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The RCMP will roll out its Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) this winter in a bid to help prevent those at risk from becoming radicalized. Here’s a look:

What is the program?

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The RCMP describes CVE as thwarting radical activity by co-ordinating intervention attempts with the help of local groups.

“I believe that we have the wherewithal at the community level to deal with this” before a crime is committed, Superintendent Shirley Cuillierrier, RCMP head of external relations, said Wednesday.

The program focuses on extremism in general, not on any specific group or religion. While CVE aims to thwart violent actions, the RCMP says freedom of speech allows for people to still hold radical beliefs, as long as they don’t act violently.

What does the program look like?

Supt. Cuillierrier describes the program in two phases. The first involves training RCMP officers who act as “force-multipliers,” training their colleagues to recognize people at risk of becoming radicalized.