Evidence of meeting #130 for Public Safety and National Security in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was rcmp.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
It's simple.
Mr. Picard has moved the motion.
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
That's item number one.
Item number two has to do with a request by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to appear before the committee. It would be November 6 and 7. I just want to inform the committee that they are going to be appearing before the defence committee during that time period. The defence committee is adding an hour onto its usual time.
Is there an appetite to have the Ukrainian Canadian Congress appear before the committee with a delegation from the Atlantic Council?
Go ahead, Mr. Paul-Hus.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
What is the purpose of the request?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
The objective is to discuss sanctions against Russia, defence and security support for Ukraine, NATO in the context of Russian aggression, reforms in domestic politics in Ukraine, and support for democracy in the 2019 elected cycle.
Well, one part is possibly within the mandate of this committee. The rest is really foreign affairs and defence.
Can I just simply acknowledge receipt? Members will say that they will either join the defence committee or the foreign affairs committee or make private arrangements. Is that fine?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you, colleagues, for your indulgence.
I see that we are now being joined by the RCMP. I really don't need to suspend, do I?
Okay.
We have, in the flesh, Assistant Commissioner Byron Boucher. Not in the flesh, we have Assistant Commissioner John Ferguson, and Superintendent Peter Tewfik, officer in charge of crime reduction strategy. I hope that I pronounced Officer Tewfik's name correctly.
With that, Monsieur Boucher, are you going to lead off?
Assistant Commissioner Byron Boucher Contract and Aboriginal Policing, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Yes, I will. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee. Thank you for inviting the RCMP to speak to you today about motion 167 regarding rural crime in Canada.
In the RCMP, my particular responsibility is here in Ottawa as the assistant commissioner in charge of contract and aboriginal policing. My compatriots here are Assistant Commissioner John Ferguson in K Division, Alberta, as criminal operations officer for the province, and Peter Tewfik, officer in charge of crime reduction strategies. They'll be able to provide you with information and answers to questions as you deliberate this motion.
The RCMP is Canada's national police force, providing police services under contract to all provinces and territories, with the exceptions of Ontario and Quebec, as well as some 150 municipalities across the country. These services are provided through the police services agreements, which see the costs of the RCMP services split between the provincial or municipal governments and the federal government.
The RCMP also provides policing services to over 600 indigenous communities across Canada as well as federal policing services for all of Canada. Contract policing allows for consistent quality of police service across Canada. The level of policing services provided in each province and territory rests ultimately with the provincial and territorial governments, as do the objectives, priorities and goals for policing in each of those jurisdictions. The RCMP is the service provider.
In this context, it's important to understand that each jurisdiction can develop and pursue individual, customized local initiatives to address issues such as rural crime. Given the geographic scope of Canada, much of the territory under RCMP jurisdiction is remote or rural, and many of the communities it serves are isolated.
Policing in rural or isolated communities can pose a number of complexities. The RCMP is aware of concerns regarding public safety and crime rates in rural areas and works closely with the provinces and territories to address the needs of those communities.
The safety of our communities is a priority, and as such, the RCMP works together with local leaders to identify challenges and develop viable solutions to promote and uphold community safety. For example, the RCMP holds town hall meetings to engage rural community leaders and residents to discuss safety challenges and possible solutions. In addition, the RCMP continues to collaborate with communities and government stakeholders in support of youth and to address social issues leading or contributing to crime. Specifically, the RCMP implements crime prevention initiatives in an effort to reduce youth involvement in crime.
A great deal of effort has gone towards creating partnerships between the RCMP and nationwide organizations such as Crime Stoppers, as well as local organizations such as the Alberta Provincial Rural Crime Watch Association.
Further, the RCMP continues to implement programs to support regular members in their crime prevention efforts. For example, significant efforts have been undertaken to develop and implement revised auxiliary policing programs. Auxiliaries are unarmed, specially trained volunteers whose primary purpose is to participate in community policing services, crime prevention and public safety activities. At this time, the RCMP is closely working with all of its auxiliary program coordinators across the country to implement their visions of the program.
Our reserve program also allows the RCMP to hire former police officers to temporarily address member vacancies and provide mentoring to our new younger members. Reservists have the powers, duties and responsibilities of regular members when they are called up for duty. The RCMP reserve program is a desirable option to address rural crime, providing much-needed resources to the organization to support community policing priorities.
The RCMP remains committed to working with leaders in rural communities where it provides policing services, helping to identify the root causes and factors behind the increase in rural crime as well as to ensure crime prevention issues are effective and meaningful. In this context, each jurisdiction can develop and pursue individual and customized initiatives to address their distinct challenges and issues.
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I look forward to answering your questions.
Liberal
Liberal
Assistant Commissioner John Ferguson Criminal Operations Officer, Core, K Division, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Sir, it's Assistant Commissioner John Ferguson.
A/Commr John Ferguson
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee.
First of all, thank you for inviting me and Superintendent Tewfik to speak to you today about motion M-167.
The RCMP in Alberta have implemented a very comprehensive crime reduction strategy as the foundational basis for the delivery of policing services to the people of Alberta.
Based on an intelligence-led policing model, the crime reduction strategy deploys a variety of initiatives designed to proactively target the small percentage of individuals who are causing our communities the most harm. This means promoting a collaborative approach with municipal, provincial and federal partners, as well as citizens, community groups, health partners and enforcement partners.
We have also established dedicated crime-reduction units, made up of experienced members at the regional and detachment levels.
We are investing heavily in intelligence gathering and analysis. This includes specialized intelligence coordinators who develop actionable snapshots of the criminal landscape to intelligence analysts embedded within our crime reduction units, who then analyze massive amounts of data and provide information that leads to arrest.
