Encouraging communities and the police to work together will be the focus of a seminar – jointly organised by the University of Ulster’s INCORE initiative and Intercomm - being held in Londonderry this week. 

The Communities and Policing in Transition (CAPT) dissemination seminar will take place tomorrow (Wednesday, September 29, 2010) in the Beech Hill Country House Hotel.

Launched in September 2009, CAPT is an innovative and groundbreaking project that seeks to facilitate structured and meaningful engagement between policing services on the island of Ireland, communities and key social partners in disadvantaged areas in Belfast, Derry and the Tyrone and Donegal border areas.

Dr Kenneth Bush from INCORE, which is based at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus, said: “INCORE has a unique role to play within the CAPT programme in the preparation and dissemination of relevant and timely research.

“The seminar will present the first in a series of three research products to be held over the next two years, as well as marking the successful completion of the first year of the CAPT programme. This interesting and important event includes a panel of guest speakers including Peter Bunting (Irish Congress of Trade Unions), Mary O’Rawe (University of Ulster, Jordanstown) and John Loughran (Intercomm). 

“The programme comprises key training opportunities as well as workshops, seminars and best practice visits. The training component of the CAPT programme is accredited by the University of Ulster towards a ‘Certificate in Personal and Professional Development’ with specialisation on Police-Community Relations.”     

CAPT Research Associate, Amanda Leighton, who works with INCORE to deliver research on the challenges to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, said: “The first research product is a select annotated bibliography of literature relevant to the core issues and challenges facing community-police relations in Northern Ireland and the border areas today.

“The bibliography contains not only material produced in and on the island of Ireland but also includes documents from, and on, other international contexts. The bibliography will provide a useful and relevant resource for those with an interest regarding community-police relations.”  

The Communities and Policing in Transition programme is funded by European Regional Development Fund and provides a strategic focus for collaboration between the policing services on the island of Ireland and communities and key social partners as represented through Intercomm, ICTU, the Tyrone Donegal Partnership and the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE) at the University of Ulster.