Police training day

On the 19th September, trainers and Chairs from 12 Canterbury Community Patrols attended a training day at The Justice Precinct facilitated by Snr Sgt Roy Appley.

Plans to hold a training day and awards dinner for all members of the Canterbury Patrols this year was cancelled due to the uncertainty of which Level we could have found ourselves in. We were delighted that this session could proceed, and we had members from as far away as Timaru attend. The main focus of the day was to better understand the intelligence the patrols receive from Police, how to best complete the requirements of a tasking, and finally how to report back our findings in a timely fashion and consistent manner to them. It became clear early in the session that although all patrols receive the same information, the way it is interpreted and made accessible to their members, varies greatly. It is through these training sessions that we can achieve consistency, offer support, and achieve a greater level of professionalism and credibility. The patrols key role is to be the “Eyes and Ears” for Police. Training days are important as our volunteer base is mobile and they complement the standard modules we all complete online with our national body, CPNZ. It was great to see that patrols are embracing technology with several now recording their reports electronically. Several others are looking at moving this way. In Alberta Canada, an app has been developed to record a report. This app will track your patrol and there is the ability to send photo’s directly to Police at the time of finding something of interest. It was obvious from the interest in this app that we will need to set up a Canterbury IT committee.