COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges with training police recruits

Police training can be intense at the best of times – 20 weeks cramming in the classroom and practical training for a career fighting crime – but, for the policing class that just graduated in Saskatchewan, COVID-19 got thrown in on top.

Twenty-one recruits were in Class 80 at the Saskatchewan Police College which just graduated at the end of May. Six were headed to the Regina Police Service, eight to Saskatoon’s, and seven to various others in the province.

When the pandemic restrictions came down, the recruits from Saskatoon were sent back there to do their learning by distance. The police college is normally at the University of Regina but the university campus shut down so the training was moved to the old STC building across from Regina police headquarters.

They were about ten weeks into their training when the pandemic hit, which was most of the in-class training according to Regina police Constable Graham Borne who is on a secondment to the college as a recruit trainer.

“So it was more the scenario training that we had to modify. Normally we get actors that come in and so myself and others that were facilitating had to take on some of the acting roles,” said Borne.

Firearms training was done in-house at the Regina police headquarters. Graham said they just worked the shooting range differently to give everyone space.

While training defensive tactics Graham said, there were fewer people, so some trainers could be cut to have fewer people there and they did little things to keep everyone safe.

“Keeping the same partner, having a hand sanitizing station downstairs. They were all issued PPE wear, they also had some COVID-19, sort of, screening forms that we had to go over whenever we had some of the close contact areas that we had to teach,” said Graham.

Any of the remaining lectures and in-class work was done with everyone spaced out and sometimes the lecturer presenting through video chat.

The program is supposed to be 20 weeks, but Graham said this class got 15 weeks with some modifications.

“We had to get a lot of the mandatory components in the books and so we were able to cut a few things out just to get them out the doors as quickly as we could and back to the agencies.”

The recruits will have to go back in September to take the emergency vehicle operator course, which would normally be offered in Saskatoon but couldn’t be under the pandemic restrictions.

Graham said, the Regina recruits at least, had three weeks of in-service training after they graduated so they could get all the extra tips and “nice to knows” in that time.

When asked why the program wasn’t just stopped, he said police are essential workers, there are many officers retiring who need to be replaced, and that this is the nature of the police work, dealing with adversity.

Graham said the recruits, when they get to the college, already have their offers of employment from their respective services.

“It’s up to us at the Saskatchewan Police College to try and get them through all of their requirements  as best we can, in the most efficient way possible, even despite COVID-19.”

There’s another class of recruits set to be trained starting in July. Graham said they’re still set to go ahead with a full 20 week program. They just need to find a new venue, as the STC building will start undergoing renovations this summer for its transformation into the new Regina police headquarters.