SERVING THE POLICE COMMUNITY SINCE 1938 PANEL DISCUSSION WHAT’S THE IDEAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLICE AND REPORTERS? P.12

VOL.73, NO. 3, 2011 THROUGH THE LENS FOCUSING ON POLICE AND MODERN MEDIA

FROM THE SILVER SCREEN GROUNDBREAKING TO REALITY TECHNOLOGY TELEVISION SEISMOLOGY PRINCIPLES THE CHANGING FACE OF USED TO PREVENT CRIMES P.29 THE RCMP P. 7 CURE FOR CONNECTING WITH THE ‘SICK’ COMMUNITIES EDUCATION-BASED TORONTO POLICE DISCIPLINE OFFERS SERVICE BUILDS A ALTERNATIVE TO SOCIAL MEDIA SUSPENSIONS P.30 STRATEGY P.22

RCMP-GRC.GC.CA

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 1 2 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 Serving the police community since 1938 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 A Royal Canadian Mounted Police Publication

7 COVER SECTION 7 From the silver screen to reality television — the changing face of the RCMP 10 RCMP takes proactive approach to media relations 12 Panel discussion: What’s the ideal relationship between police and reporters? 14 Data mining the Internet and the deep web 16 Social networking fuels the London and Vancouver riots 18 Twitter, Facebook changing the way U.S. police interact with reporters and the public 16 20 How the generation gap infl uences social media policy 22 Toronto Police Service builds strategy to connect with the community 24 Q&A with Jim Bremner, technical advisor for TV’s Flashpoint 26 website delves into CSI eff ect theory and its eff ect on juries 27 Shocking seatbelt ads teach drivers to buckle up

DEPARTMENTS 20 4 Editorial message 5 News Notes 28 Just the Facts: Legal highs 29 Emerging Trends: Applying the principles of earthquakes to crime data 30 Best Practice: education-based discipline off ers alternative to suspensions 32 On the Leading Edge 34 From our Partners: Questioning Canadian interviewing training and practice 24

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 3 PUBLISHER: Nancy Sample

EDITOR: Richard Vieira

WRITERS: Sigrid Forberg, Caroline Ross

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Mallory Procunier

GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alexandre Guilbeault

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND CIRCULATION: Sandra Levett

TRANSLATION: RCMP Translation Services

PRINTING: Performance Printing REDEFINING THE MEDIA GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD: S/Sgt Lori Lynn Colbourne, Insp Craig Duffin, Sam Jaroudi, Dr. Roberta Sinclair, e relationship between police and the me- in regimental red serge. Dr. Brian Yamashita dia has traditionally been a symbiotic one. We also touch upon the eect television The Gazette (ISSN 1196-6513) is published Reporters need the police to provide all the shows such as CSI are having on juries and in English and French by the National facts that are t to print, broadcast — and how a new website is working to educate the Communication Services of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ottawa. The now upload and post — and police need the American criminal justice community on views expressed in any material published press to disseminate crucial crime preven- how to draw the distinction between enter- in the magazine or in its online version are those of the authors and do not necessarily tion and public safety information. tainment and reality, and reeducate jurors. reflect the official opinion of the Royal Or do they? As some of the articles in On the ip side, our interview with the Canadian Mounted Police. Cover design and contents are copyrighted and no part of this our cover section suggest, police are using technical advisor of TV’s Flashpoint dem- publication may be reproduced without new media and social networking sites to by- onstrates how some in the entertainment written consent. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement 40064068. The Gazette pass the press altogether and communicate industry are working to achieve realism in is published four (4) times a year and is directly with those they serve. their storytelling by drawing on real-life po- issued free of charge on a limited basis to accredited police forces and agencies is hasn’t come without its challenges, lice experiences. within the criminal justice system. Personal however, especially for agencies that don’t But we haven’t glossed over the role tra- subscriptions are not available. have policies in place to regulate social media ditional journalism plays. We also report on The Gazette welcomes contributions, letters, use. As the Toronto Police Service explains, how the RCMP is proactively reaching out articles and comments in either official language. We reserve the right to edit for the key is building an eective strategy. to the media, while our panel discussion de- length, content and clarity. © 2011 RCMP. As you’ll read, while these sites are also bates the ideal relationship between police providing investigators with a treasure trove and the press. of personal data that doesn’t necessarily re- Outside of the cover section, we look at HOW TO REACH US: quire specialized skills to access, they’re of- the Los Angeles County Sheri’s Depart- Editor: RCMP Gazette fering others a means to organize criminal ment’s education-based discipline model, 73 Leikin Drive, M-8 Building, 1st Floor, Room 801 activity, such as the ash robs of the recent which focuses on correcting the underlying Ottawa, ON K1A 0R2 London riots. behaviour that has led to police suspensions. CANADA

Because the relatively new phenomena We also revisit the debate on investiga- Phone: 613-843-4570 of Facebook, Twitter and the like are hav- tive interviewing. is time we hear from E-mail: [email protected] ing an impact on how many police agencies Cst. Mike Stinson of the Greater Sudbury Internet: www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/gazette investigate, operate as well as interact with Police Department, who questions Cana- the press and the public, we’ve extended our dian practices and training and suggests that STAY CONNECTED WITH THE RCMP denition of media beyond traditional jour- the British may provide a model to follow. Visit our website: nalism to include social media. And nally, we examine a groundbreak- www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca For us, modern media also encompasses ing technique developed by the Santa Cruz Follow us on Facebook: the world of entertainment because, while Police Department that uses the principles www.facebook.com/rcmpgrc the news inuences public opinion, popular of predicting earthquakes to prevent crime. Follow us on Twitter: culture can shape the image of the profession But crime isn’t always predictable. As Twitter.com/rcmpgrcpolice and create unrealistic expectations of the po- this issue shows, that’s why working with the Watch us on YouTube: lice process. media — both old and new — and smartly www.YouTube.com/rcmpgrcpolice Gazette writer Sigrid Forberg explores using social networking to communicate Subscribe to RSS updates: the history of the RCMP in radio, lm and timely, accurate information is all the more www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/rss/index-eng.htm television and how Hollywood has helped important to help prevent it. cement the cliché of the polite Mountie — be it heroic or hapless — perpetually dressed — Richard Vieira

4 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 NEWS NOTES NEW ALERT SYSTEM FOR LOST SENIORS

Statistically, six out of 10 seniors with cog- 2012. increases. nitive impairments will wander from their Aggelonitis, whose grandmother had However, Montpetit says an elderly per- homes at least once during their illness. e Alzheimer’s, says this kind of program will son is unlikely to wander more than 2.4 km province of Ontario is now taking steps to provide the kind of reassurance families from their home, which means one of the ensure that when this does happen, patients need. most important components of these advi- will be discovered safely and returned home “Nothing is worse than that moment sories is education and awareness for family quickly. when your loved one who has Alzheimer’s or members and community residents. e Silver Advisory program, modeled another form of dementia wanders,” says Ag- With this knowledge, family can take aer the Amber Alert program for abducted gelonitis. “Having such a program in place preventative measures or neighbours can stay children, is being developed with various will not only help to nd the senior, but will alert and situations can be resolved faster, health and seniors interest groups as well as also help reassure the family that the whole more eciently and sometimes without ever with police forces and the Ontario Broad- community is out there looking.” having to call for police assistance. casters Association. It is the rst provincial Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Steve “We’re here to respond, we’re here program of its kind in Canada. Montpetit, Ontario’s Amber Alert co-ordi- to assist,” says Montpetit. “But if we can Ontario’s Minister Responsible for Se- nator, has been participating in the consult- minimize the need for a police response, niors Sophia Aggelonitis initially introduced ing and planning of the program with the that’s going to be a dramatic savings for us the program in a private member’s resolution government. and we can put those resources elsewhere in in 2009. He says once a person with dementia the communities.” And the idea has since been developed or a cognitive disorder has wandered once, into a program expected to begin in early their likelihood of wandering again greatly — Sigrid Forberg

