own experiences to identify skills (including interpersonal skills), attributes and approaches that are helpful when acting as a strategic police advisor in an international police reform context.

Four Canadian police officers attended the latest session, including RCMP Superintendents Andris Zarins (director of IPD), Joanne Crampton and Guy Rook, as well as Deputy Chief Sylvain Lemay of the SPVM. Candidates from Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Egypt also participated.

"The Master Class created an environment where participants and facilitators could share best practices and experiences, building on the high level of skills and competencies they already possessed," explains Zarins. "By learning about both the political and technical aspects of security sector reform, we are now well-equipped to meet the challenging task of transitioning from national police officers to international advisors."

To date, more than 80 delegates from 10 countries have participated. The program also has a proven track record, with alumni having assumed senior police advisor posts following the Master Class. For example, Deputy Chief Lemay was recently deployed to the UN Mission in Haiti.

Through the Canadian Police Arrangement, the RCMP continues to remain actively involved both in developing the Master Class and identifying Canadian police candidates to attend future sessions. The 2015 Master Class will be hosted by the Netherlands.

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