Windsor police will be taking mandatory training on homophobic violence. The training is designed to increase “empathy toward this particular community” – individuals who are, in any combination, one or more of the following: lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans-identified.
Since empathy entails entering into another’s personality, one wonders whether the Windsor Police Service is going to be encouraged to explore its inner gayness.
Read it all here:
The Windsor Police Service is pleased to announce a new training initiative for it’s employees to be undertaken in cooperation with EGALE Canada. EGALE Canada is a national organization committed to advancing equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-identified people and their families across Canada. Members of EGALE Canada have partnered with the Windsor Police Service and will be in Windsor over a five week period commencing on Wednesday January 12, 2011 in order to train all of the Service’s sworn and civilian employees.
The presentation entitled “Report Homophobic Violence Period” will provide further insight into some of the challenges the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-identified population face within our communities. The training will also assist all members of the Windsor Police Service to more readily distinguish between those crimes considered “Hate Related” or crimes of opportunity during our investigations. Chief Gary Smith explains “As a police service, we want to encourage members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-identified population to feel more comfortable in coming forward and reporting crimes committed either against them or within the community. This training will reinforce our knowledge of basic human rights and will increase our empathy toward this particular community within our society.” It should be noted that the Windsor Police Service is the first Police Agency in Canada to make this training mandatory for all of the Service’s employees.
There is, of course, nothing new in this: it has been a great success amongst the constabulary of North Wales. The Windsor Police Service could learn a thing or two about empathy from them:
