Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jan 2009
Source: Guardian, The (CN PI)
Copyright: 2009 The Guardian, Charlottetown Guardian Group Incorporated
Contact:  http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/174
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?216 (CN Police)

TIGHTENING THE LOOP AROUND ORGANIZED CRIME

The New Criminal Intelligence Service Bureau Should Foster Better 
Information Sharing Among Police Agencies.

P.E.I. police agencies have fired a warning shot across  the bows of 
organized and major crime elements on the  Island. The warning is 
clear: take your sleazy business  elsewhere. Otherwise you will be 
tracked down and  prosecuted. There is nowhere to hide anymore.

Provincial police agencies launched P.E.I.'s Criminal  Intelligence 
Service Bureau on Wednesday, described as  the final link in a 
national law enforcement network  committed to combating organized 
crime. We are the last  province to connect into this link, which 
co-ordinates  a provincial bureau with a national organization 
dedicated to fighting major and organized crime.  Criminals are 
getting a lot smarter on how to avoid  detection and police have to 
respond accordingly.

CISPEI is a collaboration involving all of P.E.I.'s  police agencies 
to produce and exchange information and  intelligence about criminal 
activity in P.E.I. Bureau  personnel will provide critical support to 
law  enforcement agencies in their efforts to detect and  prevent 
organized crime affecting Islanders and the  communities they live in.

A good question might be why it took so long to create  this joint 
police bureau. Was it because, in the past,  some police departments 
liked to think they were  independent groups that didn't need outside 
help, and  that to seek assistance was seen as a weakness? We're a 
little province where all have to work together to  bring the guilty 
to justice. There should be no reason  why RCMP can't work closely 
with Charlottetown or  Summerside police departments to track down 
criminals  or stop crime. Of course, there have been examples 
of  such co-operation in the past, especially with Joint  Forces 
Operations involving drugs where RCMP and city  police have provided 
joint manpower and surveillance to  arrest drug suspects. The bureau 
is taking such  examples to a new level.

While P.E.I. does not see the level of organized  criminal activity 
experienced in larger urban centres,  it would be wrong to assume 
there is no organized crime  in this province. And unfortunately, 
P.E.I. has seen  more than its share of Internet-related crime 
involving  child pornography, drug-related violence, counterfeit 
goods, and contraband tobacco and identity theft. There  have been 
recent examples of gangs operating on P.E.I.  and police say that 
organized crime continues to direct  the illegal drug trade and is 
also active in P.E.I. in  the importation and sale of contraband 
tobacco, the  illegal sale of prescription drugs, thefts, break and 
enters into both residential and commercial  establishments and the 
sale of counterfeit goods.

Hopefully, the new bureau will help police curb the  drug trade by 
providing them with intelligence about  drug trafficking and 
contraband activities. The  province has allocated $320,000 per year 
over the next  five years, combined with additional funding, to 
ensure the success of CISPEI. That is a considerable  investment in 
public safety and security measures.  Those kinds of resources are 
needed to help combat  crime across all provincial jurisdictions.

The bureau should provide the type of intelligence that  will be 
beneficial for frontline officers. But  Islanders should not forget 
we all have a role to play.  The bureau will help, but citizens also 
form a valuable  information aid to police as well. Let's help 
the  police do their job.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom