Education

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2017 15 YOUR FIRE SERVICE TRAINING SPECIALIST shaun@trainingdivision.com www.SMARTFire.ca INTERESTED IN A C AREER AS A F I R E F I G H T E R ? COURSES AVAILABLE FIRST AID EMR - 2018 Canadian Mennonite University Blitz: Jan. 15-20 • March 19-24 • May 14-19 • Sept. 17-22 • Nov. 12-17 Part Time : Jan. 15-20 • Sept. 17-22 Call Melissa: 204-250-7741 BASIC FIRE ACADEMY NFPA 1001/472 Online & 2 Week Bootcamp Start Anytime ADVANTAGE PROGRAM Rope Rescue • Confined Space • Advanced Fire Skills • Recruitment Prep Call Shaun: 204-292-6766 NFPA 1001: FIREFIGHTER LEVEL 1 & 2 NFPA 472: HAZMAT AWARENESS & OPERATIONS For internationally recognized IFSAC seals For more details and other available courses, visit trainingdivision.com LEARNING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE By Shane Gibson for the Free Press Police officers make a meaningful difference in the communities they serve, and Assiniboine Community College's (ACC) Police Studies program gives graduates the skills needed to become professional officers and work in a challenging field that's in high demand in Manitoba and across the country. Assiniboine Community College's Police Studies program gives graduates the skills needed to become professional police officers. ACC photos The Police Studies program, offered at ACC's Victoria Avenue East Campus in Brandon, is an innovative and intensive eight-month certificate program that is the first of its kind in Manitoba. Since the program started in 2006, ACC has developed strong relationships with the Brandon Police Service (BPS), Manitoba Justice, the RCMP, and Aboriginal police services to make sure their training fits what modern police forces are looking for when hiring, says Wayne Jacobsen, chair of human services at ACC. "The experience you get here will make you a better candidate for recruitment," explains Jacobsen, who says anyone looking to apply for the BPS, the Dakota Ojibway Police Service (DOPS), or municipal police services like Winkler, Morden and Altona, which don't have training branches of their own, should consider taking the Police Studies program. "Like many college programs, the Police Studies program is very experiential in nature," says Jacobsen. "The first four months engages much of the theory — obviously the candidates have to know what the criminal code constitutes as a crime, you need to know what the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows a police officer to do, you have to know what the provincial statutes are, and you have to know how the criminal justice system operates." The second half of the course sees a greater emphasis on experiential learning, says Jacobsen, which means students take the theory they've learned and apply it to real-life situations using the school's Public Safety Training Centre, a unique 7,000-sq.- ft. facility with reconfigurable walls that can be built into any number of real-world spaces students will find themselves in once they become police officers. "During the Practical Training course, for example, the Public Safety Training Centre is set up like a crime scene where students learn how to take photographs, learn how to identify and properly seize evidence, and learn how to make proper notes," says Jacobsen, who is also a former RCMP member with 23 years of experience as an officer. "It's crucial that students understand and are able to apply that knowledge because the reality is when you hit the field you're going to be faced almost immediately with a lot of situations where you'll need to rely on that base of training." The Public Safety Training Centre is also used for the program's rigorous Police Officer Physical Abilities Test, one of the two main resources used by police forces in Canada to test officers' physical ability, and a requirement for all students to complete before graduation. But it's not just the ins and outs of the law and the physical side of policing students learn at ACC, says Jacobsen. The Police Studies program also focuses on the social skills needed for the job, and this includes a requirement that all students volunteer in the community while they're enrolled in the program. The program's Community Based Policing class also asks students to look at a real-life problem facing the community and work towards finding a solution. "It's recognized more and more across the country now that police don't solve all the problems in a community — it's police working with other agencies, governments and volunteer groups that makes the biggest impact," says Jacobsen. "The community aspect is an integral part of policing today, and it's an integral part our program." Go to assiniboine.net for more information on the Police Studies program and to sign up for ACC's unique Spend-a-Day program, which lets prospective students sit in on a program before applying. ❚ ASSINIBOINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

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