Saleha Jalil Khan from Ontario Police College

One of the biggest problems faced by diversity professionals is that of isolation. There are few pre-existing spaces for them to gather and meet each other, especially across different industries. To help combat this, every month I will profile a different diversity professional. In the course of the interview, you’ll not only get to hear about the kind of work this person is doing, you’ll also be able to benefit from the resources, strategies, and tips they share with you.

By Carmen Van Kerckhove

Name:
Saleha Jalil Khan

Title:
Instructor

Organization:
Ontario Police College, part of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Public Safety Division.

1. Can you give us a broad overview of your organization and what it does?

Saleha Jalil Khan:  Ontario Police College is a post-hire basic training and professional development facility.  Every police officer across Ontario is mandated to successfully complete the Basic Constable Training program at the Ontario Police College within six months of their hire date.  Upon completion, they are deemed capable of carrying out their duties as police officers; they return to their police organizations to complete probationary training. The Ontario Police College also provides ongoing and continued learning opportunities for senior and executive officers across Ontario, nationally and internationally.

2. What’s your role at your organization and in what ways does it involve diversity?

The unit I work in is called “Race Relations and Adult Education”. This unit deals with the training pertaining to community policing, anti –racism, anti-discrimination and harassment prevention as well as hate crimes. All of this is at the Basic Constable Level.  On the senior level, we deal with front line officers who are in senior and or supervisory or managerial roles. In this regard, I look after the diversity training for some courses at the College.  Some of my work also includes development of training programs and opportunities: conferences, seminars and the like. At the College, we have a history of leadership in training, We recognize that demographics are changing in Ontario and diverse groups are a reality, so we look at various trends to keep ourselves up-to-date and we try to work at integration across the different sectors that impact policing.

3. What do you think is the single biggest diversity challenge to tackle this year?

Generally speaking the biggest issue is, how do we integrate diversity across the board?  It comes down to finding the techniques and tools and identifying the skill set to actually embrace diversity and to integrate it in professional practice and delivery of service; diversity in terms of orientations, creed, faith, religion, and all of the multiple aspects. For example, at the College, which is a residential facility (the students are housed on site) there are accommodations we can make based on dietary needs, whether medical or due to faith-based laws that we need to recognize. This is one of the basic examples There are quite a few things when you are talking about integration. When I’m working on training programs that we put together and thinking about other internal programs, I believe diversity training should not be stand-alone piece where we “teach” for an hour, give them one session and then we are done with it.  Just as one example, how do we incorporate diversity training for traffic officers? How can we provide tools to deal with the cultural diversity that’s out there when they make a traffic stop? It’s difficult to bring about attitudinal or behavior change when you are only going to have 90 minute sessions here and there, so incorporating change means slowly normalizes it so that officers don’t even think twice about it as the shift incrementally becomes the “new normal.” It’s not something out of the blue for them. It becomes a habit to be aware of cultural differences, as opposed to when they are forced to deal with a scenario or situation where they have no clue and they feel threatened by a difference. With diversity training, our goal is to ensure dignity and respect for every individual, and to de-escalate any fear factor that might be present. Professionals need to know how to deal with anyone they come into contact with. So we help to define what professionalism is. At every level the question will always be asked, “What are you doing for diversity?”  The students have to plan and come up with strategies to recognize and incorporate diversity. To do that, they really need to understand how it benefits and impacts us all in positive ways.

4. Which professional development resources would you recommend to other professionals who are involved in diversity work?

I go beyond the law enforcement sector to do a lot of my research.  I look at what’s happening in the health sector because it’s at least ten years ahead of most of the service sectors out there. I also look at what corporate businesses are doing, especially in the banking sector, because they have to deal with the evolution of demographics; their whole customer base has changed over time from predominantly white to multiracial and multicultural.  A lot of times you can find models to pick up and tweak here and there.  We certainly make use of this aspect of research within law enforcement.  I also subscribe to a lot of list serves and talk to my colleagues all the time. Creating a network and connecting with people to share insights are also great strategies. Get rid of the ego and ask for help.  That works wonders. Libraries are terrific, too. When searching on-line, use a wide array of key words and take time to read what comes up, because a lot of times you come across hidden gems like reports and bibliographies, and you’re on your way from there.

5. What advice do you wish someone had given you before you entered this field?

First, take care of yourself. I wish people had warned me about this because if you are passionate about it, if you are emotionally invested in it – as I think most diversity professionals are – it can become a 24/7 crusade and wear you out because it’s not just business – you know it’s the right thing to do.  So, look after yourself and be sure to schedule some down time, some recovery time. The other piece of advice that I would have appreciated: create a strong network. This also ties in with looking after yourself because, at any given time when you need help, you need to have others fall back on. And just be human about it. Be patient, as hard as that is in this field. Be patient and think it through.  It’s really good to be emotionally invested, but you have to be patient as well. Sweeping change doesn’t happen overnight. So it can be frustrating, but year by year, you’ll see incremental changes. Hard work and patience is what it takes.

6. What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?

Meeting people, connecting with people. I don’t have much of a social life but I know about a thousand people I can pick up the phone and talk to that would be absolutely gratifying and fulfilling. So to me it’s the human capital and the human interest. That’s probably the most gratifying piece — creating a network of people who feel equally passionate about what we all do.

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