News

In the Spring of 2019, CPKN initiated a research project on leadership training in the Canadian police community.  The purpose of this research and report is to provide an inventory of available leadership training being used across the country by frontline officers, supervisors and executive officers as well as insight into the competencies covered by these offerings. Led by Michelle Patterson, PhD, a survey targeted to police services was created and sent to 136 organizations asking questions to identify: leadership course titles delivery method training provider cost level of leadership targeted. Further questions were asked about which leadership competencies were addressed, or not, by the training. Respondents were asked to identify gaps in leadership training and which level of leadership is most in need of additional training. Responses were received represent 80% of the sworn population in Canada.   The results of this survey demonstrate a patch-work design of police leadership courses. There are numerous courses, but there appears to be no standardized course list for leadership development used consistently across provinces or nationally. Thank you…

In 2017, Adobe issued a statement that they will stop updating and distributing Flash Player at the end of 2020.  In response to this announcement, all major web browsers have announced they will disable the Flash plug-in by default in 2019. By the end of 2020, Flash Player will be removed from their build process and most browsers will move to prevent the ability to enable Flash content. To read, statements from each of the major web browsers, follow the links below: Apple Safari Google Chrome Internet Explorer / Microsoft Edge Mozilla Firefox In response to these announced changes, CPKN is undertaking a catalogue review and working with content providers to update Flash-based courses to HTML5. In the coming few months, content providers and services who have Flash-based courses in the catalogue will receive communications from CPKN to discuss a course review and plan to update courses as needed. We look forward to this exiting opportunity to update our catalogue and connect with you on the benefits of building in HTML5! If you have any…

This is the first in a series of learning modules designed to help police professionals understand the “new landscape” of legal cannabis in Canada and examines the differences between the medical and recreational markets, from basic product differences (CBD vs. THC), associated demographics and means of access, to production quality control standards. Content was provided by Green Relief Inc. with expert contributors: Dr. R. Tait Gale, PhD, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University Nigel V. Gale, PhD Candidate, Botany, University of Toronto Graham J. Fischer, Regulatory Affairs & Special Projects, Green Relief Inc. Sean Krumpek, Director of Client Services, Green Relief Inc.

CPKN’s Krystine Richards will be presenting in a CAPG Webinar: Autism Awareness and Training for Police on February 26, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. EST.She will sharing information about the process undertaken to build the Autism Spectrum Disorder course available in the CPKN catalogue to all First Responders. Read more about the course, its learning objectives and the fantastic team of SME’s that helped in its development on the course page.

On November 28-29, 2018 CPKN hosted a workshop in Toronto with representation from 31 regionally diverse police services and organizations. As the current steward of the framework, CPKN wanted to facilitate and support discussions about the value of the CBMF, how it is being used, and its on-going maintenance. Find out more about the workshop here.

The recipient of the 2018 F. Darren Smith Award is Geneviève Tremblay, Director of National Learning Services with the RCMP. Joining Learning and Development in 2016, Geneviève faced many challenges including training resulting from the Moncton shooting of four RCMP officers and mostly recently the legalization of Cannabis and changes to impaired driving legislation. “Geneviève stepped in with vision, energy and a positive attitude to rejuvenate her team and build the confidence of management and staff throughout the organization,” says Joanne Rigon, Acting Director General, Learning and Development, RCMP. “She advocates for technology enhanced learning wherever possible as an effective means to provide training to RCMP across the country with consistent outcomes.” In addition to her regular daunting duties, in the past year, Geneviève led the collaboration with CACP and CPKN in the development of a national training initiative to respond to changing cannabis legislation. The project included collaboration on a national scale with input and subject matter expertise from police services and Federal Departments from across the country. This project was not without its…

Halifax, NS – Tuesday, August 14, 2018 – Today, the RCMP, in partnership with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN) are pleased to announce that the new online training on cannabis legislation is now available for all Canadian police officers, in both official languages. Halifax, NS – Tuesday, August 14, 2018 – Today, the RCMP, in partnership with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN) are pleased to announce that the new online training on cannabis legislation is now available for all Canadian police officers, in both official languages. The announcement was made as part of the CACP’s 113th Annual Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, taking place from August 12th to 15th, 2018. CACP President, Chief Mario Harel, said: “The CACP is proud to support this proactive initiative and would like to thank the RCMP and the CPKN for leading the development of this online training product. With such a significant legislative change coming in October, it was important…

CityLife is a joint Canada/USA/UK project with the objective of improving the quality of virtual simulation-based training by providing a more realistic virtual reality (VR) environment that simulates life typical of a real city. The VR environment will immerse students into representative scenarios for training skill sets such as surveillance, traffic, security, and personnel protection. City Life will feature realistic indoor and outdoor structures and spaces (i.e., residential and commercial) for one generic North American city and one generic foreign city. 10 000 unique, non-player characters (NPC) and 2000 unique cars will move and interact inside and outside the structures exhibiting realistic behaviors over a 7-day cycle. The learner-controlled avatars will be able to observe the NPC behaviors and, in certain cases, engage in purposeful interaction. Up to 25 learners will be able to collaborate within the multi-player environment. City Life is a significant improvement upon existing immersive training simulation in terms of realistic patterns of life within a virtual city space thereby increasing the capabilities of law enforcement, military and interagency personnel. Its “open”…

The F. Darren Smith Award of Excellence is presented annually at the Stanhope Conference in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. In honour of F. Darren Smith, the award recognizes individuals in the Canadian police community who demonstrate outstanding leadership, commitment and vision for the advancement of technology-enhanced learning.