11293 report 19 - CAIN - University of Ulster

Public interest in visiting the Police College to observe training complements the IndependentCommission’s intent to encourage access to the training enterprise and consequently to build onthe growing openness and transparency characteristics of the new Police Service.Recommendation 149: Pilot Citizen’s CoursePatten Recommendation:149. The new police college should offer a pilot citizens course, to assess demand in NorthernIreland.Lead Responsibility: Chief ConstableRecommendation StatusFull compliance with this recommendation has not been achieved. (Limited progress)HistoryThe Independent Commission recommended that the Police Service should introduce a CitizenCourse similar to that which is a current practice in a number of overseas jurisdictions. It was theIndependent Commission’s intent to support increased transparency and further demystify policingfor the citizens of Northern Ireland. The courses were to include the context of theenvironmental setting, as well as the judicial framework, including the constraints that exercisecontrol on policing in the 21st century.The Police College studied several citizens courses offered in England, Bosnia and the USA and ithas settled on a course that aims to familiarise the public with police procedures, and define thelegal environment which the Police Service operates. The intent is to explore the time andresource constraints that affect police response, to demonstrate how community-policepartnerships can work most effectively, and how citizens can be actively involved in localisedpolicing and problem solving.The proposal is to build on the overlying theme of partnerships and problem-solving during a 12week period with three weekly sessions. The course will be run at the Garnerville Police College.They expect to partner with Colleges of Further Education via consultation with ANIC; 50%police input and 50% partner input is anticipated and consideration will be given to runningcourses at local colleges. Accreditation will be obtained through a number of options such asUniversity, Open College Network (OCN), National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) and AwardScheme Development Accreditation Network. Following approval from the Training StrategySteering Group, implementation is expected no later than September of 2007.The Policing Board should monitor this to ensure it happens. With an improved political climate,this would be an excellent programme to enhance openness of the police training regime.188