News release - 117th CACP Annual Conference

08/09/22 - 08/09/27

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 9, 2022

The CACP wraps-up its 117th Annual Conference

QUÉBEC, QUÉBEC – The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police’s (CACP) concludes its 117th Annual Conference in Québec City today. The professional program focused on public trust and modern policing, the theme for this year’s conference.

Public trust has and always will be the cornerstone of our profession. There is an understanding that much has changed in the world and that new approaches are needed to meet expectations in an increasingly challenging environment.

Public trust must be earned. Once it is, it must be nurtured. From a police perspective, this can only be achieved through a collaborative model of community safety and well-being as well as meaningful dialogue. There is no one-size-fits all approach because trust is a very personal thing. It is an individual belief in the reliability, truth, and ability of someone or something. That belief is determined by that individual’s personal experiences and environment both past and present.

We recognize that with globalization, policing must move beyond the traditional characteristics of warriors and/or guardians and evolve towards a new role of 'community builders', open and willing to engage the community in discussions of increasing complexity. 

As we seek to define the future of policing, we remind governments, social and community organizations as well as the public that police services are made up of people from local communities across the country and that police services can be vulnerable too. Police services and leaders are not immune to cyberattacks, social media attacks, employee misconduct, or the impact of traumatic events. As police leaders, we must understand the social, human resource and legal implications to be able to appropriately manage these situations and address our concerns for the high levels of stress and trauma experienced by our teams.

“To earn public trust requires that we meet the needs and expectations of the communities we serve. Policing has tried to be everything to everyone, but the current policing model is not meeting all needs, and is unsustainable in the long term. Expectations need to be adjusted and be aligned with police capacity,” stated Chief Danny Smyth, President of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

Over the years, many things were downloaded to the police with municipalities taking on matters that would generally fall under provincial or federal jurisdiction and with social and health services calling on the police to help address issues they are ill-equipped to deal with. As public servants, we accept and encourage 'fair' public scrutiny. We welcome thoughtful and constructive discussion on possible reforms to policing and our public safety systems, but that discussion needs to be informedand evidence-based, with police at the table, and with the health and safety of front line police officers as well as members of the community in mind. 

The CACP’s annual conference was designed to gather Canada’s police leaders in one place to look at our profession through a ‘modern’ lens and from various different perspectives including that of current and future leaders, lawyers, as well as the private sector both from Canada and abroad.   Woven through the programming, and always at the forefront of what we do, are the needs, expectations, and perceptions of the public we serve.

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