BRINGING CRIME REPORTING ONLINE

Halifax Regional Police (HRP) is one of a (LRPS) has been running its Coplogic sys- growing number of Canadian police agen- tem since December 2009. e system’s con- cies to launch an online incident reporting venience and ease-of-use encourage people to system for victims of crimes not in progress. report minor crimes that might otherwise e Halifax OnLine Reporting System go unreported, says LRPS Insp. Je Cove allows residents and businesses to report — and that allows police to more accurately non-dispatch crimes such as the, mischief, assess and respond to local crime conditions. property damage and fraud to police 24/7, “Car-prowling (mischief to vehicles) is a Courtesy Public Safety Canada using simple ll-and-submit forms on a se- perfect example,” says Cove. Every smashed Commissioner Bob Paulson addresses the media in the foyer of the House of Commons with Public cure Internet site. Reporting parties receive windshield or keyed door panel reported on- Safety Minister Vic Toews and MP Shelly Glover. case numbers for insurance purposes and are line is incorporated into monthly crime re- contacted by an ocer if further investiga- ports distributed to street-level patrol units, NEW RCMP tion is required. he says. “People are now very computer-savvy,” In the Greater Toronto Area, York Re- COMMISSIONER says HRP Supt. Bill Moore. “( is system) gional Police (YRP) oers online reporting gives them another means of getting infor- in ve languages — English, Chinese, Farsi, Bob Paulson has been appointed the new mation to us, on their own time, without Italian and Russian — to better serve com- commissioner of the RCMP, succeeding having to wait in a queue to talk to some- munity diversity, says YRP’s Leslie Nguyen. Commissioner William J.S. Elliott. body.” e reporting platform also interfaces di- Paulson has had a distinguished 25- Built in-house, the HRP system gener- rectly with YRP’s records management sys- year career with the RCMP. He has held ated 3,501 visits to the website and 494 in- tem. progressively senior positions within the cident reports in June and July 2011, its rst With all the potential that online re- Force, most recently as Deputy Commis- two months of operation. Because online porting systems oer, however, success de- sioner, Federal Policing. Before being ap- reports are processed by HRP telephone per- pends on support within the community. pointed as Deputy Commissioner, Paul- sonnel, Moore says the force is getting great- “Right now, we’re probably doing less son served as Assistant Commissioner, er eciency from its existing stang model. than 1,000 online reports a year, out of Contract and Aboriginal Policing Servic- More than 10 Canadian police agencies about 50,000 les (total),” says Cove in es and Assistant Commissioner, National operate similar systems. Most use an o-the- Lethbridge. “We’re working on public aware- Security Criminal Investigations. shelf product developed by California-based ness now.” Read our exclusive interview in the Coplogic Inc. next issue of the Gazette. Lethbridge Regional Police Service — Caroline Ross

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 5 NEWS NOTES CHANGES TO VICTIM SERVICES’ REFERRALS Trauma can have long-lasting eects on vic- tims of crime. But timely involvement of vic- tim services programs can reduce the impact. In the past, RCMP members required the victim’s consent to pass along informa- tion to victim services. Oen, directly following a traumatic incident, victims are not in a position to pro- vide informed consent. Changes to the RCMP victim ser- vices referral process and policy will now allow members to share a victim’s personal information with provincial or territorial governments through a memorandum of understanding (MOU), where provincial legislation exists. To ensure compliance with the Privacy Southern Alberta Integrated Fugitive Apprehension Unit Act and any other pertinent provincial or ter- Members of the Southern Alberta Integrated Fugitive Apprehension Unit arrest Winnipeg murder suspect Stephen McKay in a Calgary neighbourhood. ritorial acts, the RCMP submitted a privacy impact assessment that identies and miti- INTEGRATED UNIT BUSTING ALBERTA FUGITIVES gates any potential privacy risks to this new approach. ere are some 8,000 warrants for serious per cent are referrals from other agencies in Under the new referral process, only criminal oences outstanding in the prov- Canada and abroad. limited personal information including the ince of Alberta, according to government e unit has nabbed fugitives wanted victim’s name, address, telephone number, statistics. Now, an integrated police unit is for crimes in Newfoundland and Labrador, gender, age and language preference can be reeling those oenders in. Montana and Barbados, and has a close disclosed. e Southern Alberta Integrated Fugi- working relationship with the U.S. Marshals A brief summary of the circumstances tive Apprehension Unit — comprised of 10 Service, says Manning. surrounding the incident such as the pres- ocers from the Calgary Police Service Fu- Team members are also qualied to ence of drugs, alcohol or rearms will also be gitive Apprehension Detail, the Alberta Fu- handle international extradition processes shared. gitive Apprehension Sheris Support Team in-house. Each policy outlines the circumstances and the Canada Border Services Agency — Det./Sgt. Brent Black of the Winnipeg where a proactive referral may be made and has arrested over 200 serious oenders and Police Service collaborated with the unit on these are limited to person’s oences, serious executed over 1,000 related warrants since the case of Stephen McKay, a Winnipeg- property oences, high-risk and vulnerable it began operating out of Calgary in January based gang associate who ed to Calgary to sector victims. Exceptions can be made when 2010. evade murder charges. the member feels it is in the victim’s best in- e unit specializes in tracking and ap- Black says the unit’s expertise and re- terest. prehending dangerous oenders who are on source commitment in areas such as oender e purpose of this new method is to en- the lam in Southern Alberta but cannot be tracking, target surveillance, data integra- sure that as many victims as possible are made located by other agencies using regular inves- tion and prisoner transfer were key to oust- aware of the services available to them. tigative resources. ing McKay from a well-entrenched criminal e new policy recognizes that the vic- “ e criminals we go aer are very network — in little more than a month — tim services worker, as the trained profession- much adept at avoiding the police. ey’re and seamlessly moving him to Winnipeg for al, is the best person to explain the services career criminals.” says Calgary Police Sgt. trial. they can oer. Tony Manning, who heads the unit. “A lot “ ese guys made it their mission to go However, if, once contacted, victims of them have numerous warrants that have out and nd (McKay), and they were good at choose not to take advantage of these pro- been out for extended periods of time — what they did,” says Black. grams, no further contact will be initiated by like eight or nine years. Regular police on In the future, Manning says he hopes victim services. the streets don’t usually have the time or re- to see the unit expand to include represen- Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick sources to nd these people.” tatives from the RCMP and other Southern and Newfoundland have signed MOUs, e surveillance-based unit tracks up Alberta police forces. with other provinces to hopefully follow. to 30 targets at once. Most les come from the Calgary Police Service, but almost 40 — Caroline Ross — Sigrid Forberg

6 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 COVER STORY RCMP Historical Collections Unit, Regina, Sask. COVER

An aerial view taken in 1940 during the filming of the Paramount Pictures feature film North West Mounted Police. MEDIA HOLLYWOOD HEROES, CANADIAN CLICHÉS FACT, FICTION AND THE CHANGING FACE OF THE FORCE By Sigrid Forberg

Around the world, Canada is known for Mountie always gets his man. linked to that iconic portrayal of the force: maple trees, its vast and varied terrain — and More than a century later, he’s still cap- red coats, nine-pounder eld guns used in the Mounties. turing our imaginations. the 1874 March West and Musical Ride But it’s the Mountie, of the North West memorabilia. Mounted Police (NWMP), who really stood ROMANTIC ROOTS Jodi Ann Eskritt, from the RCMP’s out. From the late 19th century, he appeared In 1933, the RCMP opened a museum ex- Historical Collections Unit, says the mu- in dime novels, pulp magazines and radio hibiting its own historical artifacts. Its most seum uses the familiar to draw people in and shows. recent incarnation, the Heritage Centre, lo- teach them about the unfamiliar. But he nally made it big in the Holly- cated in Regina, Saskatchewan, opened its “No one else dressed in red has been wood pictures of the 1930s and 1940s as a doors to the public four years ago. able to capture our imaginations the way the chivalrous and self-sacricing hero. e Heritage Centre houses approxi- Mountie in his red tunic has,” says Eskritt. Movies such as Rose Marie and Susan- mately 40,000 artifacts on rotation, with “For good or for ill, the Mountie is always nah of the Mounties painted a romantic items ranging from the rst commissioner’s going to be the image that people take away — and oen unrealistic — portrait of the medals to a hollowed-out log used to smug- of Canada. NWMP’s eorts ushering in law and order gle illegal hooch across the border during “It may have a lot to do with the early to the untamed Canadian West. Hollywood prohibition in the United States. setting — it’s an adventure, it’s romantic, the taught us that the earnest and righteous e most popular items tend to be idea of taming something unknown.”

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 7 COVER STORY

TUNIC TROUBLES Do Right, the eponymous star of the Rocky centile range, the force has faced criticism Countless Hollywood lms featured and Bullwinkle segment, while British com- from the media in recent years for the han- Mountie characters in the rst half of the edy troupe Monty Python gave us Mounties dling of certain incidents. Unfortunately, 20th century, and while the free publicity was singing about wearing ladies underwear. media coverage on these issues has overshad- appreciated, these characters did present a irty years later, when Due South rode owed all the force’s positive work. few problems for the RCMP. onto the scene, the show, starring Canadian In the hopes of showcasing the good, e biggest issue the force took with actor Paul Gross as the charmingly naïve and in 2008, the force opened its doors to Cana- these movies was that the uniform varied chivalrous Cst. Benton Fraser, fans across dian production company JenCor to create from lm to lm. Oen, the only accurate the world bought in. More than a decade a television documentary series about the detail was its red colour. And the characters since the nale, it’s common for Canadians force. and settings rarely reected the real Ca- travelling abroad to still meet fans who as- Sgt. Pat Flood, a former media relations nadian experience in the early days of the sociate the show with Canada. ocer, and Supt. Tim Cogan, the Director NWMP. e premise of the show was that Cst. General of National Communication Ser- Concerned they weren’t being por- Fraser had walked from the Canadian north vices of the RCMP worked closely with Jen- trayed the way they would like, the RCMP to Chicago in search of his father’s killer. Cor to develop a 13-episode season. began allowing current and retired members Once there, he was partnered with a cur- Each show explored a dierent aspect to consult on lms or work as extras to en- mudgeonly, impatient American cop, Det. of work within the RCMP, from police dog sure their interests were represented. Ray Vecchio, who provides a foil for Fraser’s services to peace operations overseas. Flood Also, being known as the simple and character. and the directors featured 21 members with earnest singing riders wasn’t always helpful. e two North American police ocers varied backgrounds and levels of experience Dr. Michael Dawson, a history profes- embody all of the North American stereo- spread throughout the organization. sor at St. omas University, wrote his Mas- types; while Fraser is polite and considerate With Courage in Red, Cogan says

