Constable recognized for bridging communities and cultures
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This article was published 04/12/2017 (2895 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Winnipeg Police officer is giving back to the community that took him in 15 years ago.
Senior constable Saif Khan was recently recognized by the province with an excellence in law enforcement award for his work mentoring new recruits and bridging the gap between newcomer communities and police agencies in the province.
“It’s nice to be recognized and even if I wasn’t, I would still do the same work I do,” Khan said. “I felt honoured.”
Khan, 43, is a 13-year member of the service working in general patrol, the diversity unit, community relations division, and on the protective services team. In April he also joined the cadets program as a supervisor.
In 2002, Khan moved to Canada from Kuwait where he had been working as part of a joint police task force between the Pakistani government and the Kuwaiti government. While working in the region, Khan became fluent in five languages: Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, and English — a skill set that has proved useful in connecting with the city’s diverse population.
“I sometimes volunteer to go in uniform and help out with these four different communities,” Khan explained. “I knew when in 2015 the government announced that they’d be bringing in an influx of newcomers, especially the refugees of Syria, Iraq and Jordan… I was aware of the challenges they’d be facing: language, culture, religion.
“So I took it upon myself to prepare presentations in English and Arabic, and when these newcomers started arriving we started doing these presentations and going to community halls, and we brought 60 families here to the station in conjunction with the community relations unit.”
Since 2015, Saif estimates about 600 people have attended his presentation which helps educate newcomers on the basics of Canadian law and the main differences between policing practises in Winnipeg and the country they’re from. Saif said he’s also on the Islamic Social Services Association’s speed dial, and because of the relationship he’s built with the agency he is often called on to work as a mediator for Muslim families in the city on a range of issues.
His work has started to garner attention beyond the perimeter, as well. Saif recently brought his presentation to Altona, Man. where he connected with newcomer families in that community.
Saif said he’s familiar with the cultural challenges involved with immigrating to Canada and thought it best to be proactive in building relationships between the force and newcomers when developing his program.
“When I came here I faced some challenges: the cultural shock and knowing the laws of this country were a challenge,” he explained. “So I said ‘I learned it the hard way, these guys can learn it the easy way, as long as they’re ready to learn.’”