I think the best example of a recruit training program existed in the mid 1990s. The RCMP brought recruits into their “Depot”—I think it was only for one or two classes. Before they gave them a uniform, before they issued the baton, handcuffs, gun, bullets, before they gave them any Criminal Code statutes or anything else related to provincial or municipal laws, they sat them down for three weeks straight and taught them how to do problem solving, conflict mediation, and effective communication.
Once they gave them the soft skills, the right mindset around how to approach providing public safety and police service delivery, they gave them the tools of the trade and the laws of the land.
I'd like to see all of us revert to something more like that. There's simply not enough in our recruit class for training that deals with these issues. We're too focused on officer safety and law enforcement, and we don't have nearly enough information and training content specifically around those other areas of prevention, community mobilization, community engagement—the soft skills, and the common sense approaches we need to have more of in policing.