MEDIA ter’s thesis on the RCMP image, which he to a fault, Vecchio is loud and pushy, bull- he hoped to show the human side of the then later expanded into a book, e Mount- dozing his way through cases. RCMP’s very public profession and the posi- ie: From Dime Novel to Disney. He recalls While Fraser is the hero, Canadians tive contributions its employees make every stumbling upon internal memos from the and their quaint ways tend to be the butt of day in the communities they serve. 1960s in his research, expressing concerns the jokes. But this time, the RCMP was nd- “I oen say we’re not in the business of about the impact of these lms. ing the humour in it. selling owers,” he says. “We deal with con- “ ere were all these interesting inter- “I like that idea that as we are getting ict, crime, loss of life, trauma, tragedy and nal grumblings,” says Dawson. “You’d have more mature in our history that the force is danger. Out of that will come bad stu now the Commissioner saying, look, it’s all ne able to take that iconic image we’ve devel- and then, but there is also a lot of good that that we’ve got this romantic Rose Marie oped over the years and laugh at ourselves a happens on the front line.” image but I’ve got to sit down with J. Edgar little bit,” says Eskritt. “ at’s a sign of matu- e show aired on the Outdoor Life Hoover of the FBI and I need to be taken se- rity and being comfortable with ourselves.” Network over the winter of 2010. Unfortu- riously.” nately coinciding with the economic reces- COURAGE OUTSIDE OF CONVENTION sion, it wasn’t picked up by a major network, COVER SCARLET SATIRE But it hasn’t always been an easy ride. While as had been originally hoped. at being e late 1960s brought a makeover for the public opinion research shows that the said, it’s still considered a successful venture. Mountie in popular culture. American RCMP have a remarkable amount of sup- “Based on the internal and external popular culture brought us hapless Dudley port, falling somewhere in the 80 to 90 per- feedback we were seeing, a lot of people were

1910 1939 FIRST OF MORE THAN 200 FIRST BROADCAST HOLLYWOOD MOUNTIE OF RADIO DRAMA, MOTION PICTURES, RIDER OF SERGEANT PRESTON THE PLAINS, MADE BY EDISON OF THE YUKON, AIRS IN MOVING PICTURE COMPANY. DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

1887 1933 1969 MUSICAL RIDE FIRST RCMP THe DuDLey Do-RIgHT SHow ESTABLISHED. MUSEUM AIRS ON U.S. TELEVISION, OPENS. WITH 38 SEGMENTS OVER FIVE MONTHS.

8 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 COVER STORY excited about it,” says Flood. “It’s a shame A still taken from the Courage in Red episode on RCMP we couldn’t do another season but I still get emergency response teams. emails from the directors and cameramen saying they would drop whatever they were working on to come back and shoot another season with us.”

MUSICAL MELDING

And that excitement surrounding the force Photo illustration by Alexandre Guilbeault is clear through its commercial success. In the late 1980s, Mattel unveiled its Canadian Barbie, decked out in red serge and topped o with a Stetson. In 1995, the RCMP signed a ve-year contract with Walt Disney Co. to help pack- age and sell their image. Since then, each year, roughly $5.5 million retail dollars of of- cially licensed RCMP products are sold per year in Canada. And the famous Musical Ride, with its COVER red-coated riders and black-coated horses, never fails to draw in huge crowds. Cana- dians and visitors abroad are drawn to the 124-year-old spectacle. e perfectly synched 32 riders per- forming cavalry drills are just one aspect of many in the Musical Ride performance, says Supt. Marty Chesser, the ocer in charge of the ride. Aer the show, the public are given “ e red serge is an important com- the opportunity to enter the stables and ponent, but it’s not the be-all, end-all of the visit with the riders and horses to learn more RCMP,” says Chesser. about the organization as a whole. “I’ve told people that I’ve met right traditions like the Musical Ride, there’s an MEDIA Chesser says he’s proud of the diversity across this country that you can do a dier- opportunity to inspire interest and curiosity. found in his ranks. In 2009, every province ent job in the RCMP every six months, have “We hope they’ve had their curiosity and territory in the country was represented. a 35-year career and not do half of the things piqued when they leave,” says Eskritt. “It’s And because ocers only stay for a rotation that we have to oer.” kind of like the tip of an iceberg. of three years, they all come to the ride with And Eskritt adds that it would never If you really do it right, they will realize dierent backgrounds — both personal and be possible to showcase all of these elements. that there’s a whole iceberg under the water- professional — to share. But, with places like the Heritage Centre or line and that they’ll want to learn more.”

1994 2009 DUE SOUTH 1999 COURAGE IN RED AIRS ON AIRS ON CTV IN DuDLey Do-RIgHT CANADIAN NETWORKS, CANADA AND LIve-aCTIon FILM OUTDOOR LIVING NETWORK CBS IN THE U.S., STARRING BRENDAN AND SASKATCHEWAN LASTING FOUR FRASER AND SARAH COMMUNICATIONS SEASONS. JESSICA PARKER. NETWORK.

1995 2007 RCMP SIgnS FIve- RCMP HERITAGE YEAR CONTRACT CENTRE IN WITH WALT REGINA, DISNEY CO. TO SASKATCHEWAN LICENSE IMAGE. REOPENS. Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 9 COVER STORY MEDIA RCMP Prince Edward Island RCMP’s Sgt. Andrew Blackadar speaks with CBC reporter Brian Higgins. POLICING THE PRESS NEW AGE, NEW ATTITUDES By Sigrid Forberg

Police and media have the same basic goal — Insp. Tim Shields has said that even though young ocers who were interested in pro- to cut through the supercial and get to the it takes three times the amount of eort moting snowmobile safety. truth. and time compared to simply responding Rather than going out and issuing tick- Historically, their diering motivations to inquiries, getting out proactive stories is ets, Dawson suggested the ocers invite lo- and methods have put them at odds with crucial. And he adds that without help from cal TV cameras to accompany them to make COVER one another. And this leaves the people that front-line investigators, it’s an impossible it more about prevention than enforcement. both are working for — the general public — task. e reporters ended up putting together a without the service they deserve. three-minute piece about safety and aware- But recent developments in technol- RISKS BRING RESULTS ness that ran across the province. ogy have resulted in a 24/7 news cycle. Both Sgt. Paul Dawson, a media relations ocer Dawson credits the detachment com- journalists and the police have to be prepared in Saskatchewan, says the benet greatly out- mander, S/Sgt. Barry omas from Nipawin, to respond to anything and everything at any weighs the eort. Working closely together Saskatchewan, for taking a risk and getting time. Negative stories play out on television even fosters better appreciation of one an- on board with the initiative. He says that’s or over the Internet sometimes before police other’s responsibilities. not oen the case. even hear about them, let alone prepare re- “Every day is a fresh slate for them — “ ere’s always a thousand reasons not sponses. they’re always looking for new stories to tell. to do something like this,” says Dawson. So the RCMP has started to shi its ap- And I’ve never had them not want to partici- “Someone could get hurt or the ocer could proach in working with the media. Media pate in something that I’ve brought to their end up saying something he shouldn’t. But relations ocers are making more proactive attention,” says Dawson. “So we can either you just have to take that leap of faith and eorts to reach out to journalists, to promote wait for them to come up with their own sto- think about all the potential and possibili- the good things police are doing in commu- ries or we can invite them on dierent things ties in these kinds of stories.” nities and to help shape public knowledge that are going on within our organization.” surrounding the national police force. Dawson says he is always looking for op- SHAPING THE STORIES Each Canadian province has taken its portunities for positive stories. Working in Newfoundland and Labrador, own spin on this concept. He gives one example of when he was Sgt. Boyd Merrill has an advantage over British Columbia RCMP spokesman working in a small detachment with several those working in larger provinces.

