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NEWS RELEASE
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada releases 2007 Annual Report to raise public awareness about organized crime
August 17, 2007
Calgary - Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) today released its 2007 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada. The report provides the public with a national overview of organized crime as part of CISC’s efforts to raise awareness about the threat of organized crime.
The report was presented by CISC National Executive Committee Chair William J. S. Elliott (Commissioner, RCMP). He was joined by CISC Vice-Chair, Normand Proulx (Director General, Sûreté du Québec), Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta Chair, Tom McKenzie (Chief, Lethbridge Regional Police), Chief Jack Beaton (Calgary Police) and President of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Jack Ewatski.
The report helps the public to understand the true impact of organized crime while highlighting ways in which organized crime groups victimize Canadians. Information is provided on today’s most prominent criminal markets, such as illicit drugs, financial crime, intellectual property theft and vehicle theft. A Feature Focus section on illicit firearms provides in-depth information about this significant threat to public safety.
CISC Chair, Commissioner William J.S. Elliott stated, "The annual report is a way for CISC to provide the public with a current picture of organized crime, which can help individuals identify threats and prevent themselves from being victimized.”
The report emphasizes that organized crime is never victimless. “We all pay a price when organized crime profits from illicit activities, whether through increased insurance rates, a diminished sense of security, or as direct victims of crime,” says Robert Fahlman, Acting Director General, CISC. “In paying a price we lose a measure of the freedom that is sacred to all Canadians.”
The report also points out that organized crime groups routinely use violence and intimidation to protect or expand their interests. In some cases this results in a direct threat to public safety.
Sûreté du Québec Director General Normand Proulx, CISC Vice-chair, describes the key role that CISC plays in protecting the public. “By promoting and enabling an integrated and intelligence-led approach to law enforcement, CISC helps level the playing field with organized crime groups. By working together we are better able to disrupt and prevent the activities that threaten the public”.
About Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
CISC is a strategically-focused organization that facilitates the timely production and exchange of criminal information and intelligence within the Canadian law enforcement community. CISC supports the effort to reduce the harm caused by organized crime through the delivery of strategic intelligence products and services and by providing leadership and expertise to the criminal intelligence community. CISC’s membership includes police agencies from the federal, provincial, regional and municipal level as well as various law enforcement, intelligence and regulatory agencies. Along with 10 Provincial Bureaus and a Central Bureau in Ottawa, this membership represents a truly national criminal intelligence network.
Contacts:
RCMP Media Relations, (613) 993-2999
General inquiries about criminal activities in specific provinces or regions may also be directed to the nearest Provincial Bureau at the following coordinates.
