The Changing Face of the Police in Canada

Introduction Despite significant role changes for police in the past 50 years, society still tends to stereotype police officers as law enforcers. The complexity of modern policing, however, frequently encompasses the roles of welfare worker, marriage guidance counsellor, child mincer, mediator, negotiator, first-aider, teacher and ambassador, in addition to law enforcement. The increasing variety of skills that police require to become functionally competent has presented police trainers with a dilemma: given the existing static resource situation, …

…policing as the policing service delivery of choice, stating "safe communities ... depend on strong crime prevention efforts. There is a growing commitment and belief that effective policing can be achieved only when there is ongoing cooperation and partnership between police and the community." Overall it can be said that policing is a unique profession that demands multiskilling and continual development of officers in order to keep pace with rapidly changing societal, economic and technological trends.