Training to enhance service delivery to vulnerable communities

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Definitions

Front‐Line Officer: Any Officer who as part of their duties is regularly interacting with the public and may be in contact with persons in crisis situations.

Front‐Line Supervisor: Any Officer who directly supervises a Front‐Line Officer.

Officer: A constable appointed under the Police Act or an enforcement officer appointed under section 14.15 of the Police Act.

Provincially‐Approved Equivalent: Training that has been acknowledged by the Director of Police Services as adequate to meet the BC requirements pertaining to a Provincially‐Approved Training course.

Provincially‐Approved Training: Training that has been acknowledged by the Director of Police Services as adequate to meet BC requirements pertaining to training on a specific topic or set of topics.

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Standards

Indigenous cultural safety

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, Commissioner, or Chief Civilian Director of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) must ensure that:

(1) All Officers or IIO investigators:

(a) Have completed a training course, developed and delivered in collaboration with representatives from, as applicable, the local First Nation(s) and/or Indigenous organizations, which includes at minimum, the history and legacies of police relations with Indigenous peoples in the community; or
(b) Have completed a Provincially‐Approved Training on the history and current status of Indigenous peoples, including the history and legacies of police relations with Indigenous peoples in British Columbia.

(2) For the purpose of Standard (1)(b), Provincially-Approved Training includes at least one of the following:

(a) The Provincial Health Services Authority (San’yas) "Indigenous Cultural Safety" Training justice module;
(b) The "Indigenous Awareness 101: Promoting Culturally Safe Practices";
(c) The "Understanding Indigenous Culture for Better Professional Practices: Policing Sector"; and
(d) [Note: other training courses may be added as/when provincial approval is granted]

(3) Further to Standards (1) and (2) above, and in addition to Standard (2) of BCPPS 6.1.2 Community Engagement encourage, and seek opportunities for Officers to attend learning events that are, where possible, experiential and specific to the local First Nation(s) or Indigenous peoples in the areas.

Trauma-informed practice

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, Commissioner, or Chief Civilian Director of the IIO must ensure that:

(4) All Front-Line Officers, Front‐Line Supervisors, or IIO investigators have completed "Trauma-Informed Practice Foundations Curriculum for Justice, Public Safety, and Anti-Violence Community Sectors in British Columbia" online training or a Provincially-Approved Equivalent training course.

(5) In addition to Standard (4) above, IIO investigators, Front-Line Officers, and Front‐Line Supervisors who are part of a specialized unit or team responsible for investigations involving vulnerable witnesses or victims (e.g. intimate partner violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, or other such investigations), must update their skills and knowledge about trauma-informed practice every three years, at a minimum.

Relationship Violence

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must ensure that:

(6) All Front-Line Officers and Front-Line Supervisors have completed "Evidence-based, Risk-focused Intimate Partner Violence Investigations".

(7) Every Front-Line Officer and Front-Line Supervisor who have completed the "Evidence-based, Risk-focused Intimate Partner Violence Investigations" training course in Standard (6) above must refresh their skills by successfully completing the training course once every five years.

Training records

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, Commissioner, or Chief Civilian Director of the IIO must ensure that:

(8) Written records are maintained of the training required by these standards that has been completed by each Officer in the police service, or each IIO investigator in the case of the IIO.