This course was developed by the Toronto Police Service and made available to all police services via CPKN.

Interacting within the immense diversity of our communities is a reality of policing. As such, it is important that police officers recognize and understand the issues facing the various groups within our communities.

This course is designed to assist police officers understand the issues specific to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community and effectively execute their duties while working within that community. This course identifies common terms and issues unique to this community and suggests courses of action for officers to follow when interacting with members of this group.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:

• Recall and understand common terms used in the LGBT and Trans community
• Describe and understand some of the unique issues of the LGBT community including the differences and similarities of domestic related investigations between the LGBT and straight communities
• Incorporate "trans" knowledge into your own working lexicon
• Understand the challenges of conducting searches of "trans" persons who have been arrested

Target Audience

This is an inclusive-level course and is designed for all police officers who interact with members of the public.

Subject Matter Experts

Superintendent Darren Smith began his policing career in 1978. He joined the Toronto Police Service (TPS) in 1979. During his career he has served in Traffic, Divisional Policing, Human Resources and Criminal Investigations and has held senior management positions in many areas of the TPS. He currently leads the Training and Education Unit and is responsible for training Canada's largest municipal police service.

Superintendent Smith is a graduate of Saint Francis Xavier University and holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Guelph. As well, he has completed various Executive Development programs at York University, the Ontario Police College (OPC), and the Canadian Police College (CPC). Supt. Smith is a frequent lecturer at educational institutions and has taught at the OPC, CPC, FBI National Academy, and Humber College, to name only a few. For eight years, he was a principal instructor in Adult Education at St. FX University and has taught adult learning at many of the police training institutions in Canada and the United States.

Course Details

Content Provider/Developer: Toronto Police Service Price: $25 + GST Languages: English Course Duration: 1 hour Release Date: October 8, 2008