Quebec invests $62.2 million in Quebec National Police School to modernize police training.
The amount provides the funds needed to train 50% more police officers each year and bring about a major technological shift.
This investment over five years will allow the scenarios for police trainees to be made even more realistic. At the police academy, new technologies should ensure that future police officers experience situations that come as close as possible to reality on the ground.
“This will be done with virtual reality and the new generation of shooting and driving simulators,” declared Public Security Minister François Bonnardel. In addition, there is a multiplication of intervention scenarios in different contexts, such as closed or open, urban or rural environments, citizen profiles, different times of day or even weather conditions.
The training will take different forms, either face-to-face at the ENPQ facilities, virtually, at the workplace or via simulated phone calls, reports the minister. Also, a renewed model of retraining and upskilling is introduced to follow the evolution of the social context.
This financial support will also make it possible to increase the number of graduates by 50% each year during a time when there is a shortage of police officers throughout Quebec.
Beginning in the fall, the cohorts will consist of 108 students, increasing the number of graduates from 648 to almost 1,000 each year, according to Mr. Bonnardel.
The investment will also be used to construct a new 30,000-square-foot building on campus to deploy the new technologies.
“It’s a hangar that allows the integration of new technology elements, a multifunctional part that allows you to integrate new tactical training, the implementation of scenarios or simulations,” said the director. General of the Quebec National Police Academy, Pierre St-Antoine.