10 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 COVER STORY

Given the small and close-knit nature of POLICE AS PEOPLE ous news stories generate. the island he works on, when Merrill calls in But there are always opportunities for the Not only does this workshop oer to the local talk-radio show, he’s able to reach larger provinces to showcase their good members the chance to hear the perspective more than half of the province. news, too. of the journalist, but it also helps them better Merrill will oen call in when he has Recently, the RCMP has been criticized understand what the media is looking for in a topic or message he wants to promote and for the amount of overweight and obese a story so both parties can work towards de- the moderators will put him on air and let members. livering the best service to the greater public. him talk for four to ve minutes. So when the RCMP Winnipeg head- And it’s emphasized that service should e advantage to this, Merrill says, is quarters renovated their tness facilities, be provided by human beings, not uniforms. that building these relationships ensures the Cst. Miles Hiebert took the opportunity “I think it’s important for us to show RCMP have direct lines of communication to highlight the hard work some members how dicult the job is,” says Sgt. Tim Tani- with the public. were doing to slim down by setting up an guchi. “I think we’ve failed to tell our story “It’s live and you can’t be edited, you interview between the commanding ocer, to the public in a way that they can relate to. can’t be misinterpreted and your words can’t A/Commr. Bill Robinson, and a Winnipeg We encourage people to use that humaniz- be misconstrued,” says Merrill. “It’s a very Free Press reporter. ing talk and to not write news releases like powerful way of getting our message out “For the commanding ocer of our di- police reports, but to write them as stories in just a few short minutes. It’s a chance to vision to talk about his personal weight loss that someone’s grandmother could under- say, here we are, here’s what we’re doing to and exercise regime, it just shows that he’s a stand.” combat crime so you can all feel safe in your regular person and facing the same challeng- homes and on the highways.” es as everyone else,” says Hiebert. PARALLEL PATHS COVER Similarly, Sgt. Andrew Blackadar, the Exposing the person beneath the uni- But none of this change is possible with- media relations ocer for Prince Edward Is- form can be a challenge; many ocers are out the support of senior management and land, says that because they are such a small reluctant to open up about personal matters front-line investigators. To reap the rewards, island it’s easier to build those familiar rela- and diverge from the facts. Dawson says police ocers have to take these tionships and to feel like you’re working to- But two of Alberta’s media relations of- risks and think outside of the box. wards a common goal. cers, Sgt. Patrick Webb and Sgt. Tim Tani- And it’s crucial that both sides have a Blackadar gives the example of when a guchi, are attempting to empower members certain amount of understanding and empa- police vehicle pulled over a car full of young with the tools to feel condent enough to thy for one another. At the end of the day, adults going well over the speed limit. But do this from the detachment level. ey re- when working cordially together, both par- because the ocer didn’t have any tickets to cently started holding three-day workshops, ties can better accomplish their goals. give them, he let the car o with a warning. oering ocers media relations 101 and the “It’s about changing attitudes,” says A couple of hours later, they were involved opportunity to interact with and tour media Dawson. “I wish every member could sit in in an accident in which two of the ve pas- outlets. my chair and deal with the media on a day- MEDIA sengers died. On the nal day, members participated to-day basis because we have more in com- A journalist found out that the car in a mock news conference with real journal- mon with them than they think. We can’t be had been pulled over and called Blackadar ists and the media relations ocers to get afraid to let the public in and the media is a about why they weren’t issued a ticket. He comfortable with the kinds of questions vari- great way of reaching them.” explained over the phone and the reporter asked him if he would be willing to explain on camera. SMOKING OUT Blackadar agreed and aer making his MARIJUANA GROW statement, he added that even if the driver had been issued a ticket, there’s no saying for OPERATIONS sure that they would have stopped speeding. Former RCMP Commissioner William And he also noted that P.E.I. didn’t J.S. Elliott announces the launch of the have laws like they do in Ontario that allow Marihuana Grow Initiative at a press police to seize a vehicle going well over the conference last fall. The MGI, which limit. complements the Government of Canada’s Within a year of the story, a law similar National Anti-Drug Strategy, represents to the one in Ontario was enacted in P.E.I. the RCMP’s renewed commitment to RCMP “When you don’t get up to talk, the rst fight marijuana production controlled by to inform the Canadian public about the thing the public is going to think is that the organized crime groups. Based on three consequences, inherent hazards and police are hiding something,” says Blackadar. key components — awareness, deterrence destructive impacts these activities and “If you get up and say, yes, there was a prob- and enforcement — the strategy outlines criminal groups have on their communities. lem and we have learned from it and we’re go- how the RCMP will work with partners For more information, visit www.rcmp- ing to improve the situation from here, that’s and community members. It also aims grc.gc.ca. what the public wants to see.”

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 11 PANEL DISCUSSION WHAT IS THE IDEAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLICE AND THE MEDIA? MEDIA

The complexities of the police-media relationship mean there will be

COVER tensions. But those strains should be seen as a healthy sign. RCMP THE PANELISTS h Insp. Marc Richer, director, RCMP national media relations h Jim Bronskill, Ottawa bureau reporter, Canadian Press h Daniel Brien, Public Prosecution Service of Canada

INSP. MARC RICHER environment, with 24-hour, minute-by-min- these deadlines. e complexities of a large e key in an operational policing ute reporting, thanks to the web and social police organization require many specialists environment is to feed the media with media. in a multitude of elds. information. e media can then inform One thing that should be understood is When the media call, we oen have to the public with information about how if the media is onto a story, they have more consult subject matter experts who are not police are making communities safer. sources than police do. From a media rela- necessarily sitting at their desks. ey are in At the national level, it is about re- tions perspective, this is a signicant chal- fact busy working at their specialties, which sponding to questions of all types, mostly lenge. Police and media simply do not play by means that they are not there to respond about policies and senior managers and the the same rules. Although the public is served within the very short timelines imposed by decisions they make. by both, it is for very dierent reasons. the media. e RCMP’s media relations of- e media scene has evolved from re- Try as we may, in the world of polic- cers explain this to reporters. While many porters being invited to hear our stories, to ing, and with the policies that make for that understand, others do not. what has become an extremely competitive world to run, it is not always possible to meet News reporting appears to have also

12 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 PANEL DISCUSSION changed dramatically, in that it is no lon- Crime ction is a popular staple of the primary responsibility is to the cases it pros- ger about fact checking and reporting. is television schedule and national bestseller ecutes. e PPSC is mandated to prosecute seems to have lost its importance in favour of lists. In turn, true crime stories will always cases under federal law in a manner that is getting a “story” out. be news. fair, impartial and objective, and free from Reporters are calling us and despite the In discussing cases with reporters, po- any improper inuence. information or explanation we give, they lice must careful to preserve the integrity e RCMP Operations Manual and the may slant it to suit their objectives. e prob- of investigations. Revealing too much could PPSC policy manual both cover communi- lem is that our credibility is oen challenged jeopardize a probe. Saying the wrong thing cations with the media and provide direction as a result, leaving us with little option to re- might ruin a reputation. on maintaining that balance. spond or to correct the misinformation. At the same time, journalists — how- Today, police and prosecutors have to ey certainly know it, but media ever eager to gather details of a high-prole worry about media coverage of steps that should remember that police in Canada have case — must avoid the same pitfalls. largely unreported even a few years ago: the plenty of scrutiny, such as various levels of su- Reporters should also be mindful of period aer a charge has been sworn, but be- pervision, crown prosecutors and the courts. their role: they are not investigative arms of fore an accused is arrested; when a person of Although everything in society today the police, but proxies of the public. interest becomes a suspect; when a le has seems to be at increasingly faster speeds, I Canadian Press guidelines say there is been referred to the Crown for charge ap- would suggest that patience and understand- generally no objection to providing police proval; an upcoming search once a warrant is ing of what police do is paramount to a bet- copies of stories and photos that have been signed but before it is executed. ter story. published. When a case is being prepared, PPSC If journalists want to get the best, most But reporters should not give police ac- spokespersons regularly acknowledge to re- COVER accurate information, I suggest that they cess to notes, unpublished video, background porters that the position of the Crown is, must listen to our advice, and learn to wait. les, emails and other material related to on- indeed, a matter of public record, but that We will do our best to identify the best per- going stories or condential matters. it will rightly be expressed before a court of son so the reporter can get the information Media must also resist publishing stra- law before it is debated by the court of public rst hand from a knowledgeable source. tegic leaks from police that might be unfair opinion. It is this respect for the police process or inammatory. Participants in the criminal justice sys- and profession that will not only allow for a It is important that police respect these tem have to be careful that post-arrest media cordial relationship between media and po- boundaries, too, and deal fairly with report- availabilities aimed at informing the public lice, but will ensure that the public — their ers. don’t become victory parades that risk jeop- audience and the ones we serve and protect Once police reveal an investigation is ardizing a trial or becoming the subject of — is best informed. under way, they have an obligation to pro- litigation. vide updates and close the loop when the Post-arrest news conferences may ap- JIM BRONSKILL probe is complete by means of a public an- pear to show the payo of a long investiga- MEDIA e relationship between journalists and nouncement. tion through arrests or seized goods, but the police is a delicate one — a dance in e complexities of the police-media re- must be conducted with care to protect the which each party moves gingerly, trying to lationship mean there will be tensions. But integrity of the criminal justice system. avoid stepping on the other’s toes. those strains should be seen as a healthy sign, In fact, improper post-arrest publicity It is a symbiotic relationship in that the because while cops and reporters need one can harm the jury selection process, can be police and journalists need each other. another, they have dierent jobs to do. the subject of a judge’s instructions to a jury But each has a clearly dened role or can suggest over-zealousness on the part guided by in-house policies, ethical consider- DANIEL BRIEN of authorities. ations and time-tested practices. We live and work in a media culture where e line is not always clear. How much e police disseminate information to the notion of a news cycle has been eclipsed can investigators divulge about cases they are further investigations, warn citizens of sud- by an environment that provides news and investigating? How much can arresting o- den dangers and educate the public about opinion in a constant stream of blogs, up- cers say about the evidence when they display how to stay safe. dates, tweets and posts directly to the per- seized goods following an arrest? In the Internet age, there are now more sonal devices we carry. Nobody can realistically expect the ten- ways than ever for law-enforcement agencies For prosecutors and police, this evolu- sion between reporters and the law to dis- to accomplish these goals. But police still de- tion increases visibility and public awareness, appear anytime soon. A competitive media pend on the media to quickly reach a large but also comes with risks to the very process environment and the need for police and segment of the public. we seek to protect. We have to achieve a bal- prosecutors to operate in an open and ac- Journalists are citizens, too. So they ance between the equally enshrined and countable manner will ensure both sides re- have an interest in informing the public and sometimes competing goals of aggressive me- main in regular contact. giving people the information they need to dia and those who protect due process. By continuing to seek a balance, we can be responsible members of the community. e Public Prosecution Service of Can- continue to enjoy an eective and account- Reporters also like a good story. at’s ada has a legislated responsibility to commu- able justice system in an open and accessible because the public wants them. nicate with the media and the public, but its media environment.

