DATE:

17 January 2012

TO/DEST:

Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board

FROM/DE:

Chief of Police, Ottawa Police Service

SUBJECT/OBJET:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS DIRECTORATE

ENHANCEMENT PROJECT - UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

BACKGROUND

The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) Enhancement Project (the Project) was initiated in May 2009 with a two day facilitated workshop involving 85 internal stakeholders from all sections and directorates, and representation from the local Crown Attorney’s Office. The purpose of the workshop was to gather information from a broad spectrum of participants regarding the challenges faced by investigators and the investigative process. Fifteen actionable areas were identified and a Project Charter was developed.

The review consisted of a workload and workflow analysis using the Records Management System, numerous interviews, and file complexity assessments. The Project sought to bring about enhancements in three key areas:

1. Services to victims of crime

2. Supervision and management practices within CID

3. Reinforcement of investigative processes.

DISCUSSION

CID Enhancement Project Guiding Principles

In October 2009, the Project Team was formed by the OPS Executive and given the mandate to realign and restructure criminal investigations while observing budget pressures. Through a participatory process, the Project Team developed a series of guiding principles that would shape the development of enhancement recommendations. The guiding principles included:

· Change initiatives must support the goals and objectives in the 2010-2012 Business Plan.

· Supervision within CID needs to be structured and supported to ensure that sergeants are responsible for the risk assessment, assignment, and monitoring of investigations, while providing guidance, feedback, and direct investigative assistance where necessary.

· Form follows function, meaning that sections benefit from physical co-location where possible and functional alignment within the Directorate organizational structure.

· Community safety and victim focused response capabilities must be enhanced.

· Seize on opportunities to build future investigative capacity.

The assessment of workload in a criminal investigation environment is challenging. Although charges laid, persons arrested, and values for items seized can all be easily quantified, there are complexities behind the numbers that are not revealed. Employing a qualitative and quantitative research approach did expose more detail, but did not fully ease the challenge of comparing caseloads from section to section. What did emerge from the research was the human factor in determining how much work can be accomplished. Preliminary findings included:

Sections that are proactive in their approach to work are in a better position to meet workload mandates and prioritize their work in comparison to sections that are reactive.
The Role Overload Study by Dr. Linda Duxbury and Dr. Chris Higgins found that the section an investigator worked in was a variable in how much stress they experienced and consequently their work output.
The supervision model utilized within a section can have a positive or negative impact on workload and other factors.

Issues and Outcomes

Budgetary pressures removed the option of adding to the complement to bring about enhancements. Improvements had to be prioritized with the scope of recommendations limited to the redeployment of personnel, the restructuring of sections and units, and the civilianization of sworn positions where feasible. Chief White took advantage of opportunities to quickly implement a number of recommendations that focused on enhancing operations and improving services to victims. Highlights of these early successes include:

The creation of a new High Risk Offender Management Section that targets prolific and priority offenders in our jurisdiction.
The addition of a third surveillance team to expand investigative resources for all sections and enhance interoperability with other law enforcement agencies in Ottawa.
Restructuring to reinforce investigative processes within CID.
The development of a new supervision model that strengthens risk assessment, file prioritization, services to victims, and support to members.
The redeployment of Directorate personnel to investigative sections that deal in personal crimes.

Implementation Timeline

Most of the 22 approved recommendations have been implemented as of December 2011. Recommendations not fully implemented are underway and should be finalized by Q1 of 2012.

Next Steps

The CID Enhancement Project noted the potential for change in several other areas of operations that would ultimately improve investigations. These other operational areas were outside the scope of the project. For the benefit of future operational review projects, the following opportunities are highlighted:

Call Path and Call Management
Centralized Case Management
Investigative Assistants (civilian)
Re-Alignment of District Investigators into CID
Supervision/Management Training and Development.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

CID Enhancement Project recommendations were shaped by prevailing budget pressures. Capital costs incurred during implementation were funded from the 2011 budget envelope. Go forward operating costs were included in 2012 budget submissions by the respective sections.

CONCLUSION

The overarching goal of the CID Enhancement Project was to ensure that CID investigations are executed by appropriately resourced, highly skilled, flexible, and adaptable teams, operating within clear mandates. The Project also tried to further improve both internal and external client satisfaction as well as the quality of work life for CID and OPS employees. All recommendations brought forward to the Chief for approval were aligned with the OPS 2010 – 2012 Business Plan and grounded in the guiding principles.

(Original signed by)

Vern White

Chief of Police

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