Police diversity training wins a top award

12:00pm Thursday 9th November 2006

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DORSET's Police force has won a prestigious award for the innovative way it trains staff.

The force came in for praise for its diversity training programme which is interactive and involves officers and volunteers from the community acting out real-life scenarios.

It aims to improve relationships with vulnerable and minority groups such as gays and lesbians and people from different ethnic backgrounds.

The role playing, which Dorset Police call Perceptual Training, won the force the South West Regional Training Award at the National Training Awards.

The awards celebrate businesses, organisations and individuals that achieve outstanding success through training and development.

Superintendent Dave Thorp, who heads Dorset Police's Learning and Development Unit, travelled to the ceremony in Bristol to receive the award from GMTV presenter and former tennis number one Andrew Castle.

Supt Thorp said: "I'm thrilled that our commitment to professional development has been recognised through this award."

The programme, which was developed in 2004 by the force's Partnership and Diversity Development Team, gives officers experience of real-life events.

Training takes place away from police stations and places officers in authentic surroundings such as shops and nightclubs.

Subjects covered include racial harassment, homophobic assault, domestic violence and stop and search.

Supt Thorp said: "Role players from the community are given an emotional starting point and guidance for their behaviour, enhanced through direction from a professional actor.

"Role players aren't given a specific script and the aim is for them to react in accordance to how they are treated by police officers. Each scenario is followed by a feedback session where role players have an opportunity to comment on how they feel police treated them."

Supt Thorp said Perceptual Training gave members of vulnerable and minority groups an opportunity to highlight any barriers they may come across when dealing with the police.

He added: "It has been, and continues to be, a great tool in the development of police officers.

"It is a good learning curve, where officers can listen to members of the community and increase their understanding of some of the problems people face."