Two Georgian College professors are working with two Ontario police services on a research project aimed at advancing inclusion and anti-oppression police training, thanks to nearly $360,000 in new funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), through the College and Community Social Innovation Fund program.
The research project has the potential to significantly impact and drive innovation related to diversity training programs for police officers across Canada.
Drs. Eleanor Gittens and Isabelle Deschamps, both based at Georgian’s Orillia Campus, will lead the three-year research project starting this month and expect to wrap up in winter 2027. They are working with the Barrie Police Service and Stratford Police Services.
“Since the end of August, six Indigenous people have died following interactions with police across Canada. So, the urgency of our research couldn't be clearer. Visible minorities, particularly Indigenous communities, have long distrusted the criminal justice system due to persistent overt, covert and systemic racism. These tragic incidents underscore the dire need for meaningful change,” said Gittens, a Human Services and Community Safety professor and program coordinator.
“By working directly with police services in Ontario, our project aims to develop and evaluate anti-oppression and inclusion training that addresses the deep-rooted issues fueling these crises and challenges the status quo of policing in marginalized communities.”
Gittens, Deschamps and three Georgian students will work closely with the Barrie and Stratford police services to:
- identify the main issues in their communities concerning police-community relationships,
- develop inclusion and anti-oppression training, and
- assess the training’s effectiveness over time.
“The Stratford Police Services recognizes our communities are changing and the importance of diversity training within the service to build trust between the police and all community members. As a police chief, I am proud to partner with Drs. Deschamps and Gittens from Georgian College to evaluate our current diversity training program to ensure it is sustainable, relevant and meeting the needs of both the service and the equity-deserving communities we serve,” said Chief Greg Skinner, Stratford Police Services. “This project will provide us with the information we rely on as a service provider to ensure that funding for training initiatives is targeted, effective and value added. I look forward to working with the team and integrating their recommendations in future police training.”
There is a small amount of research on the types of diversity programs and their effectiveness in improving police-community relations in Canada, according to Gittens and Deschamps.
Their research project aims to expand on the limited research available on diversity training in Canadian police services.
“The Barrie Police Service is excited at the opportunity to once again partner with Georgian College to expand the foundation of policing research,” said Chief Rich Johnston, Barrie Police Service. “The ability to enhance evidence-based training in critical areas such as inclusion and anti-oppression will help improve and strengthen procedural justice in policing across Canada.”