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 13 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION TREASURE TROVE DATA MINING THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA By Special Agent Mike Keleher, United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Criminals started incorporating the Inter- described as similar to dragging a net across from sources not routinely viewed or even net in their crimes about 10 minutes aer the surface of the ocean. Some sh, or data considered. the Internet was born. Law enforcement has bits, will be caught up, but the net does not always been slow to reap technological ad- extend to the bottom of the ocean and does SOCIAL MEDIA SEARCHES vances or keep pace with popular computer not scoop up all available info. As of May 2011, Facebook listed more than trends. But is there something a non-com- e entire content of the information 500 million users. In July 2011, they listed puter enthusiast investigator can use to get ocean has been called the deep web and 750 million active users who post photos, more thorough information via the Internet? may contain 500 times the amount of infor- videos and personal data for themselves and While there are problems with tradi- mation we see in a normal Internet search. their friends. Half of their users visit daily. tional web searches, there are simple ways Investigators have long suspected there was In 2009, Cox Communications, a Unit- to data mine information. ere is also the more out there, but had no idea how to ed States digital cable television, telecommu- deeper web, which is an abyss containing plumb the deep and go beyond even Dogpile nications and wireless services company, cit- information you always suspected was being searches. ed that 72 per cent of young adults between collected somewhere but you could not nd. the ages of 18 and 29 participated in social Combining deep web searches with DEEP WEB SEARCHES media sites. Imagine the number today. is reams of personal data being voluntarily Investigators should look at Pipl.com and is the same age group that commits a dispro- posted on-line via social websites can lead to Spokeo.com, both people search engines, to portional amount of crime.

MEDIA huge amounts of information on suspects, trove the deep web. A July 27, 2011 story in the e Exam- victims and witnesses, their lives, habits and Searching a suspect’s name with a popu- iner, a Washington, D.C., newspaper, report- connections. lar search engine might nd a name with ed that the young members of violent gangs matches all across North America. are using Twitter and Facebook to plan their POPULAR INTERNET SEARCHES A Pipl.com search will bring back the crimes online. Not really a surprise is it? is may or may not be a surprise, but nor- name, multiple spellings, alias and nick- How many crimes have the media re- mal Internet searches used every day by both names, address, past addresses, age, phone ported on aer they were posted to You- investigators and the public are much less ef- numbers, maps, background reports, school Tube? Law enforcement has grudgingly been cient than you might believe they are. Cou- classmates, professional and business con- forced to incorporate social media into new ple this with lack of understanding about tacts, email addresses, social media proles, investigations. Are there good ways to data social media or how to search social media, such as Facebook listings, photos, videos, mine that information without having to be- and law enforcement is operating at an un- archived genealogy information, and news come a cyber-geek? Absolutely. If any North perceived disadvantage. articles which mention that person. American teen can operate in that realm, po- e advanced search engine Dogpile It also throws in Internet user names lice can, too. COVER explains how users believe a single search en- and proles that are frequently used with Deep web searches can locate social gine will bring back the best and all related Internet-based shopping. e amount of media proles for investigators. Some social information from the web. publicly viewable and free information these media sites require the viewer to have an ac- In truth, each engine searches dier- searches can dredge up is nothing short of count, prole or email address before allow- ently and brings back dierent products amazing. Disbelievers need only enter their ing access. However, investigators can create and lists them in dierent ways. Dogpile own name, phone or email address into the proles and free unveried email accounts cites several studies using three and four of Pipl.com search engine to see the results. via Yahoo Mail, Gmail or Hotmail to gain the most popular Spokeo.com access to a subject’s prole. search engines such brings back similar Facebook users who do have privacy IF ANY NORTH AMERICAN TEEN as Google, Yahoo!, CAN OPERATE IN THAT REALM, results, including blocks in place, for example, may still ac- Bing and Ask Jeeves POLICE CAN, TOO. name, age, address, cept friend requests from complete strangers to search a subject. email addresses, to build their social status. It is a disturbing In one study gender, photos, trend among users who readily accept invita- with 12,000 searches, only 1.1 per cent of the videos, hobbies, economic health, estimated tions from strangers to boost their number rst page search returns were cited by all four wealth, family household makeup, property of friends and pseudo-popularity. engines. Dierent engine, dierent results. details, maps, estimated value of property, Once a friend is accepted, they can view Dogpile now searches the top three politics, religion, education and occupation, everything on the site. Indirect approaches engines — Google, Yahoo! and Bing — at family tree and neighborhood information, may also work by rst linking to friends of once and combines the results to give a much as well as blog posts and a review of 86 so- the target to establish the new user as trust- more useable and thorough user product. cial media sites. All of the information is worthy. e computer prole will then show Normal Internet searches have been publicly available, but the aggregator pulls friends in common and may make users feel

14 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION COVER

Combining deep web searches with reams of personal data being voluntarily posted on-line via social websites can lead to huge amounts of information on suspects, victims and witnesses, their lives, habits and connections. the stranger is safer to interact with. It turns out that each digital camera has users are sharing their cyber life with the on- Another exploitable backdoor the smart its own ngerprint beyond make and model line world at an unprecedented rate. phone generation is seemingly unaware of is or GPS embedded in photos. Look for this MEDIA the global positioning system (GPS) or ex- to be a developing forensic technique to link CONCLUSION changeable image le format (EXIF) data photos to cameras and then to users. Even though it is not old-school police pro- imbedded in smart phone images. Phones is leads to Facebook, Foursquare and cedure, investigators cannot overlook the come from the factory with this as a default other sites which have check-in functions deep web and social media as investigative setting in place. where users can manually or automatically tools. Even the RCMP and FBI have Face- If users are even aware of the function, register where they are, or have been. book and Twitter sites. they must manually switch it o to avoid is information is uploaded instantly Social media contacts, postings, pic- pinning the data to the photos. Photos post- to their web pages. Anyone with access to tures, videos, texts and tweets have become, ed to Twitter arrive with the data intact. the page can see the locations. Foursquare, in eect, another language used by most of Using the web browser Google Chrome which now has more than six million users, the 18-to-29-year-old segment of society. e or other EXIF photo editor/viewers allow grew 3,400 per cent in 2010 and exists only fact that older investigators feel they don’t investigators to see the date and time a photo to track people’s movements with check-ins. speak that language or care to learn is a huge was taken and along with GPS coordinates ese are unbelievable resources to track handicap. where it was taken. criminal behavior patterns or even near live- Criminals are freely posting their infor- Another click to Google Maps will time movement. mation for anyone to see. So let’s be iends show the actual 360-degree panorama view e hugely popular Twitter, with more and take advantage of this bounty that is oh- of that location. How valuable would that be than 175 million users, is also exploitable. so-carefully posted by the subscribers. to a police investigation? Twitter postings are public by default. Any- In 2011, e Federal Bureau of Investi- one can view them even without an account. Mike Keleher is currently the Division Chief of gation (FBI) lab in uantico, Virginia, has Short 140-character entries, commenting on Criminal Investigations, Violent Crime and begun using United States Air Force-devel- daily events and thoughts, are made by mil- Cold Case Homicide at NCIS Headquarters, oped soware called FindCamera to locate lions throughout the world. uantico, Virginia. He has served as a Special unique algorithms stamped into digital pic- ink of them as mini-blogs. Coupled Agent for more than 24 years, and is a former ture data. with check-ins, uploaded photos or videos, criminal prosecutor.

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 15 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION MEDIA

The Clapham Junction area of south London on Aug. 9, 2011, after a third night of rioting and looting.

