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Women comprise just 10 per cent of police applicants in Ontario, and more than half of them fail physical testing required to apply for a job. At a time when police services — including Ottawa’s — are trying to become more diverse, those numbers are causing concerns.
The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is asking the province to review the testing to see if it “meets the requirements that we need,” Deputy Police Chief Jill Skinner said Thursday. Police chiefs want to see better data on the testing, including how many times some candidates take it before they pass and whether it tests “appropriately”.
“What we are saying is, if only 45 per cent of the women are getting through, we can do 1,000 times more recruiting but we are still not going to get the number of candidates (we need) if they are not going to get through this process. Lets take a good look at what that process is,” said Skinner.
At the Ottawa Police Services Board meeting earlier this week, Chief Charles Bordeleau expressed frustration with the situation.
“We are all facing the same challenges with respect to hiring women and ensuring we are reflective of the communities we serve. We need this issue fixed.”
The physical testing involves a series of timed physical feats meant to mimic parts of the job.
The Ottawa Police Service was the subject of a damning audit in 2016 that found women are under-represented when it comes to promotions, aren’t given an equal voice in decision-making and, in some cases, have been subjected to inappropriate behaviour or comments.
At the time of the audit — which led to changes in some hiring policies — 23 per cent of the force’s sworn officers were women, slightly higher than the national average.
The police service is aiming to hire more women as part of a broad diversity strategy that includes hiring more people of colour and from diverse backgrounds as well as LGBT officers. Its goal is to hire 475 new recruits in the next five years.
A large part of the police service’s strategy involves outreach — convincing more people from diverse communities to apply. But once they decide to apply, more than half of female candidates are failing out before they even get in the door.
In order to apply to become a police officer in Ontario, candidates must go through the constable selection system, which involves a series of physical and other tests set by the provincial government. A series of timed physical feats includes dragging a 170-pound mannequin, running, climbing and crawling while wearing weights and operating push-pull machines that simulate a physical confrontation. Candidates are also tested in reasoning and written communications, among other things.
Candidates can only apply to police services once they receive a certificate saying they have passed the constable selection testing.
About 5,000 candidates go through the testing process each year. About 500 of them are women and only 45 per cent pass, leaving fewer than 250 women each year eligible to apply to police services across the province, said Debra Frazer, the OPS’s director general of corporate services.
At Monday’s police services board, Bordeleau said he and other police chiefs are “holding the ministry’s feet to the fire with respect to identifying any systemic barriers that exist in that process.”
One of the key questions about the testing is whether it accurately represents “bona fide” aspects of the job, said Skinner.
Many women have a harder time with the physical test than their male counterparts because they emphasize upper body strength. About 80 per cent of men who take the test pass, compared with 45 per cent of women.
Skinner said what is not known is how many times female recruits are taking the test before they pass. The additional cost and time involved represents a barrier to some women becoming police, she said. Skinner said the police service offers practice sessions on the equipment that is part of the physical test — including one for women only.
Ronald Bain, executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said he believes the testing reflects the physical demands of tasks on the job that candidates must be able to do to apply.
“It is based on the actual job. Being able to remove a person of a certain weight from a vehicle, if you are not able to do that, you do not meet the requirements. We do not want to slacken off on our standards just to get the numbers up.”
That is something, according to Bain, that some chiefs have suggested.
But most police services are emphasizing recruitment as a means to diversity, Bain said.
“It is an issue for all of the services. They are well aware of the fact that they are generally seen as male and white. The challenge is how do we stimulate interest in policing.”
Among other things, Ottawa police officials plan to meet with Montreal police in coming weeks to see how they have recruited more women. Ottawa police are holding a women-only information session on March 8 at 6 p.m. at 101 Centrepointe Drive.
Ottawa Police Service will hang a giant recruitment poster from the side of its building in coming weeks featuring two police officers — one female and one black.
Skinner said it is crucial that the police service be more reflective of the community.
