The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) is holding its 114th annual conference in Calgary this week and over 400 members from policing agencies across the country are in attendance.
About 425 delegates are gathering to discuss objectives and the conference’s theme, ‘From The Top: A Strategic HR Approach.’
The conference is co-hosted by the Calgary Police Service and the focus is on human resources, police practices, challenges and trends.
"This year, we will focus our discussions on our people, the backbone of our organizations. This conference is about taking a thoughtful and critical look at what we do, how we do it, why we do it, and who is doing it," said CACP President, Chief Constable Adam Palmer.
Topics include:
- Factors driving strategic human resource planning for the future police workforce;
- The specialization, civilianization or professionalization of today's police services;
- Modernizing training with technology;
- Accommodations in a changing police environment; and
- Dealing with high conflict personalities.
Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld is among those in attendance and says his service's strength is in its diversity but that it brings both 'opportunities and challenges.'
"All of us want to create a safe and inclusive workplace where our employees can come and bring forward their best," said Neufeld. "One of the big things is, the whole suite of HR processes is up for modernization, we're looking at it all, and trying to find ways we can up-scale and prepare our employees and supervisors. We've got a number of pathways, as I've said before, where employees can bring forward concerns and that's exactly as it should be."
A police trade show is also part of the event and over 150 vendors are displaying the latest 'tools of the trade.'
A new Board of Directors for 2019-2020 will also be elected.
The Conference of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police runs from August 11 to 14.
