CALGARY, ALBERTA – The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) concluded its 114th Annual Conference in Calgary, Alberta on Wednesday and thanked their host, the Calgary Police Service, for their outstanding program and hospitality.
Earlier this year, the CACP hosted a President’s Council on Strategic Direction. One of the outcomes was a new vision statement — A leader in police excellence — and an updated mission statement that not only continues to refer to innovative police leadership, but to inclusion. The association identified four key pillars on which our workplan should be built: our people, partnerships, advocacy and research.
The focus of this year’s annual conference was on the first pillar, our people, the backbone of police services in Canada. Our conference theme was “From the top: A strategic HR approach” and the sessions helped broaden the body of professional knowledge in support of the development of progressive, community-oriented leaders at all levels.
We discussed factors driving strategic human resource planning for the future police workforce and the importance of looking after our people. We talked about modernizing training with technology, accommodations in a changing police environment, and dealing with high conflict personalities.
While our plenary sessions aligned with the conference theme, we also held a Town Hall and an Annual General Meeting where CACP members provided us with the direction they would like the organization to take on their behalf throughout the year.
Our Town Hall allowed us to review the nine national strategic policing priorities (refer to the Vision, Mission & Priorities section under About CACP at www.cacp.ca). We are now in the process of developing an action plan with key projects and initiatives associated with each priority. To this end, we will be working to align the work of the CACP’s more than 20 general and special purpose committees. The work of the CACP will be undertaken under the leadership of a newly elected Board of Directors (refer to separate news release).
In addition, six new resolutions were adopted by the membership calling on the government and/or other agencies to take action to help improve policing and public safety in Canada. The resolutions are available in the Resolutions section of the CACP website at www.cacp.ca.
About CACP
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) was founded in Toronto on September 6, 1905. It was first known as the “Chief Constables Association of Canada” and adopted its current name in the early 1950s. It was incorporated by Letters Patent under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act in 1968 as a non-profit organization. The Association received its ‘Certificate of Continuance’ from Industry Canada under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act in January 11, 2013.
The Association is dedicated to the support and promotion of efficient law enforcement and to the protection and security of the people of Canada. Much of the work in pursuit of its new mandate, developed in 2013, “safety and security for all Canadians through innovative police leadership”, is done through the activities and special projects of a number of committees and through active liaison with various levels of government and departmental ministries having legislative and executive responsibility in law and policing.
The Association is national in character. Its interests and concern have relevance to police at all levels including municipal, regional, provincial and federal. Many of the initiatives and the work of the Association and its committees through the year are reported on at the annual conference when recommendations are tendered and resolutions adopted. In many cases, these form the basis of the Association’s ongoing work on behalf of the policing community and the society that it serves.
Our Board of Directors includes Chiefs, Deputy Chiefs, Commissioners and Directeurs of Police Services who are representative of the widespread regions of Canada and who are elected by the membership. This group of executive officers is assisted in the management of the organization’s affairs by an Executive Director located at the national office in Ottawa, which serves as the central coordinating bureau for the Association’s various activities. The CACP office also publishes five Magazines and an Annual Directory which serve as the main communication links with the membership and all other stakeholders.
The Association’s membership consists of four categories: active, associate, life and honourary. With a minimal but constant growth recorded each year, the current combined membership roll is approximately 1214, which includes 469 active members. While this figure does not represent all police departments, the Association can take pride in its remarkable record of progress and service that has embraced the police community Canada-wide during its lengthy lifespan. Through its member police chiefs and other senior police executives the CACP represents in excess of 90% of the police community in Canada.