2015 OACP Conference Daily Update – Tuesday

OACP 2015 � Tuesday June 16 2015 � www.oacpconference.on.ca

Thank you to our

Sponsors

Building a Safer Ontario The 2015 OACP Annual Meeting got off to a rousing start yesterday with the Opening Ceremonies. OACP President Chief Jennifer Evans welcomed the delegates in her opening speech, thanking police leaders and our Police Officers for all their hard work. Chief Evans highlighted this year’s theme: “Partnerships Leading to Solutions”. She also spoke passionately about the need to ensure our Officers have the tools they need to fulfill their duties, including retaining street checks as a public safety tool. The Hon. Yasir Naqvi, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, also spoke about the importance of building safer communities through community focused policing. Following the Opening Ceremonies, delegates were treated to a stimulating session with renowned journalist Rex Murphy, who discussed the new age of increased media exposure and public scrutiny in which police must operate. He ended with the observation that police, essential to keeping order, must embrace partnerships as a key component in maintaining public trust.

Cost of Public Safety and Welfare

Dr. Linda Duxbury, Professor at Carleton University Sprott School of Business, highlighted the importance of change for police services today. Times are changing, particularly in the areas of technology, legislation, and demographics, and police services have had to change accordingly. Change is essential in order for police to work effectively within the current realities of today’s changing society. There needs to be a shift in dialogue from “cost” to “value” in order to break down the biggest barrier to change: economic constraints. Through programs such as the Peel Neighbourhood Police Unit, the true value of policing in Ontario can be revealed.

Peel Regional Police Colour Guard stand ready to kick off the

Opening Ceremonies

Today’s Events

• Education Session #4A – Community Safety Model: 8:30 am-9:15 am

• Education Session #4B – Mental Health Partnerships: 9:15 am-10:00 am

• Education Session #5 – What kept me up at night? 10:30 am-12:00 pm

• Casual Night: 6:00 pm-12:00 am (Please be in the lobby by 5:30 pm to be transported to the evening event)

Dress Code

• Attendees: Business attire or Uniform dress of the day

• Casual Night: Casual

Live Tweeting

We’re live tweeting during all sessions. Don’t

forget to include the #OACP2015 hashtag in

all your tweets

Policing Future

Jon Kashare of Gartner Consulting highlighted the importance of changing the mindset around IT to include open, centralized, and shared data, and increasing IT staff ratios. Police organizations need to take full advantage of the advanced capabilities today’s technology can provide in order to unlock IT’s true potential. The key to digital enablement is to invest in the people that know technology.

Academic Partnerships

Michael Halinski from Carleton University shared his research in a project designed to reduce wait times for police officers dealing with mental health patients in Peel Region hospitals. In just a few months, the project participants were able to reduce wait times significantly, increase the number of recorded EDP forms, and increase the number of patients admitted. Dr. Nouman Ashraf, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management discussed “emancipatory leadership”. He defined great leadership as being able to develop and harness the power of empathy, fulfilling the unmet needs of those served, and being open to the idea of multiple interpretations of the same data. He challenged the delegates to move leadership in new directions and embrace the value of taking the path less traveled.

Chief Jennifer Evans speaks at the opening ceremonies