The Greater Sudbury Police Service, in partnership with TG Innerselves, is excited to unveil the production of “Creating Awareness and Understanding of the Transgender Community”. This video is the result of a year and a half collaborative effort between the Greater Sudbury Police Service and the transgender community in North Eastern Ontario. The video, with its accompanying lesson plan and Power Point, enable community agencies to deliver a powerful training session and increase understanding in their own agencies. The material discusses issues facing the transgender community, creates awareness and understanding of these challenges, and enlightens participants on the Ontario Human Rights Code and the importance of the protection of human rights stemming from gender identity and gender expression. The training video has been endorsed by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police Diversity Committee as well as the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The video further discusses how their interactions with transgender persons can be with dignity and the protection of their rights.

Greater Sudbury Police Service sponsored the production of the video and its provincial distribution. Following a “Screening Event on May 28^th  2104, 85 community agencies were provided with a copy of the video and 72 copies of the police version of the training DVD’s were provided to all Police Services in Ontario.  Greater Sudbury Police Service continues to get requests for the video, and TG Innerselves members are being invited to speak at Community Events. Therefore, to meet the growing interest, the video and training material has been uploaded to the Service’s Website www.gsps.ca and can be accessed in the Specialized Services/ Inclusion Team tabs.

In creating this partnership with TG Innerselves, the Greater Sudbury Police is helping to ensure that a marginalized group in our community are more accepted and understood.  This message is now travelling accross Ontario, and will change the way police services are trained to interact with the transgender community.