The Edmonton Police Service was honoured for its efforts to welcome Syrian families who arrived in the city earlier this year.
The EPS received the Human and Civil Rights Award at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in San Diego on Oct. 15 for its Emerging Communities Framework.
Last fall, as Syrian refugees starting arriving in Edmonton, the unit developed a plan to reach out to them.
Beginning in January 2016, Sgt. Gary Willits and Community Operations Co-ordinator Iman Saidi met with most of the government-sponsored refugee families and some of the privately sponsored families as they arrived in Edmonton.
READ MORE: ‘Our life is running very well’: Syrian refugees settle in to life in Edmonton
That initial meeting with a police officer in uniform often made them very quiet and even fearful, Saidi said.
“We hear a lot of fears about how they perceive police, what their interactions previously in their homeland have been with police,” she explained. “That’s how we identify what we can do to kind of fix that problem.”
“We know a lot of newcomers have fled areas where there was an unstable political environment,” Willits added, “and with that, sometimes came a mistrust of police and a fear of police.”
He said, in order for Edmonton to have safe communities, agencies have to work together and earn that trust.
“To build that relationship, we know we have to build police legitimacy, we have to build police trust,” Willits said. “We’ve got to keep this going because there’s always an influx, even as we’re talking, there’s always newcomers arriving in Canada from everywhere.”
Since the framework was established, police and community partners have met with about 700 people.
“It’s humbling,” Willits said. “Hearing what they’ve gone through, hearing what these families have seen: extreme violence, being forced to flee your home with just the clothing on your back, leaving your whole community and then having to go to a brand new country.”
Willits said, before they even arrived in Edmonton, many refugees had already read some negative things about how they’d be accepted in Canada.
“It’s sad. What they’re looking at on social media is: ‘Everyone thinks you’re a terrorist. When you go to Canada, you won’t be able to speak your language. You won’t be able to practice your religion.’ So, a lot of fears and anguish when they’re coming here.”
In addition to dispelling myths about Canadian culture, laws and police, the Emerging Community Framework aims to establish relationships with newcomers that will last.
“It’s really hard to convince someone that basically this is your new home until they see all the goodness that’s happening,” Saidi said. “A lot of them come hear from Day 1 and they just say, ‘we want a better life for our kids, we want the peaceful life and we’re staying.'”
The unit has developed relationships with community partners who work closely with newcomers and has trained staff about the impact of PTSD in refugee families.
READ MORE: Edmonton area program helps Syrian refugees overcome ‘barrier of fear,’ trauma of water
Police have also helped partner agencies with presentations and orientation classes for newcomers and is offering a Police Youth Engagement Program for young people from newcomer communities. In addition, the unit has assisted on police investigations where a newcomer is directly or indirectly involved.
The Emerging Communities Framework that will now be applied across the entire police service to help build relationships with all new and emerging communities.
“Let’s look at the way we deal with all immigration,” Willits said. “The fact is, immigration is a given in Canada. We need it to thrive. It’s always ongoing.”