Crime Reduction Rollout (Synopsis)

Royal Canadian Mounted Police—'E' Division

Description: Royal Canadian Mounted Police ‘E’ Division’s crime reduction strategy began in 2005 and has since expanded to every detachment in British Columbia (BC). Each detachment now has a crime reduction coordinator, and some also have crime analysts who identify trends. The strategy is a coordinated approach to managing prolific offenders, social chronic offenders, crime hot spots, high-crime areas and specific crimes that need to be addressed.

The BC model is based on three key elements: evidence-based service delivery; results-based accountability; and formal partnerships. Using local crime data, the strategy is tailored to meet the needs of each community and detachment. Detachments work with partner agencies to manage prolific and social chronic offenders and address the root causes of crime, with a focus on the offenders who consume the highest police and partner agency resources.
Objective: The crime reduction strategy has multiple goals:
  • drive down the crime rate through a sustainable decline in repeat offences;
  • increase confidence in the justice system as the police work to keep communities safe;
  • build effective partnerships and sustainable initiatives that prevent and reduce crime; and
  • effectively "case manage" shared clients and long-term problems in partnership with other government agencies.
Outcomes: Five years after the introduction of the initial crime reduction strategy, crime rates in the six pilot sites fell substantially. There have been significant reductions in property-related offences, and an increase in the integrated case management of repeat offenders with non-police agencies. Research done by Simon Fraser University on elements of the crime reduction strategy found a substantial reduction in recidivism rates amongst prolific offenders. The strategy also reduces the duplication of services through its coordinated, multi-agency approach.
Resources: The establishment of new crime analyst positions was a significant human resource cost.
Pillars:
Province: British Columbia
Keywords:
Record Entry Date: 2015-03-01
Date modified: