NEW FINDINGS: POLICE EDUCATIONAL MODELS

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NEW FINDINGS POLICE EDUCATIONAL MODELS HUMAN
RIGHTS EDUCATIONBy Luis Alberto
DElíaUniversity of Alberta, AB, CANADA
http//images.search.yahoo.com/search/images,
APEC, 1997
Main Study Western Canadian police education
program planning designs and their adequacy to
support particular human rights education.
CONCLUSIONS The studied police institutions can
benefit by democratizing the police educational
system and by adopting an alternative, more
experiential, critical, inclusive, contextually
responsive, and politically aware approach to
educational planning. In the cases studied police
education planners appear now to have some
opportunities to make autonomous professional
program design decisions. Nevertheless,
important power asymmetries among the
institutional players and the restrictive
planning model selected do not give the educators
enough freedom to shape their programs following
specific human rights educational goals. An
adequate program with a proper and balanced
institutional decision-making would likely
provide more real opportunities for committing
law enforcers to community needs and to uphold
the right of the community to dissent without
fear of police.
CBC, Globe Mail
Dedication To my lovely and supportive wife and
children. To those who have been tortured and
killed for peacefully protesting. I acknowledge
contributions from Canadian and European police
consultants, Amnesty International, and the
Department of Edu Policy Studies at the U
ofAlberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Quebec, 2001
FUTURE RESEARCH Investigate if recent
educational strategies that favor particular
human rights education are the result of police
policies drawn by empathetic managers, or are the
result of implementation of changes in the
planning model, or are simply a coincidence of
favourable factors.
Amnesty International Canada www.amnesty .ca 2003
FINDINGS Prior The police training program
designs studied in Western Canada use a linear
and sequential planning design. Needs assessment,
contextual analysis, and evaluation strategies
appear inadequate to accomplish the program
goals. Hierarchical, consensus decision making in
a para-military structure is one illustration of
the constraints encountered by the educator to
deliver the community servicing goals and to
interpret and implement relevant human rights
standards. Given that modern police (Peels
principles) legitimizes themselves by
understanding and upholding the right of peaceful
dissenters to protest, officers need to be
educated to protect civil liberties. New Data
Recent findings further confirm a previous
research conclusion about the inadequacies of a
rigid, linear, non-critical program planning
model. At the same time, the implementation of
new pedagogically sound initiatives in line with
human rights education may indicate that the
power asymmetries that restrain police educators
could be temporarily dissipated by empathetic
police management or that the managements policy
has embraced some important aspects of police
human rights education.
PROCEDURE New data Collected from meetings and
interviews with police training managers.
Previous data Interviews personal
communications with various police trainers,
training managers and civilian advisors on
policing. Some of the critical research
principles followed Contextual considerations,
own assumptions and experiences, impact on
community, commitment to action, and others
Period of study 2002-2006