COVER PUBLIC ORDER IN A CONNECTED WORLD LEARNING FROM THE LONDON AND VANCOUVER RIOTS By Lauri Stevens

As if law ocers don’t have enough to think couple Canadian cities, teenagers have been some with the Blackberry smartphone’s pri- about, in comes social media. Never before using social networks, mostly Twitter, to vate instant text-messaging system. have police service agencies been faced with a organize ash robs — the quick en masse Following the riots, Prime Minister situation where the new recruits know more looting of stores and sometimes beating of David Cameron and the then interim Met- than the commanders about an issue that is innocent bystanders. ropolitan Police Service Commissioner Tim increasingly aecting how police ocers do Because these are over as quickly as they Godwin, both issued statements calling for their jobs. begin, police are le to resort to old-fash- control over social networks in the future. And just when some agencies are start- ioned arrest and prosecute methods but also In the wake of such statements, the ing to get their heads around the use of social to seek ways to monitor social media to try to UK government has been widely criticized media for community outreach and investi- catch them before or, at least, as they happen. for its handling of the riots and, according gations, the criminal element is using social Last summer in the United Kingdom, to e Guardian national daily newspaper, media to organize sudden large-scale events in reaction to the police shooting death of some in government say Godwin’s personal — not only catching law enforcement by sur- Mark Duggan, a known gangster in the handling of riots severely negatively aected prise, but also causing some police executives North London borough of Tottenham, sev- his chance to have been named as the perma- to overreact. eral days’ worth of rioting ensued. Some of nent commissioner. at position went to In many American cities and at least a it was organized through social media and Bernard Hogan-Howe.

16 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION

NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT screens and then issuing instructions to oth- literally handed to them by citizen activists Godwin’s and Cameron’s seeming inabil- ers. But that doesn’t mean we should be call- who wanted the people who pillaged their ity to understand social media’s eect, both ing for them (social networks) to be turned city caught and prosecuted. negative and positive, on maintaining public o,” says Payne. “It does mean that we need Contrary to debating about the shut- order might be attributable to their lack of to understand how it works, and get better ting down of social networks, the question use of the new communication technologies. at using it.” in Vancouver is over the mass surveillance In fact, while there seems to be a short- Payne has spent the last two to three implications of the use of facial recognition age of law enforcement leaders within Lon- years building a relationship with the people technology oered to law enforcement by don who use and understand social media, in his jurisdiction and has gained more than the Insurance Commission of British Co- there are several senior law enforcement ex- 7,000 followers on Twitter as a result. lumbia to identify the people in the collected ecutives in the rest of the country who use Both police executives stress the impor- images. it well, on a daily basis, and have for several tance of the ability to manage rumor during With no policy or procedure in exis- years. large-scale events. tence or in place to handle the new database ese are the same law ocers who “One thing that we have seen over and created by such an action, privacy experts are point out that to understand the benets of over again during emergency situations is pushing back against the move. social media, one must use it. that where there is no information coming Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde from the authorities, the gap will be plugged NO DEBATE ABOUT IT of Cumbria is one of those leaders. by speculation,” says Payne. In both London and Vancouver, the one “It’s not a spectator sport,” he says. “If Hyde agrees. thing no one is debating is the degree to you’re not using it and putting stu out and “But you can’t have it unless you’re on the which social media was used to aect posi- COVER engaging and having an odd debate about pitch. It’s the collective power of it, not just tive change in the wake of both riots. something, then what you end up with is an the responsibility of a Twitter squad,” he Within a short time of both inci- inability to engage.” says, referring to the need to have more than dents, thousands of citizens were organized Hyde has been using Twitter, in par- just the communications ocers involved. through Facebook and Twitter. In Vancou- ticular, for a couple years and is regularly Both men are involved in ongoing talks ver, many of the more than 11,000 volun- seen engaging with other ocers as well as with the U.K. Home Oce, the lead govern- teers donned Canucks gear to show that the citizens. ment department for police, as they debate criminal actions of a few didn’t represent While the rioting didn’t aect his ju- the path forward. true Canucks fans. risdiction, he appreciates the lessons learned In London, Facebook and Twitter are better than most. CANADIAN EXPERIENCE credited as well with the organization of “Some of the best lessons learned are Vancouver Police (VPD) had a more positive thousands of volunteers to clean up the capi- from the forces who didn’t have disorder riotous experience in the wake of the Van- tol city. but had lots of rumor,” he says, pointing to couver Canucks loss to the Boston Bruins As reported, pride in BBC News MEDIA Staordshire Police who had no disorder but in the National Hockey League Stanley Cup community and emotions ran high and used Twitter to very quickly “stop the non- nals in June. the cleaner-uppers, armed with brooms, sense” that was happening. “I’m so glad we were already there on marched through the city on their way to af- Twitter when this happened,” says VPD Cst. fected areas. BUILD A FOLLOWING BEFOREHAND Anne Longley, a public information ocer. e Twitter account @Riotcleanup e law enforcement commanders who use With 8,000 followers on Twitter at the in the U.K. has more than 73,000 follow- social media know start of the playo ers and is still active in a fundraising eort that to benet from series, the VPD for London shopkeepers who suered losses these technologies ONE THING THAT WE HAVE was already adept during the riots. during times of cri- SEEN OVER AND OVER AGAIN at manoeuvering For Hyde it’s about ongoing learning, sis, one must build a DURING EMERGENCY SITUATIONS social media. But and more time is needed for everyone to IS THAT WHERE THERE IS NO following and cul- at the end of the reach a comfort level. INFORMATION COMING FROM THE tivate relationships playos, they had “We’re all still in the learning zone and AUTHORITIES, THE GAP WILL BE with their follow- PLUGGED BY SPECULATION. more than 16,000 we need to appreciate that.” ing before the crisis followers and most hits. of them were fans Lauri Stevens, an interactive media profes- Supt. Mark Payne of West Midlands in the true sense of the word. sional with more than 25 years of media ex- Police was a very early adopter of Twitter. VPD was largely commended by gov- perience, is the founder of and principal con- Payne was on the streets of Wolverhampton, ernment and citizens alike for its handling sultant with LAwS Communications, which a borough in the West Midlands of England, of the riots both with and without social helps police implement interactive media when rioting took place. He says he has no media. technologies. She is the creator of the Con- doubt that social media played a role in orga- In fact, one of the biggest challenges nectedCOPS.net blog and the Social Media nizing the riots. it has had to deal with is the overwhelming the Internet and Law Enforcement (SMILE) “Oenders were clearly consulting their amount of photographic and video evidence conference.

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 17 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION

The use of Twitter by both police agencies and individual officers is a burgeoning trend. PUBLIC SAFETY IN THE AGE OF TWITTER THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

By David J. Krajicek

A version of this article was presented in May city, usually within 20 minutes of the inci- told CNN. 2011 at a conference on policing and social me- dent. But an examination of police social me- dia in New York, hosted by John Jay College’s “It’s like I’m a member of the command dia messages indicates that urgent e-missives Center on Media, Crime and Justice and by sta,” Fenton says. He then retweets to his about public safety are fairly rare. More the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Twitter followers, oen adding a detail or typical are messages about upcoming police

MEDIA two. events, such as crime prevention seminars. In a growing number of American cities, But Fenton says the system has limita- Many departments frequently use Twit- the use of social media as a primary mode tions: tweets give only the barest of details, ter and Facebook to congratulate ocers of communication by law enforcers is fun- and the Twitter stream from police shuts who win awards or help solve crimes — the damentally changing the way police depart- down from midnight until 7 a.m. sort of “good news” that law enforcers have ments interact with the media and citizens. And he says that when he reaches out traditionally accused the media of ignoring. Each local experience is unique, but a to police for more information, he now fre- Some agencies use social media to ag- transformation is happening as police turn quently hears, “What we tweeted is all we gressively defend themselves against criti- to sites such as Facebook and Twitter for im- have.” All 140 characters of it. cism. Others have used Twitter and Face- mediate, interactive communication. Some reporters complain that police are book to tweak media who have reported Nearly 1,300 police agencies in the using social media to throttle back the re- erroneous information. United States now use Facebook, and more lease of information, not open it up. than 600 are on Twitter, says the Inter- Eric Hartley, a reporter for the Capital NEW VS. TRADITIONAL MEDIA national Association of Chiefs of Police in Annapolis, Maryland, says police there Aer decades of complaining about the me- COVER (IACP). typically now refer citizens and reporters to dia lter on their messages, many police of- ese tools resonate across a wide swath Facebook and Twitter, which he calls “a fa- cials eagerly embrace the use of social media of America, where nearly half the popula- çade of openness.” as an end-run around traditional journalism. tion, from tweens to retirees, have a Face- He wrote in a column that the sites oer And in this era of nancial austerity, book page. And the ability to reach the “such sketchy information it’s impossible to the use of open-source soware has an added public directly — rather than through the tell what’s news and what isn’t.” benet: it costs very little. media’s prism — has empowered police and, In an e-mail, he adds, “With the agen- Many police departments now use Face- at times, nettled journalists. cies we deal with, Twitter and (Facebook), at book as their primary venue for posting press In Baltimore, Maryland, the best, regurgitate the same information police releases and news bulletins. Some upload microblogging tool Twitter has replaced send out in e-mailed press releases.” press conferences live to the Internet. And cop-media telephone “hotlines” as the prin- the use of Twitter by both police agencies cipal link between police and reporters when THE SUBJECT OF TWEETS and individual ocers is a burgeoning trend. news breaks. Whether journalists like it or not, the use of Some managers feared that the posting Justin Fenton, a six-year police beat vet- social media in policing is here to stay. of social media updates would consume sta eran for the Baltimore Sun, says timely noti- Bill LePere, a police commander in time, but that has not been much of an issue. cation via Twitter is an improvement over Lakeland, Florida, was an early advocate of A 2010 IACP survey of more than 700 the old system, where he would repeatedly social media in policing. public safety agencies found that 80 per cent call the police department’s public informa- “We think the police department has of respondents spent fewer than ve hours tion oce and ask, “What’s going on?” an obligation to get information out to the of sta time per week on social media work. Now, he gets a text tweet on his phone community through whatever means or Just two per cent of respondents spent more when a signicant crime is committed in the mechanisms we have at our disposal,” LePere than 24 hours a week at it. About two-thirds

