Department of Justice (Drug Courts) Disclosure Pilot Project (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Ontario

City/ Region:

Toronto

Description of Initiative:

Federal Disclosure Compliance and Delivery System

Initiative Key Objectives:

The project has several objectives:

• create a new business system to track evidence disclosure and case status;
• streamline the delivery of evidence disclosure to the Department of Justice within acceptable timelines; and
• reduce the number of cases withdrawn due to insufficient evidence disclosure compliance.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Court Services

Key Contact:

Carol Gowanlock
carol.gowanlock@torontopolice.on.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

• other government departments/agencies
• other: DOJ PPSC

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

The partnership with the Department of Justice is both consultative and cooperative. The partnership with Health Canada is a consultative process.

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

Since 2004.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

This initiative was undertaken in response to challenges with the timeliness of the drug evidence disclosure process that was failing the requirements of the courts. The withdrawal of potentially hundreds of federal cases was imminent due to having insufficient disclosure delivered in a timely manner.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

The set-up costs of this initiative included the following:
Clerical support salary: 3 X 36,400 = $109,200
Screener salary = $49,920
Detective salary = $78,723
Police Constable salary = $69,361
Computers, furniture and stationary = $10,000
Approximate total set-up cost = $317,204

Method of Implementation:

This project was implemented as a pilot project.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

A disclosure business system was created and implemented for both Public Prosecution Service of Canada and Ministry of Attorney General cases that has seen dramatic improvements in the quality, quantity and delivery of drug evidence disclosure to the Federal Crown and the courts.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

Yes

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

No public messaging has accompanied this initiative, however awareness and efficiencies to members of both organizations have been constantly communicated internally.

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

• summative
• internal
• quantitative
• qualitative

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

Yes

Summary of the Outcomes:

An evaluation of this program has identified a substantial turnaround in disclosure compliance and an improvement in the quality and timeliness of evidence disclosure.

A further reduction in the number of cases being withdrawn because of non disclosure and an estimated 18% reduction in workload for Health Canada.

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

• Efficiencies within Police Services
• Efficiencies within the Justice System

Further Details:

The use of technology and cost recovery were realized. Improved efficiencies, changes to procedures and enhanced use of technology has reduced the investigative workload.

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

N/A

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01