A water main rupture, on January 28th, and the resulting flood at 11th Avenue and Broad Street has caused the Regina Police Service to enact a “Plan B”, when it comes to annual Block Training. This plan involves a temporary relocation of training, which, understandably, might make people curious. So, what is Block Training and why is this important knowledge for the public now?
Block Training: All Police officers are required to keep their qualifications up to date in several disciplines including defensive tactics and weapons re-certification. Every year, the Regina Police Service organizes a full week of training for its sworn members and classroom sessions for civilian employees. This “Block Training” includes all the mandated re-certifications for sworn officers, as well as education for sworn and civilian employees in “Culture Change Management: Working with Indigenous People” and “Police Worldview & Unconscious Bias”. Block Training is repeated, over a series of weeks, until all officers and civilian members have cycled through the pertinent training.
Normally, Block Training is carried out in training rooms and classrooms at the Regina Police Service. Last Friday’s flooding affected an RPS facility at the corner of 11th Avenue and Broad Street. While remediation is being carried over the next 2-3 weeks, Block Training has been relocated to meeting rooms at the Delta Hotel. This location was chosen, in part, so that attendees will be able to report to work and walk to their training. So, members of the public will see groups of police officers entering the Delta Hotel.
Block Training can be noisy, too, as officers work through realistic scenarios. With Block Training taking place at the Delta Hotel, we anticipate Delta employees and visitors to the hotel may hear those “sounds of scenario training”. The Regina Police Service has posted signage to inform and reassure everyone in the building, but we felt it would be appropriate to also let the public know so there would be less chance of concern or misinterpretation. As always, we thank the public for their support.
