The Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) is hailing as a success their recent participation in the Canadian Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (CACOLE) annual conference.
The conference brought together practitioners in the field of civilian oversight from Canada and the Caribbean, including Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
This year, for the first time, the PCOA was invited to take part in a featured panel discussion exploring the emerging issues affecting the oversight of law enforcement and the necessary changes required in light of advancing technologies and evolving public expectations.
The PCOA was represented by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Otarah Byfield Nugent.
“We had a seat on the panel this year, which was really, really instrumental, because it allowed us to share our own experiences, our own programmes, share our own challenges and how we are trying to navigate that in this new landscape,” she said.
According to Mrs. Byfield Nugent, the reception to the PCOA’s presentation was overwhelmingly positive.
“I thought it was an overwhelming success, not because I’m representing the PCOA but every single response that we got in terms of our presentation was just overwhelmingly good, because they were able to now see a different perspective from the Caribbean, which included innovative programmes that they were not even thinking of,” she said.
The Authority’s presentation stood out for its creative approach to community engagement, particularly through initiatives like the Secondary School Poster Competition and its in-house podcast series. These programmes generated real-time interest from other oversight bodies.
“I can tell you that even at the conference you had places like Trinidad thinking of using our secondary school poster competition as a part of their programme and initiative,” Mrs. Byfield Nugent said.
“There was another organisation in Canada that recently sent something to us, sending great thoughts about our presentation and asking if they could borrow our podcast idea in terms of incorporating that into their own programmes and operations,” she noted.
The CACOLE is a national non-profit organisation of individuals and agencies involved in the oversight of police officers in Canada. The conference was held from June 2 to 4.