18 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION of the agencies used a public information of- two years, sometimes up to 10 times an hour. cer, chief executive or member of the com- His subjects oen involve trac conditions RCMP mand sta to update social media sites. music trivia and the weather — or a combi- “Law enforcement is realizing that they nation of the three. WIDENS REACH don’t need the traditional media to get their Burrows’ followers seem to adore him, Since the force launched its own Face- message out anymore,” says Lauri Stevens, a and many tweet back with chirpy thanks. book, Twitter and YouTube accounts in Boston-based consultant on police use of so- 2009, it has proven to be an effective cial media. CAN’T REPLACE A HANDSHAKE tool in sharing information and bring- In 2009, Stevens worked with the Bel- In January 2011, when a Cape Cod, Mas- ing visitors to the general website. levue Police Department in Nebraska, which sachusetts, town announced it would begin Cynthia Misener, lead web offi- has become a leader among smaller agencies using social media, a local newspaper scribe cer for social media, says during fraud in its use of social media. wrote, “ e days have long passed since cops awareness month, posts on the Face- It is part of the portfolio of Jayme regularly walked the beat, tipping their hats book site have brought more people Krueger, community policing coordinator to local shopkeepers and chatting up resi- to the general website compared to for the 100-ocer force. She tweets for the dents on street corners. e Yarmouth Police previous years. department and encourages ocers to do Department, however, believes new technol- Facebook now competes with so, as well. “It gives us a better way to com- ogy expands the denition of community, Google for the number one referral municate with the public — better for both and social media can become the 21st-centu- source for RCMP web traffic. ocers and administration,”she says. ry version of the cop on the corner.” Chris Power, the acting manager Violent crime is rare in Bellevue, and But can Facebook and Twitter replace of New Media at RCMP headquarters, COVER the typical tweets from ocers there concern the cop on the corner? says the web team tries to tailor con- trac issues. Krueger’s tweets and Facebook Absolutely not, says consultant Chris- tent to public interest. posts oen concern charitable causes or pro- tina M. Miller, who runs a communications The national Facebook page fea- grams that involve the community, such as a rm in South Carolina. As a former journal- tures human interest stories and prac- police academy for teens. ist, she spent years writing about technology tical tips such as the features for fraud “ e two work together,” Krueger says. for law enforcement trade publications. awareness month, while the Twitter “Twitter is good to get out short blurbs. ere is no social media equivalent to account links to news releases. And Facebook is a great avenue to advertise “the human connection that comes from a YouTube hosts videos from Courage in things coming up and to communicate with handshake,” she says. “ ere is no replace- Red, the force’s reality documentary, the public back and forth.” ment for face-to-face contact, and any chief as well as interviews and video diaries She says she doesn’t send press releases or commander . . . who thinks they can re- from other areas of the force. on many of her tweet subjects, yet the media place that with social media is making a Adhering to the Government of sees them on Facebook and Twitter. grave mistake.” Canada’s strict website design and MEDIA “I think it has denitely improved our Miller says the social media transforma- display standards ensures that an ac- relationship with the media because they tion in law enforcement is properly viewed as cessible version of everything that is don’t have to call us hunting for stories,” the leading edge of an arc dating to a century posted on social media sites is also Krueger says. “It helps us to be able to say ago. Beat cops gave way to the increased mo- available on the national web page. what we want to say.” bility of radio cars. To date, five provinces have their But ocers cruising the streets behind own Facebook pages in both French TWEETS BUILD RELATIONSHIPS a shroud of tinted window glass became iso- and English and seven divisions have About 10 ocers contribute regularly to the lated. at inaccessibility was targeted 15 Twitter accounts. Looking to the fu- Bellevue department’s Twitter stream — years ago with the proliferation of proactive ture, Power says New Media is trying using their own smart phones. Most of the community policing, which hearkened to to keep pace with evolving, emerging tweets concern seemingly mundane subjects, the beat cop’s penchant for problem solving. technology. which can lead to exchanges with residents e careful, smart use of social media He also notes this is government and potentially build relationships. might be the next step in building relation- mandated, and that they must stay But one of the most followed police ships among the police, the public, and the highly adaptable and open to innova- Twitter feeds in North America comes from media — probably in ways that no one has tion. Sgt. Tim Burrows a lowly trac cop in To- yet even imagined. “The risks of not using social me- ronto, Canada. dia are greater, when you consider the e Toronto Police Service uses social David J. Krajicek is a veteran journalist and alternative, which is not connecting media broadly, with 12,000 followers of its true crime author based in New York. His most and communicating with an audience very active Twitter stream, which includes recent books are Murder, American Style: 50 so large,” Power says. breaking news updates, tips on police-spon- Unforgettable True Stories About Love Gone sored events and homespun asides. Wrong, True Crime Missouri: e State’s — Sigrid Forberg, with files from Burrows, who has 8,500 followers, has Most Notorious Criminal Cases and the e- Mallory Procunier tweeted more than 10,000 times in the past book, Death By Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 19 COVER MEDIA dress them. them. dress how know to and ad gaps these understand must agencies police policies, media social To privacy. online view develop eective how in people gaps ere generational are 20 C boundaries. online of views changing and technology with pace sions. deci or court of legislation way is ahead that world online changing aconstantly navigate to ocers help their guidelines media social ocers. as lives public their and lives private online their between boundary the for not understanding plined, disci or being careers, their way —ending high on information the roadkill becoming Here’s we problem. the have First, ocers A M how toaddress them. In the last 60 years, changing technology has shaped each generation’s perspectives. To develop effective social media policies, police agencies must understand these gaps and know By Valerie Van Brocklin AUSE GE Give or take two to four years, depend years, to four two Give or take Or, haven’t we that have policies kept no with we agencies haveSecond, police IND , O ATTIT EXTERNAL SUBMISSION F H PROBLEM THE

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REACTIONS TO TECHNOLOGY book. is is a common reaction, particularly All the generations may have experienced But those who grew up sharing such in- from those who still get their news from a the changes in technology, but their reac- formation see it as a fun way to stay connect- newspaper. tions di er. ed with friends and a means of self-expres- To younger people, Pasco’s newspaper As of 2010, Gen Y outnumbered baby sion — not unlike the shaggy hair, drugs and analogy seems profoundly out-of-date and boomers and 96 per cent of the Gen Ys had rock ‘n’ roll of baby boomers that so shocked lacking in an understanding of modern tech- joined a social network. Email has become or irritated parents. nology and communications. passé. Students used to check their emails Privately shared information — for on the sly in class or exceeded their monthly PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC people who grew up online — is still pri- voice minutes on their family’s cell phone In a New York Magazine article on how so- vate. Younger people blogging their private plan. Now using a phone for talking or cial networking has changed generational thoughts or sexting is their generation’s diary emailing is out of style with many. views of privacy, Emily Naussbum addresses and love letters. College student Bryan ornton, the “[O]rdinary, endless stream of daily 24, hasn’t checked his email in a week and documentation that is built into the life of SOLUTION says, “texting and Twitter kind of make us- anyone growing up today . . . e change has If a police agency’s social media policies ing email pointless. I used to check it all rippled through pretty much every act of are going to be meaningful and workable, the time, but now I have over 1,000 unread growing up.” younger o cers must be involved in deliber- messages in my inbox,” he says. “If someone Naussbaum interviewed some Kansas ating and developing them. wants to contact me instantly, they can just City tourists visiting New York City to il- What will pass legal muster shouldn’t shoot me a text.” lustrate this point. She talked to a dad, his be the starting and ending point for such COVER As of December 2010, according to 15-year-old daughter and two of her friends. policies. Cross-generational dialogue should Online Social Networking and the Genera- e three girls tell Naussbaum that they be. For one thing, courts are way behind the tion Gap, a video  lm project on YouTube, got computers in the third grade, everyone kinds of changes addressed here. Facebook had 515 million users, MySpace now has a Facebook, and, yes, they post party Moreover, the one thing agencies can had 185 million, Twitter had 175 million pictures. be sure of is that change in this landscape is and Friendster had 90 million. Only China In contrast, dad is ba ed when Nauss- constant. It will always be ahead of courts and India have populations greater than baum asks if he has a web page. He can’t and legislation. Facebook. think why he’d need one. He doesn’t know Departments will need to monitor en there’s the rate of growth. Face- how to get into his daughter’s Facebook pro- trends, such as which applications, media book added 100 million users in less than  l e . and so ware are growing and which are not. nine months. It took the U.S. 10 years to add Such contrasts lead to di erent world is is another reason to have young o cers fewer than 28 million people to its popula- views. Warned that posting private informa- involved in developing and updating their tion, while it has taken Canada 40 year to tion online could make them vulnerable to agencies’ social media policies. ey’re creat- MEDIA double its size. stalkers or predators, young people respond ing the trends. Social networking is now the number that’s like warning someone not to move to a e most important reason to involve one activity on the Internet. It’s changing big city because they might get mugged. and include recruits and young o cers is how we communicate with one another, how it’s a bridge across the generation gaps to we view family, friends, education, politics, DIFFERING WORLD VIEWS meaningful, workable, dynamic social media work, culture, current events and history. In- Every generation thinks its world view is the policies. Otherwise, the generation gaps will deed, even how we process information. And correct, right or moral one. It’s not. It’s just continue to grow and the information high- the di erent generations have responded to their view — shaped by their coming-of-age way roadkill won’t be pretty. its in uence di erently. experiences in the changing world around ose who  rst encountered the Inter- them. A regular contributor to www.o cer.com and net as adults still tend to view it as a source of Baby boomers believe virtual friends www.lawo cer.com, Val Van Brocklin is a information and a convenient means to get aren’t real friends. ey see narcissism and trainer and author whose trial work as a pros- things done. Search engines let us quickly a craving of attention in personal pro les ecutor received attention on ABC’s Primetime and easily look up information. We use the pages where younger people see connectivity Live, the Discovery Channel’s Justice Files and Internet to do online banking and shopping. and community. Although older generations in USA Today. For more information, visit ose who grew up with the Internet, wonder why anyone would want to post per- www.valvanbrocklin.com. use it primarily for leisure activities, such as sonal and o en mundane information on Copyright Elsevier Pubic Safety 2011. social networking, streaming video, down- the Internet, it’s as natural to Gen Y as mail- loading music and gaming. ing a Wish You Were Here postcard. ose who grew up social networking Jim Pasco, the executive director of the FOR MORE TRAINING AND have a di erent view of privacy than those National Fraternal Order of Police has been who didn’t. e latter aren’t as likely to see quoted as saying, “If you post something NEWS ARTICLES, VISIT: the appeal of posting personal, perhaps mun- on Facebook, it should be something you WWW.LAWOFFICER.COM. dane, information on a website such as Face- wouldn’t mind seeing in the newspaper.”