Our initiatives also include implementing new technologies that help increase analytical power and reduce the administrative burden for front-line officers. These technologies and administrative advancements provide more time for our members to dig deeper in their investigations and engage with communities they serve.
Finally, our initiatives include engaging directly with Albertans and citizen-led community groups to find ways to work together to keep neighbourhoods safe and raise awareness on what citizens can do to contribute to our communities' safety.
Midway through our first year of implementation, our data indicates our policing approach is making a difference. From January to September of this year, property crimes such as possession of stolen property, break and enters, auto theft and property thefts are down 9% compared to the same period last year. If we just look at the rural detachments in Alberta, these types of property crimes are down 11%.
Our strategy's impact becomes clearer when we look at the month of September this year and compare it to the month of September last year. This past September, these types of crimes in Alberta's rural detachments had decreased 27% compared to the same month last year.
What does this look like in real terms in Alberta communities? It means that this year, as of the end of September, 880 fewer cars have been reported stolen, 567 fewer homes have been broken into, and 2,938 fewer thefts have taken place throughout the province.
Our regional crime reduction units, a key component of our crime reduction strategy, have proven successful in targeting the individuals who hurt our communities the most. These four crime reduction units alone have made over 600 proactive arrests, representing 1,900 new charges stemming from these arrests. On average, at the time of the arrest, these individuals have three new charges brought against them. These are the small percentage of individuals who are responsible for most of the crime in Alberta. Our crime reduction units are committed to identifying and apprehending these targets.
We understand that statistics have a tendency to fluctuate. However, with support from all three levels of government, our enforcement partners, citizen-led community groups, and Albertans as a whole, we are confident that our crime reduction strategy is working and will continue to work over the long term.
Thank you very much.
Liberal
Superintendent Peter Tewfik Officer in Charge, Crime Reduction Strategies, Core, K Division, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
No, I do not.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Okay, that's it.
We'll start with Ms. Dabrusin, then, for seven minutes, please.
Liberal
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
Thank you.
We covered a bit of ground here. Maybe we can start with the Alberta crime strategy.
I was looking at the same reports that Mr. Eglinski was referring to in the last hour. When we look at the rate of police strength by province and territory in chart 2, we see it shows that Alberta is below the line as far as police strength is concerned, lower than the average across provinces and territories.
Then I was looking at some articles about this program that you're referring to and that we just heard about. I was curious, because it looked as though this involved a significant amount of provincial funding. It was unclear, because some of the articles referred to $8 million and some to $10 million. I saw a whole bunch of numbers. Could you perhaps help me understand what the provincial part was for this program that you've just referred to?
A/Commr John Ferguson
Absolutely.
It was $10 million overall, with $8 million coming to the RCMP and $2 million to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service. We have based our crime reduction strategy on the $8 million that we were provided by the province. The extra resources that we have dedicated to that program are paid for from that $8 million.
Liberal
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
I saw that as part of the mandate. It looked as though it's working in partnership with agencies to help break the cycle of violence. It seemed that it's working with communities on community supports. When this committee in 2014 did a study about policing, there was a focus in many of the recommendations on those types of efforts.
Can you tell me a little bit more about that part of the mandate, about partnership with agencies to break the cycle of violence or break the cycle for crime?
Supt Peter Tewfik
I can address that.
What we're talking about in terms of breaking the cycle or addressing the root causes of crime really comes down to offender management. Offender management for habitual offenders throughout Alberta is a priority for all of our detachments to carry.
I can tell you that the RCMP partnered recently with the Edmonton Police Service and a number of social service agencies in a project out of northeast Edmonton called the integrated offender management initiative. That pilot is actually being extended to Drayton Valley, where we're going to be working on a regional management model. Again, it's designed to prioritize offenders who have a potential to get out of the offending cycle and to assist them in connecting with the social services they require or health agencies that they might require, such as for addictions, in order to break that cycle.
It's a collaborative approach with police, social agencies, and not-for-profit groups to address some of the root causes of crime. It is a program that is running throughout all of Alberta. I would say it's not working as effectively as we would like throughout the entirety of the province; however, we're working on making a more robust management structure in order to improve service delivery.
Liberal
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
Thank you.
I'm going to shift gears a little bit. The focus is on a study about rural crime, and we have to look a bit at the assumptions and numbers and what we're talking about when we talk about rural crime.
I was reading an article—and I can always provide a copy to other folks, if they want—that was interesting because there was a quote from a Corporal Rob King with the RCMP's communications unit. In it, he states that he believes that in rural areas people tend to report crime more than they do in larger cities, where police forces are so busy that they might not even have time to take the complaint.
I have to admit that even in my own situation—my bicycle was stolen from my back yard—I didn't report it to the police. I'm curious about whether, when we're talking about rates of crime, there are differences in reporting levels that have ever been measured between rural areas and city areas.
Supt Peter Tewfik
I can say that I'm not aware of any study that has been done to compare call volumes from rural areas with those in city areas.
I can tell you that I've attended a number of town halls throughout Alberta, and our messaging to Albertans has been that we're looking for their help in reporting crime. We've been encouraging people to report crime.
In fact, we've restructured some of our call management to improve our ability to respond to those people who simply have a report of crime, when perhaps there's nothing the police can do in the first instance. We've developed what we call a call-back unit that's able to take in some of that information so that we still capture the intelligence that helps guide our patrols and where we direct our officers on patrol. It ensures that we have follow-up with Albertans out in the public and that they understand that the police have taken this information.
If there is some actionable information that the police need to take action on, they'll be connected with an officer to attend.
