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Justice Entry Program— the making of leaders Photos by Sergeant Clint Hanson, Police Photographic Section bounce ideas off each other. Being part of a small group is very supportive.” Trainee Leschke said the study had also been a concern for her, but found she was coping well with the workload. “The assessment is mainly based on assignments, but you are well prepared to tackle them. You’re given good information and enough time to get your head around it,” Trainee Leschke said. “At the moment we are studying the justice systems in different cultures, comparing Vietnamese, Islamic, Aboriginal and other systems. We’re gaining awareness and understanding of other cultures. Justice Entry Program (JEP) Trainees, Hayden Lea and Tennille Leschke step up to the mark, satisfying their assessment requirements for a Certificate IV in Justice while also having to meet additional physical and psychological fitness standards. The journey to becoming a police officer is not an easy one. Although the path is well signposted, the qualifications required to take the first step could exclude some of our finest future officers. For Justice Entry Program (JEP) Trainees Hayden Lea and Tennille Leschke, a career in policing always seemed a slightly unattainable goal, due to the prerequisite of at least 200 hours of tertiary education. Both trainees are now eight weeks into the six-month, full-time JEP, an alternative pathway to recruitment for Indigenous Australians who lack tertiary qualifications. The JEP provides participants with a Certificate IV in Justice, a nationally recognised qualification which has been tailored specifically to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Trainee Lea said the idea behind the program was to help Indigenous students qualify for the Police Recruit Operational Vocational Education (PROVE) Program. “The idea is to get everyone up to the same base level. So, as well as doing the Certificate IV studies, the topics also include things like time management and study techniques to prepare for PROVE,” Trainee Lea said. “I’m finding the study challenging, but we are all doing it together and we can “Field trips are also part of the course. Recently we visited the old jail to gain a broader understanding of conditions in the past, and later we will visit the modern Brisbane Watchhouse.” Trainees Lea and Leschke are part of a group of eight students currently enrolled in JEP, comprising four men and four women. One of the youngest groups so far, Trainee Lea is the second oldest in his group at 26 years of age. The oldest student is a 28-year-old man, while the remaining students are around 19-20 years. The JEP is offered at the Oxley Police Academy and, like Police Recruits, the JEP participants attend classes from 8am–4pm Monday to 12 PoliceBulletin363
Friday, and have the option of living in at the academy. While Trainee Leschke lives not far from the academy, Trainee Lea has chosen to live in, along with another four of his colleagues. “I have left a partner and my pet dogs behind in Townsville to attend this course. It’s a challenge being away from home, but living in is great. We can use the facilities whenever we want and it’s good for networking,” he said. “There is a really good culture here in the academy— everyone wants you to succeed and will go out of their way to help you. The library staff are amazing; I can’t speak highly enough of them. Denise Desnica is great. She will come over and have a chat with you and you don’t realise until later how much you really needed that chat.” Trainee Leschke said the encouragement offered by not just the staff but also other students helped make the program a positive learning experience. “When we first arrived here at the academy, previous JEP students who are now in the PROVE Program came and introduced themselves and welcomed us. We also have a Learning Support Officer, an Indigenous lady called Janelle McCarthy. to the same physical and psychological fitness standards as police recruits. “You need to pass a physical skills test and psychometric testing; these are the same tests the recruits are required to pass,” Trainee Leschke said. “The physical tests include a hang test, where you need to be able to hang from a chin bar for at least three seconds, push ups, and a beep test, where you have to run back and forth between two points in ever decreasing intervals. These tests weren’t really a problem for anyone in our group as all of us are pretty fit already.” Trainee Lea said the course content also included a physical skills education component. “Besides physical skills, we learn the theory behind it— how the body works, how to get your cardio fitness up. The facilitators are really open to assisting you on a personal level. You can have a personal fitness program developed or a personalised eating plan.” While participants earn a wage completing the JEP, both trainees said they had abandoned higher paying jobs to enrol. Trainee Lea was selling insurance, while Trainee Leschke was a customer service representative. “The majority of us have taken a pay cut to do this, but if you look at the bigger picture, then you manage these things. This is a quality of life issue. It’s a career I’ve always wanted, so I’m prepared to make sacrifices. “I’m uncertain of where I will be posted or what I will be doing. At this stage I’m thinking dog squad, but there are so many different options that I don’t even know about yet. You can set your sights as high as you want. And it means a lot to me for my family to be proud of me.” Trainee Leschke said her parents were extremely proud of her participating in the JEP. “I’ve always wanted to do this and now I’m finally going for it. Indigenous people are not always expected to succeed, but my parents are really proud of what I’m doing. Everyone has a different story though; sometimes there can be mixed reactions from relatives. We are both very lucky to have supportive families. “I would definitely recommend this course to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s just crazy how much support there is. I thought you just came here as an individual and did the course by yourself. In reality, you are doing it as a group. You’ve all got the same goals, you help each other out. I have never regretted taking this on.” Trainee Lea said he agreed working together as a group was a significant advantage, and that he would urge other Indigenous Australians to enquire further. “It would be tougher if we weren’t doing it as a group. And by the time we’re finished, we’ll be well prepared for the PROVE Program. We will have already been here at the academy and know how to act and not have that nervousness. “We will have what it takes to become leaders. I’m really looking forward to that,” he said. By Paula Hedemann, Media and Public Affairs Branch “The facilitators are very accommodating of personal circumstances. I play soccer in my own time and I’ve been selected to compete in New Zealand. I thought I would have to miss out, but they’ve allowed me the time off to go.” “For me, the sacrifice is well worth a career in the QPS,” Trainee Leschke said. “It’s a job that will always be changing. In my old job I was nine to five on a computer all day. I just can’t face doing that for the rest of my life.” While the requirements for tertiary education is a hurdle that can be overcome, JEP students are subject Trainee Lea said the reduction in salary was more than compensated for by the opportunities that lay ahead. JEP Trainees Lea and Leschke hit the books in preparation for their entry into the PROVE program. PoliceBulletin363 13
Page 1 and 2: issue no. 363 october 2011 Educatio
Page 3 and 4: FROM COMMISSIONER ATKINSON Evolving
Page 5 and 6: C O N T E N T S Message from Commis
Page 7 and 8: FROM NEIL ROBERTS MP MINISTER FOR P
Page 9 and 10: The PROVE curriculum has also under
Page 11: Australia Police, but I was too sho
Page 15 and 16: “Some officers find it difficult
Page 17 and 18: A recruit speaks into his radio, ar
Page 19 and 20: Shaping futures with Northern educa
Page 21 and 22: Sitting on a bench seat in the back
Page 23 and 24: The First Year Constable program is
Page 25 and 26: An important addition to the reside
Page 27 and 28: The third phase of detective traini
Page 29 and 30: to progress automatically to the ra
Page 31 and 32: Creating leaders who make a differe
Page 33 and 34: Senior leaders step-up The step fro
Page 35 and 36: Staff members benefit from training
Page 37 and 38: The team behind ETSP hard at work i
Page 39: Searching for a new car? Limited Of

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