General Occurrence Reader Unit (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Ontario

City/ Region:

York

Description of Initiative:

The General Occurrence (GO) Reader Unit was established in 2011 to improve the quality of information going from our investigators to the Crown Attorney's Office. The unit's mandate includes the following responsibilities:

  • Review and approve all General Occurrence and Motor Vehicle Collision reports submitted to the Versadex Records Management System (Versadex RMS), and ensure compliance with York Regional Police (YRP) regulations and procedures and with other provincial and federal acts.
  • Ensure that all occurrences for investigation are reassigned to the appropriate unit in a timely manner.
  • Assign and manage follow-ups to ensure that report deficiencies and errors are addressed and corrected.
  • Provide technical and educational support to frontline officers and supervisors ("Keeping the Front Line on the Front Line").
  • Clear General Occurrences following standards from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS).
  • Review and approve all district (criminal and provincial) Crown folders, except those of speciality units (Drugs and Vice, Homicide, Crimes Against Children, Internet Child Exploitation, Sexual Assault, Hold-Up, Auto and Cargo Recovery and Major Frauds) prior to being sent to court office.
  • Ensure that the Crown Folder Checklist YRP forms for both criminal and provincial matters are kept up to date on the YRP Intranet and in E-Just.
  • Provide supervisor workflow training.
  • Ensure quality review for intimate domestic violence reports.

Initiative Key Objectives:

The initiative has several objectives:

  • achieve quality assurance through strict and consistent review of General Occurrence reports;
  • improve quality of information going from investigators to the Crown Attorney’s Office (e.g., complete and accurate Crown folders);
  • improve the efficiency of Crown folder processing;
  • reduce liability to the organization;
  • support the provincial government’s Justice on Target protocol—reduce disclosure issues in the courts; and
  • reduce staff sergeant workload.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Information Management (IM) Bureau (Records)

Key Contact:

Leslie Nguyen
5059@yrp.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • N/A

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

N/A

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

This initiative has been in place since May 2011.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

The initiative was undertaken to address inefficiencies in the information collecting process, improve the quality of Crown folders by reducing the number of incomplete folders, and decrease the workload of staff sergeants.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

There are no staffing or equipment costs. Existing uniform and civilian members and equipment were utilized.

Method of Implementation:

This initiative was phased in, with the initial planning phase occurring from January to May 2011. The GO Reader Unit officially went live in May 2011. The five phases are as follows:

1. Centralization of district data entry clerks (DDECs): DDECs were centralized within the Information Management (IM) Bureau (prior to this they were deployed at each district). They now work in partnership with the GO Reader Unit, Report Validators, CPIC, Transcription and the other IM members.

2. Scanning and attaching images into the General Occurrence: Officers were given full responsibility for scanning and attaching all paper documents and court required documents into the records management system (RMS). Scanned information is current and available, eliminating the backlog of non-disclosed evidence. We are working towards implementing automatically attaching the scanned image to the GO Reader Unit.

3. Introduction of GO Reader Unit: The GO Reader Unit was set up and staffed with one staff sergeant, four sergeants and six police constables (May 2011). During the pilot phase, the GO Reader Unit assumed the workflow and approval of Crown folders for one of our five police districts. Following a successful pilot, the other four police districts were phased in by March 2012. The Court Bureau Case Management Unit continues to manage assigned Crown Attorney's Office follow-ups. Following a successful pilot with civilian members, we are targeting a combined civilian/sworn officer GO Reader Unit. A five-year staffing plan proposal has been developed based on projected workload and incurred overtime.

4. Hybrid direct voice entry—show cause hearing solution / missing persons: A hybrid direct voice entry model for show cause and missing vulnerable person reports was introduced. Officers have the option to submit the report through Mobile Report Entry software or to phone IM report validators, who will then enter the data directly into RMS and produce the General Occurrence report. Officer training was provided. IM staff work closely with the DDECs to complete the Crown folder from beginning to end. The officer is required to scan and attach his/her required documents to the GO Reader Unit.

5. Report writing and note-taking course: The Training and Education bureaus have developed and delivered a report writing and note-taking course for frontline officers.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

The initiative met its intended objectives. Results and outcomes include the following:

  • District inspector workloads are reduced as they no longer have to deal with the Court Bureau on a regular basis regarding disclosure and deficient Crown folders.
  • District Command staff receive improved feedback concerning overdue folders and follow-ups via two reports each week.
  • The GO Reader Unit has observed an increase in the quality of reports.
  • Show Cause folders are of a higher quality since GO inception.
  • The number of Crown folders that are not completed before the first court appearance has decreased substantially.
  • The system helps in obtaining more convictions in court due to better reports and Crown folders—this reduces the risk to the organization.
  • Officers are now responsible for scanning and attaching their notes regarding their part in the investigation.
  • The scanning and attachment of paper documents immediately decreased the backlog of unattached images and disclosure issues.
  • More items are being scanned into the report to support the Court's Justice on Target protocol and victims of crime.
  • The amount of printed paper for all generated Crown folders was reduced by 50% in 2012 as compared to 2011.
  • Staff sergeant workload has been reduced, giving them more time to supervise their officers as they are no longer required to manage the workflow, which could take up to six hours of their shift. This allows for more efficient and effective management of staff and reduces organizational liability (and means happier staff sergeants).
  • Over time, the number of follow-ups assigned to officers should decrease, which means that the officers are on the road more.
  • The quality of reports and notes provided in response to requests from the public (through the Freedom of Information office) has increased.
  • More risk management issues are being identified (e.g., better review of instances where no charges were laid in motor vehicle reports, ensuring appropriateness and ensuring that reasons are documented).
  • A missing person report created using the direct voice entry process took approximately 23 minutes versus 1.5 hours.
  • The GO Reader Unit approves rush folders which would not normally be approved for the first court appearance.
  • There is better communication with the Court Bureau, IM members and district supervisors.
  • To address identified risks, many procedures have been tightened up and clarified.
  • A training road map was developed with help from expert users.
  • The system has eliminated the need for a weekly Crown Folder audit list, which could take approximately 10 hours to complete.
  • Ministry of Transportation—Ontario requests for certified documents are no longer mailed out, but faxed. This has decreased the turnaround time by 2-4 weeks and saves on postage fees.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

Yes

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

There have been numerous communications from the Chief’s Office. Key messaging has been developed. There are Command Directives and Quick Reference Cards. Training has been given to Supervisors. GO Reader Unit staff attend parades.

Key messages focus on the improved quality of Crown folders, risk management and reducing workload/administrative duties for staff sergeants.

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • internal
  • quantitative
  • qualitative

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

Yes

Summary of the Outcomes:

Crown Attorney's Office feedback is very positive. The system supports the Justice on Target protocol, reduces disclosure issues and decreases the number of folders that are incomplete for first court appearances.

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

N/A

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

Resources are the biggest challenge—having the right number of people in the unit with the knowledge, skills and abilities.

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01

Date modified: