Modernizing a National Police Competency Framework

Police competencies have evolved many times over the past decade. At the 2024 Stanhope Conference, Dominic Mallett, Innovation Advisor, Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN), and Angela Ripley, Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, presented on the Competency-Based Management Framework (CBMF) which they have been working on in collaboration with the National Advisory Committee’s (NAC) Competencies Subcommittee.

“Police competencies are skills, knowledge, and abilities that successfully allow a member to do their job,” explained Mallett. “These competencies are important for helping create national standards for police education.”

A Competency-Based Management Framework is a national initiative originally started in 2013 by the Police Sector Council. The framework is currently a list of the different competencies and what is expected of people in different positions.

During the presentation, Mallett and Ripley shared the history of the CBMF, the recent findings from a needs analysis survey, and engaged delegates in discussions regarding their service’s needs.

Specifically, the team was looking for feedback regarding digital competencies, leadership competencies, and civilian competencies, as these were identified gaps during the needs analysis survey.

“Our collective goal is to create a framework with a database that is searchable, indexable and filterable by role, rank, and task,” said Mallett. “This will allow services to use the CBMF as a tool in creating competency frameworks specifically for each service.”

There was phenomenal feedback provided at the Stanhope conference, and the team will continue to seek more information while working to modernize the framework. This work will be completed in the spring of 2025.

“This is a Network-wide initiative,” said Mallett. “In order to make this project a success, it requires more than just Angela and myself. It needs to be a collaborative effort.”