Lethbridge College, and its public safety applied research program, is one of the first-ever recipients of a $1 million federal grant.
The Mobilize grant will be spread over five years, and is part of the Government of Canada’s College and Community Innovation (CCI) program. Dr. Kirsten Fantazir will be leading the team of researchers, following her appointment as the President’s Applied Research Chair in Public Safety earlier this year.
“This grant mobilizes us into the public safety research space and provides us with the funding needed to explore research opportunities that are important to our industry partners,” says Fantazir.
“With more than 50 years of justice studies education history, Lethbridge College has a strong reputation among policing and public safety organizations, which positions us well to embark on this research. Through this work, we can provide qualitative data that will help our partners improve their services and the public safety sector as a whole.”
The college’s Executive Leadership Team and its Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CARIE) pinpointed public safety and the Canadian criminal justice system as strategic research priorities. The research will be heavily focused on reconciliation and collaborating with Blackfoot and other Indigenous peoples to support sharing of knowledge related to the public safety field.