“For the community to trust us, they have to see themselves reflected in the police service.”
查看原文...
The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is asking the province to review the testing to see if it “meets the requirements that we need,” Deputy Police Chief Jill Skinner said Thursday. Police chiefs want to see better data on the testing, including how many times some candidates take it before they pass and whether it tests “appropriately”.
“What we are saying is, if only 45 per cent of the women are getting through, we can do 1,000 times more recruiting but we are still not going to get the number of candidates (we need) if they are not going to get through this process. Lets take a good look at what that process is,” said Skinner.
At the Ottawa Police Services Board meeting earlier this week, Chief Charles Bordeleau expressed frustration with the situation.
“We are all facing the same challenges with respect to hiring women and ensuring we are reflective of the communities we serve. We need this issue fixed.”
The physical testing involves a series of timed physical feats meant to mimic parts of the job.
The Ottawa Police Service was the subject of a damning audit in 2016 that found women are under-represented when it comes to promotions, aren’t given an equal voice in decision-making and, in some cases, have been subjected to inappropriate behaviour or comments.
At the time of the audit — which led to changes in some hiring policies — 23 per cent of the force’s sworn officers were women, slightly higher than the national average.
The police service is aiming to hire more women as part of a broad diversity strategy that includes hiring more people of colour and from diverse backgrounds as well as LGBT officers. Its goal is to hire 475 new recruits in the next five years.
A large part of the police service’s strategy involves outreach — convincing more people from diverse communities to apply. But once they decide to apply, more than half of female candidates are failing out before they even get in the door.
In order to apply to become a police officer in Ontario, candidates must go through the constable selection system, which involves a series of physical and other tests set by the provincial government. A series of timed physical feats includes dragging a 170-pound mannequin, running, climbing and crawling while wearing weights and operating push-pull machines that simulate a physical confrontation. Candidates are also tested in reasoning and written communications, among other things.
Candidates can only apply to police services once they receive a certificate saying they have passed the constable selection testing.
About 5,000 candidates go through the testing process each year. About 500 of them are women and only 45 per cent pass, leaving fewer than 250 women each year eligible to apply to police services across the province, said Debra Frazer, the OPS’s director general of corporate services.
At Monday’s police services board, Bordeleau said he and other police chiefs are “holding the ministry’s feet to the fire with respect to identifying any systemic barriers that exist in that process.”
One of the key questions about the testing is whether it accurately represents “bona fide” aspects of the job, said Skinner.
Many women have a harder time with the physical test than their male counterparts because they emphasize upper body strength. About 80 per cent of men who take the test pass, compared with 45 per cent of women.
Skinner said what is not known is how many times female recruits are taking the test before they pass. The additional cost and time involved represents a barrier to some women becoming police, she said. Skinner said the police service offers practice sessions on the equipment that is part of the physical test — including one for women only.
Ronald Bain, executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said he believes the testing reflects the physical demands of tasks on the job that candidates must be able to do to apply.
“It is based on the actual job. Being able to remove a person of a certain weight from a vehicle, if you are not able to do that, you do not meet the requirements. We do not want to slacken off on our standards just to get the numbers up.”
That is something, according to Bain, that some chiefs have suggested.
But most police services are emphasizing recruitment as a means to diversity, Bain said.
“It is an issue for all of the services. They are well aware of the fact that they are generally seen as male and white. The challenge is how do we stimulate interest in policing.”
Among other things, Ottawa police officials plan to meet with Montreal police in coming weeks to see how they have recruited more women. Ottawa police are holding a women-only information session on March 8 at 6 p.m. at 101 Centrepointe Drive.
Ottawa Police Service will hang a giant recruitment poster from the side of its building in coming weeks featuring two police officers — one female and one black.
Skinner said it is crucial that the police service be more reflective of the community.
“For the community to trust us, they have to see themselves reflected in the police service.”
查看原文...
