Saint John Police Force holds first-ever Inclusion and Diversity Recruitment Camp
The Saint John Police Force’s latest recruitment effort has an increased focus on creating a more diverse workplace.
Saint John police held an inaugural Inclusion and Diversity Recruitment Camp at its headquarters in the uptown core on Thursday. It aimed to provide underrepresented community members (like women and visible minorities) a hands-on opportunity to explore a career in policing.
“I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect coming in here today,” admits Staff Sergeant Matthew Weir. “But I am very pleased with the outcome and how involved people are being.”
Roughly 30 people from different backgrounds took part in the first-of-its-kind camp. The day consisted of a wide range of interactive sessions for attendees to take part it, including the chance to speak with current officers in the force.
The camp started with attendees learning what it means to be a difference-maker as police officers, and what the process is to become a full-time officer of the law. Attendees learned how to put on handcuffs, conduct traffic stops, and remove someone from a home.
Attendees, with help from Saint John police, learned how to cuff and remove someone from a home at the Inclusion and Diversity Recruitment Camp on May 23, 2024. (Avery MacRae/CTV Atlantic)The force’s forensics and canine teams also conducted a demonstration before those taking part had once last chance to speak with officers from a variety of the force’s sectors.
“We wanted to give people of underrepresented and diverse groups a chance to see what it is to be a police officer,” says Weir. “There is a lot of people that may be looking at a career in law enforcement that are right on the fence and not certain if they want to get into this. I think this is a great opportunity to see first hand what they are signing up for.”
All those enrolled in Thursday’s program have some interest in joining the police force in some capacity. For attendee Jitender, he hopes to follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps by becoming a third-generation police officer.
He says the course was very informative and provided lots of information, including how being a uniformed officer isn’t the only way to join the force.
He applauds the force in its efforts to add more diversity to their team.
Mock traffic stops were held at the Inclusion and Diversity Recruitment Camp on May 23, 2024 in Saint John, N.B. (Avery MacRae/CTV Atlantic)“It’s really nice for the immigrants as well to have a diversified policing force so that they feel comfortable to be with the people they know and they should feel comfortable to talk to,” Jitender says. “Back in the days there’s taboo to speak with policeman. Most of the people got conscious or sometimes scared. That’s why this is a wonderful initiative by Saint John police.”
“There are some cultural differences and there are some communication gaps that one is not able to explain themselves to maybe a different person from a different ethnic group,” says fellow attendee Arjun Chauhan. “So I would always say there is a little more comfort level.”
Saint John Police Force also recognize the benefit in having a more diverse patrol group.
“The benefit of having different languages in policing and being able to speak the native language of different individuals that we come across on a day to day is a huge benefit in understanding,” Weir says. “And of course there is an understanding of the different cultural backgrounds as well that they bring to the table.”
The Saint John Newcomers Centre says the city’s police force has already been at the front of the charge when it comes to further diversifying its workforce and working with newcomers.
“I think what this camp does today is create better opportunity for us as a community to be more inclusive,” says managing director Mohamed Bagha. “It’s about creating an opportunity for everyone to succeed, and I think the Saint John Police Force gets that.”
Attendees learned how to cuff someone at the Inclusion and Diversity Recruitment Camp in Saint John, N.B., on May 23, 2024. (Avery MacRae/CTV Atlantic)Bagha echoes the sentiment issued by those taking part in the camp that having more diversity within the police force’s staff is only a positive.
“For any community to thrive people need to see themselves in the region, including into the police force,” he says. “When I see somebody who looks like me, speaks my language, I’m at ease because I think he understands me and I understand him.”
The force plans to hold more camps like this in the future, with the next one slated for August.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6951886.1720127955!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
ANALYSIS Why are Trudeau and Singh avoiding Stampede this year?
This year, only Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre will be saddling up for the event, while both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will stay away.
'Dead to me': Alberta transgender teen takes action after being deadnamed in yearbook
He was graduating from high school this summer, ready for life's next chapter, when he opened his yearbook to see that he and other transgender students at Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks, Alta., had been deadnamed.
Saskatoon driver accused of causing a fatal crash did not have a driver’s licence, police say
Saskatoon police say the man accused of causing a crash that killed one woman and injured three others last month, did not have a valid driver’s license.
Juror dismissed for falling asleep during testimony at Coutts murder-conspiracy trial
One of the jurors hearing evidence in the murder-conspiracy trial surrounding the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., has been dismissed for falling asleep in the courtroom.
Canada's Davies scores shootout penalty to bury World Cup demons
Canada captain Alphonso Davies banished memories of his penalty miss at the 2022 World Cup by confidently converting a spot-kick in a shootout victory over Venezuela in the Copa America quarter-finals on Friday.
Everything Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said publicly about Donald Trump
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a measured tone when talking about Donald Trump during his first presidency, the Canadian leader has been a little more direct since. As we head closer to a U.S. election this fall, CTVNews.ca takes a look at everything Trudeau has said publicly about the presumptive Republican nominee.
N.B. man denied flight due to tear in passport’s seam
What seemed to be a minor passport issue turned into a major problem for a New Brunswick man who was denied a boarding pass from Air Canada.
More records expected to shatter as long-running blanket of heat threatens 130 million in U.S.
Roughly 130 million people were under threat Saturday and into next week from a long-running heat wave that already has broken records with dangerously high temperatures — and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said.
Salvador's president threatens to use gang-crackdown style tactics against price gougers
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, famous for his heavy-handed crackdown on street gangs, threatened to use similar tactics against price gougers.