Training Command - Queensland Police Service - Queensland ...

The team behind ETSP hard at work in the
engine room of the Education and Training
Command.
Dangerous Liaisons
Dangerous Liaisons training was developed as part of a comprehensive response by the
QPS to the 2009 Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation into allegations of police
misconduct (Operation Capri). The Commissioner initiated the strategy to ensure the key
messages from the report were clearly disseminated and understood throughout the Service.
One of the more significant components of the strategy required the urgent development
of training materials to be delivered to a target audience of over 4000 members across the
Service. This provided an excellent opportunity for the QPS to deliver high quality ethics
based training using innovative adult learning concepts.
A framework for the training was developed by senior officers from the Ethical Standards
Command and developed into a unique ethics focused training package by the ETSP. The
timeframes for the project were extremely short as it was important to deliver training as
quickly as possible after the release of the report.
The ETSP project team was briefed on 11 August 2009. By 9 October, the training materials
had been developed and were presented for approval. Statewide delivery of the training
sessions commenced in November and by 7 December, the initial evaluation was complete
and nearly 4,000 QPS Officers in Charge, supervisors and plain clothes officers had attended
the training sessions.
ETSP was awarded a Commissioner’s Certificate for their work on this project and the
training won the Gold Award in the 2010 QPS Awards for Excellence in the category of Police
Education and Training.
The report and subsequent training provided a focus for a number of ongoing activities within
the QPS which are aimed at maintaining an ethical and professional work force.
gram—
ovation
training for any significant
new legislation or QPS policy
such as the Safe Driving
(Pursuits) Policy, we manage
the Competency Acquisition
Program (CAP) and we
develop a range of flexible
learning resources such as the
online learning products,” Ms
Motteram said.
“We work with people in
training offices all over the
state, helping them through
the QPS course approval
process. This process ensures
the quality of any education
and training offered by
the QPS, cuts back on the
duplication of courses by
alerting people to similar
training that might already
be available, and helps those
who are new to the education
and training world.”
Ms Motteram said the QPS
had the benefit of being
a Registered Training
Organisation (RTO), with the
registration administered by
ETSP.
“This enables us to issue
nationally recognised
qualifications for a number
of specific training areas.
Whether nationally recognised
or not, QPS training is high
quality, but sometimes it is
nice to get the piece of paper
to recognise this.
“Being an RTO has helped
in other ways as well. For
example, we’ve been able
to reduce the amount of sea
time our water police require
for licensing by offering
marine qualifications. It also
means our scenes of crime
and fingerprint experts can
undertake practical, onthe-job
training and gain
recognised qualifications
internally while still being
able to work full time. We are
also in a position to access
significant external funding
for our training as a result of
being an RTO”.
The quality and the nature
of the training offered by the
QPS is such that courses are
often in high demand from
other government agencies.
The QPS is in a unique
position to accommodate
these requests, particularly
where there is a benefit to
community safety.
“In partnership with TransLink,
we developed the initial
training for Senior Network
Officers. These officers have
some limited powers including
the power to detain people
in certain circumstances,
so as well as the practical
aspects of training it was
important to include
aspects of ethical behaviour
and professionalism,” Ms
Motteram said.
“At the moment we’re
helping Operations Support
Command to develop
consistent training for Police
Communications Centre staff
in response to the flood crisis
review.
“We’re also working with
Ethical Standards Command
to identify the training
required for Australian
Federal Police, who will soon
take full responsibility of
policing of major airports in
Queensland.”
The innovative and diligent
work of ETSP staff has been
recognised numerous times
over the years at the QPS
Awards for Excellence. In
2010, they won gold for
their work in relation to the
Dangerous Liaisons ethics
training package, silver for
their multicultural awareness
training and bronze for
their Advance2 training
administration system.
This year, they won silver for
the OAK training package—
the Operational Assistance
Kit to refresh officers who
have been off the road for
an extended period about
processes and policy. While
they have been recognised
with awards for training in
the past, this was the first
time they have been given
an award in the category of
Police Operations.
By Hayley-Clare Story,
Media and Public Affairs Branch
PoliceBulletin363 37