How a university program created for the Toronto Police Service encountered the dilemma of groupthink

Abstract

The Toronto Police Service responded to the lack of credentials among its personnel by partnering with a university to create a targeted, higher education pathway. Given the growing complexity of policing and greater demands to professionalize, the Service explored opportunities to enhance its educational offerings. More in-service training would neither increase credibility nor professionalization. Ultimately, the Toronto Police Service decided that a supported, undergraduate degree delivered through blended modules would be the preferred way forward. However, in creating a higher education degree program for police, the Service and the university partner soon encountered a seemingly intractable problem in a customized educational environment: groupthink.