Senior Police Administration Course (SPAC)

The Senior Police Administration Course (13 working days) offers officers transitioning into middle management positions of increasing responsibility and authority, exposure to knowledge, competencies and skills that can assist in the adjustment to, understanding and performing of their jobs. Using a variety of adult education methodologies, many centred around group problem solving exercises and real life examples drawn from candidates' experiences, participants learn and practice leadership competencies such as acting as leaders throughout the organization, communicating effectively, affecting change, and managing resources in the work unit. When successfully transferred to the workplace, the candidate's ability to create a more productive work environment is enhanced.

Purpose

The Senior Police Administration Course is designed to provide middle managers in policing agencies with enhanced leadership abilities in the areas of: organizational awareness and support, strategic planning, leading high performance teams, problem solving and issue analysis, business plan development and presentation, political awareness, ethics, labor relations, conflict resolution, performance management and feedback, personnel development, team building, and accountability. The course is designed specifically for law enforcement personnel who have had some supervisory experience in their careers and are ready to accept the leadership challenges of more senior or complex managerial roles. This course equips police managers with the necessary competencies to manage effectively in response to the ongoing needs of the community and the police organization itself. Candidates are given the opportunity to learn how to improve and adapt their personal management and leadership skills to meet changing social conditions.

A problem-based learning model is used to enhance the real-world application of skills in the workplace. Sessions are designed to be linked and interrelated in order to provide a coherent and unified learning experience. One important aspect of the SPAC is that it provides an opportunity for renewal, along with an opportunity to exchange ideas with other middle managers from a variety of Canadian and foreign police agencies. Leadership development is provided over a three-week intensive period in order to return managers to the workplace quickly and create an immersive team learning environment. As their learning is applied, the policing organization should benefit from the enhanced abilities of their middle managers to act as "agents of change" and leaders within their organizations.

Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Develop and implement a work unit vision supported by strategic objectives
• Create and implement a strategic plan
• Implement strategic change to adapt to opportunities, threats and challenges in the unit
• Identify critical issues and apply appropriate problem solving techniques
• Design and present a Business Case on a critical issue
• Manage financial resources responsibly
• Create and develop a highly effective working environment
• Enhance employee productivity through the use of motivation, performance management and feedback techniques
• Effectively manage conflict situations in the workplace
• Provide mentoring and professional development opportunities for staff development
• Carry out a plan for ongoing personal learning and development
• Manage personal and team stress levels by creating a proactive and balanced approach to work within the unit
• Make decisions based on ethical standards and decision making models
• Manage accountability requirements

Participant Selection Criteria

Supervisors of potential candidates are asked to identify candidates based on the following criteria:

Newly or recently promoted middle managers who:

• supervise personnel exercising a variety of functions OR
• manage agency-wide or national level programs
• All candidates have 2 years supervisory experience
• All candidates have identified learning needs with his/her supervisor

Prior to the course, the course coordinator will review the Course Registration Request forms to determine the suitability of the applicants for SPAC. Based on the criteria listed above, course candidates will be selected.

Participant assessment

• Students assessment is based on a team research project, a business case, an individual presentation and competency-based facilitator assessment.

Logistics

Duration: The SPAC course is 13 working days long.

Location: The SPAC course is offered at the Canadian Police College (CPC), at the corner of St. Laurent Blvd. and Sandridge in Ottawa. The College also offers custom courses.

Number of participants: The course can accommodate 24 participants divided into 4 work groups.

Language: This course can be offerd in both French and English. More information is available through the CPC registrar's office.