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When it comes to Indigenous cultural safety training, there’s no such thing as one size fits all.

That’s what the �󹬵��� Police Academy learned when it incorporated a provincial training program on the topic into its police recruit curriculum. The program was originally designed for health care workers and the scenarios and examples used simply didn’t meet the needs of police recruit training.

In the end, that training program did serve one purpose – it helped the Police Academy figure out what its specific needs are. After securing funding the academy partnered with Odd Squad Productions, a local award-winning, police-led charitable organization that specializes in creating documentaries.

Newest recruit class the first to engage with the videos

The result is a series of educational videos featuring interviews with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers now incorporated into the curriculum. Use of the videos just launched with the newest recruit class which started training in May. There are 15 videos completed with eight more on the way.

Building relationships with the interview subjects was key, said Police Academy Director Jennifer Keyes.

Elder Phillip Gladue was the first �󹬵��� Elder-In-Residence to support the project in its initial stages which led to a recognition that a higher production quality was needed to appropriately honour what the Elders and Knowledge Keepers were sharing.

That led to the partnership with Odd Squad Productions and the recently launched set of videos. �󹬵��� Elder-In-Residence Caroline Buckshot’s participation also “really cracked the door open” to other Elders and Knowledge Keepers, said Keyes. They include Bob Joseph, author of 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, and Chief Constable Deborah Doss Cody at the Stl'atl'imx Tribal Police Service.

Simple question allows for heartfelt responses

The premise of each interview was simple: If you had five minutes, what would you want to say to the next generation of police recruits?

The open-ended question resulted in a wide range of responses, all unscripted and unfiltered, said Police Academy instructor Toby Hinton. These included one interviewee’s explanation of the deep cultural significance of medicine pouches worn by many Indigenous people and another describing how a childhood spent in residential school impacts how they interact with others to this day.

Recruits reflect on what they learn

The fact the videos are short, with high production values, make them an engaging part of the curriculum. Recruits are tasked with watching them and writing reflections on what they learned. These shorter learning pieces happen over a longer period of time for better retention, Hinton said.

“It’s less about knowing facts about the residential school system and more about the impacts and what you’re going to do with those insights,” said Tim Came, the Police Academy’s Program Manager, Curriculum Development of the reflections.

So far, the feedback has been very positive, said Keyes, noting some videos were previewed by the B.C. Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police.

Impact likely to extend to police interaction with other cultural groups

Jason La Rochelle, Director of �󹬵���’s Office of Indigenization, says the multi-year project is a good step forward regarding the Indigenization of the Police Academy’s curriculum. He appreciated the effort made to build relationships, noting he was consulted early on and served as the initial go-between with the Elders-In-Residence.

“You never know how this kind of cultural safety training is going to come into play down the road for any police recruit,” La Rochelle said. “My hope is that it builds a knowledge base so when they’re in community that they remember something that helps them work more effectively with Indigenous Peoples.”

He added that the benefits of the Indigenous cultural awareness training will likely extend to police recruits’ interactions with other cultural groups as well.

For more, check out these examples of the Indigenous cultural safety training videos: