Ukrainian police trainers joined the Moose Jaw Police Service for a day as part of their visit to Canada to develop partnerships and training approaches.
Chief of Police Rick Bourassa hosted the group as they discussed training, governance, polices, as well as having a glimpse into operations at the Police Service.
Chief Bourassa says Ukraine has been re-building its police force for several years and coming to Canada forms part of that initiative.
“We had been working a bit with some of the officers there. The Mission reached out to us through the Police Training Assistance Program that supports the Mission. Four of their police trainers were coming to Canada to spend time in different places and we were asked if we could host them on Sunday, (January 27)” Bourassa explained.
“Ukraine right now has been in the process of recreating their police service and Canada has been involved in that. Part of what Canada is doing is Canadian police officers are going to Ukraine on a mission called the Canadian Police Mission Ukraine CPMU,” Bourassa noted.
This was the first time the Moose Jaw Police Service has hosted a police group from another country.
“We discussed training, governance, policies and we showed them our operations. It was a great experience for the group, and we were happy to be part of providing that experience. This is the first time we’ve hosted a delegation from another country.”
As a result of the meeting, Chief Bourassa says discussions have started in relation to Moose Jaw Police Service members also becoming part of this Mission. He says the experience would be an asset to the Police Service.
“One of the things that we are looking at doing is eventually having Moose Jaw Police members participate in some of these missions. They’re incredibly important and valuable and the members that go are able to learn and contribute. They also bring back great knowledge and experience that is good for us here as well. We’ll work on some of our members getting the opportunity to go on some of those missions, so we’ll see how it goes.”
