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2008 Highlights
National Research & Methodology Development Unit
In response to demands from the criminal intelligence community for a focus on the development of common analytical techniques and terminology, the Strategic Intelligence Analysis Service of CISC Central Bureau created the National Research and Methodology Development Unit (NRMD) in January 2008. This Unit is responsible for developing and adapting methodology to identify, assess and prioritize the threats and harms (i.e. negative consequences) from organized crime.
Academic Outreach
Conferences and Awards
The NRMD Unit liaises with intelligence agencies and academic institutions domestically and internationally to share information and techniques. On behalf of CISC, NRMD presented two papers to the Canadian Society of Criminology conference at York University in Toronto in October 2008. The paper, “Developing Harm Analysis to Rank Organized Crime Groups: The Canadian Method” evaluates work on harm analysis undertaken in Canada in light of similar explorations in the U.K., and explores the practical and theoretical challenges involved in implementing a technique to evaluate and rank the harms from organized crime. The second paper, “Toward a Risk-Based Analysis of Organized Crime” offers a critique of the pluralist and bureaucratic/hierarchical models of organized crime and proposes a hybridized model that will form the theoretical foundation for the risk assessment of organized crime in Canada. For work at this conference, the Canadian Society of Criminology awarded NRMD with the Outstanding Praxis Paper. This award recognizes research which is considered to have a significant impact on the administration of criminal justice, law or policy in Canada.
Immediately following this conference, NRMD presented papers and participated in a panel at the Canadian Association of Security and Intelligence Studies international conference in Ottawa. The panel, entitled “International Perspectives in Risk Analysis: Taking Concepts to Operations”, critically explored international perspectives in risk analysis from academic and practitioner viewpoints.
NRMD also presented an updated version of the paper “Toward a Risk-Based Analysis of Organized Crime” to the Australia and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference in Canberra, Australia in November 2008. The updated version focused on exploring how a new hybridized model (network and market/enterprise models) of organized crime will form the theoretical foundation for the risk assessment methodology that will take the place of the threat methodology that CISC currently uses to analyze organized crime.
Papers on threat and risk analysis have also be presented at the International Studies Association Conference in February 2009 in New York City, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Conference in Boston in March 2009.
Publications
One of NRMD Unit’s important initiatives is to further develop the field of risk analysis in the assessment of organized crime in Canada. A book chapter entitled “Threat and Risk Assessments,” will be published in the second edition of Strategic Thinking in Criminal Intelligence edited by Dr. Jerry Ratcliffe (Temple University, Philadelphia) in early 2009. This chapter is designed to be a practical guide for practitioners of criminal intelligence to undertake a threat and risk assessment. A copy of the chapter is available on the CISC website and the book will be available through www.jratcliffe.net.
In addition, a 2007 strategic intelligence brief authored by NRMD and entitled “Mortgage Fraud and Organized Crime in Canada” was excerpted in Trends in Organized Crime (issue 2008, 11:301–308). This journal selects reports on organized crime that are considered to be of interest to academics, policy makers and those working on organized crime issues around the globe. The assessment of mortgage fraud outlines how mortgage fraud occurs and examines the nature and scope of organized crime’s involvement in this fraud type in Canada. This strategic intelligence brief is available on CISC’s website, cisc.gc.ca.
National Strategy to Combat Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
To address the harm and threat of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs), the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) adopted a three tier national strategy to combat OMGs in February 1996. CISC appoints an executive member of the law enforcement community as chair of the national strategy to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of all three levels of the strategy across the country. The goals and priorities to combat OMG are rooted in the exchange of information and intelligence gathered by counterparts/coordinators in the provinces / regions.
A significant outcome stemming from the OMG national strategy this year has been CISC’s leading role in re-vitalizing the expert witness program. This program will ensure that a pool of expert witnesses in the realm of OMGs is maintained and current through initiatives such as specialized training, sharing of information and collaboration. In August, CISC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit of the Ontario Provincial Police, who has assigned an officer to work directly out of the Toronto office in direct support of the CISC national strategy on OMGs. Sûreté du Québec is also currently exploring a similar Memorandum of Understanding with an expected date of early 2009.
The OMG coordinator was also tasked with restoring the Canadian Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Investigators Conference (COMGIC) after a three year hiatus without a national forum. CISC is providing funding for this important venture and it is scheduled to take place in New Brunswick in 2009. A conference is also scheduled for Ontario in 2010.
Maximizing on the success of the national strategy, CISC also liaises with international organizations committed to the fight against OMGs. Currently, CISC is actively communicating with Europol on the exchange of criminal information and establishing solid working relationships within this community.
Criminal Intelligence Trends
In October 2008, CISC introduced a new unclassified bi-weekly publication, Criminal Intelligence Trends (CIT), that highlights issues of potential interest relating to organized crime within a broad and multi-jurisdictional framework of activity. It is a three-page document based on a daily analysis of open source information and is distributed to senior law enforcement executives by e-mail in a PDF format.
The CIT identifies and presents various publications featuring strategic information on organized crime, criminal markets and serious crime in Canada and abroad. The information could also present possible scenarios that can develop in the criminal world in Canada.
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