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 21 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION BUILDING A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY THE TORONTO POLICE SERVICE EXPERIENCE

By Meaghan Gray, Toronto Police Service

Until last year, the Toronto Police Service groundbreaking among law enforcement so the project team approached all identied (TPS) was in very much the same position colleagues and social media experts. Given sta early on to gauge their interest in and as many other large corporations in regards these successes, it was not surprising that existing knowledge of social media. to social media. Faced with an inux of new other areas of the TPS were starting to use e force also recognized that expand- employees who had grown up in the digital social media for a variety of reasons, includ- ing the use of social media was really about world and an increasing “consumer demand” ing gathering information and intelligence, expanding the force’s engagement with the to embrace new ways of communicating, engaging the community, and vetting po- community. For this reason, TPS solicited TPS began examining how to respond and tential employees. community feed- move forward in a more technologically ad- e use of social back to learn which vanced age. media was spread- THE FORCE RECOGNIZED THAT aspects of its exist- EXPANDING THE USE OF SOCIAL In September 2010, TPS took a major ing rapidly across ing social media ef- MEDIA WAS REALLY ABOUT step into the social media landscape: Deputy the force, but the forts were working EXPANDING ENGAGEMENT WITH Chief Peter Sloly established the develop- new initiatives were THE COMMUNITY. and which could be ment of a corporate social media strategy as being undertaken improved. a priority. is commitment provided TPS with no policies, e force sent with the support and resources it needed to training, corporate leadership or eective surveys to a random sample of the commu-

MEDIA assess where it stood with social media, then means of measuring or evaluating the eorts. nity, created a “Have Your Say” social media determine where it ultimately wanted to go, survey on its website, added social-media-fo- how it would get there, and how it would CHARTING A COURSE cused questions to the annual school surveys measure its progress. To begin laying the groundwork for the new distributed to students and teachers, and in- social media strategy, TPS established a proj- cluded social media questions in focus group EARLY DAYS ect team that enlisted the help of an expert discussions conducted in some of the city’s Before 2010, TPS had not fully embraced on law enforcement social media strategies. more vulnerable communities. the use of social media tools to complement One of the rst priorities was to create ese community surveys not only pro- its communications eorts. However, the a list of TPS units/divisions that would ben- vided clear direction on what the communi- force was lucky to have a few ocers who et from the use of social media and would ty expected of the TPS social media strategy, were driving TPS social media presence, and become its primary users. they also helped establish baselines by which they were having very positive experiences Twenty-seven units were identied, the force could measure the strategy as it doing so. including all front-line divisions and some evolved. In 2004, Cst. Scott Mills, a frontline units with clear public education and crime COVER ocer and school resource ocer in one of prevention mandates, such as public safety THE STRATEGY TODAY Toronto’s most densely populated and cul- and emergency management, communica- Aer 18 months of development work, TPS turally diverse areas, started experimenting tions, community mobilization and trac launched its social media strategy in August with social media chat rooms and forums as services. ese units encompass approxi- 2011. Key components of the strategy in- a means of engaging and building relation- mately 200 employees who would either clude a documented social media procedure, ships with students. Mills took those expe- create their own social media accounts or be which governs the use of social media as a riences with him when he went to work for active contributors to the corporate social TPS communications tool and provides a Crime Stoppers, again using social media media presence. framework by which members must seek ap- to build stronger bridges to the community. Within these units/divisions, specic proval to ocially use social media on behalf e result was a dramatic increase in the use positions, such as school resource ocers, of the force. of Crime Stoppers. crime prevention ocers, community re- e strategy also incorporates training In 2009, Sgt. Tim Burrows turned his sponse ocers and trac ocers, were iden- through a three-day social media course, passing interest in social media into a new tied as social media ambassadors. Members which was provided to all social media and improved way of engaging the public in these ambassador positions regularly com- ambassadors and will be oered on an as- in trac safety education and awareness by municate with the public on key issues and needed basis as TPS moves forward with the creating a dedicated social media presence on topics, which is why they are ideally placed strategy for 2012. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and through a to use social media as a means of community e course includes an overview of the trac blog that not only expanded his audi- engagement. TPS communications strategy and social ence but also started a much-needed conver- TPS recognized that buy-in from mem- media procedure, followed by two days of sation about important trac safety issues. bers was critical to the short-term develop- hands-on experience, with members learn- ese TPS eorts were widely seen as ment and long-term success of the project, ing how to use TPS-approved social media

22 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION tools, then creating their own social media LOOKING TO THE FUTURE to questions and concerns through mutually accounts and setting appropriate privacy Members have, for the most part, become respectful conversations, then the strategy levels ensure protection of personal informa- active contributors to the TPS social media will have met expectations. tion. strategy. e long-term eects of implementing A consistent corporate identity is part A few members have decided that using this corporate social media strategy have yet of the strategy as well. Common branding, social media is just not for them, and that’s to be seen, but the force remains optimistic. including naming conventions, biographical OK, too. Success so far is because the strategy has been details, terms-of-use disclaimers, and Crime e TPS social media strategy is not both a top-down and bottom-up eort. Stoppers links, is outlined and required for just about how many members of the public Management support and leadership, all TPS-related social media accounts. know about the use of social media; it focus- combined with the innovation and experi- Common branding ensures that all es on how social media makes those people ences of members who have dedicated them- TPS proles are recognizable to the public as feel about the police and their own safety. selves to the development of this project, professional representations of the force. If the force is able to eectively use so- make TPS well positioned to implement a TPS has also created a cyber-vetting cial media to push out crime-prevention tips, successful social media strategy that revolu- policy for new recruits that enables unit provide accurate and timely information tionizes the way the force co-operates, col- members to consider social media proles about legitimate threats to community safe- laborates and communicates with the public during candidate selection processes while ty, and engage the community by responding it serves. still respecting the rights of applicants. Deputy Chief Peter Sloly checks his smartphone in the Toronto Police College classroom where the Toronto Police Service launched its new website and social media strategy at a press conference streamed live on the Internet. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK COVER Each weekend, information on how to con- tact ocers working particular areas target- ing specic crimes is being posted into social media. Crime prevention tips — on how to send anonymous Crime Stoppers tips by phone, online, text and by smartphone appli- cations, in particular — are routinely posted on ocial Toronto Police Service Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts. A number of videos targeting crime pre- vention messages, including sexual assault awareness and prevention, appeals for miss- ing persons, especially vulnerable persons MEDIA with mental health and autism, have resulted in the safe return of missing persons. Lead- ing up to the 2010 G20 meeting in Toronto, TPS posted a series of social media videos and used its social media accounts to advise the public of public order plans and informa- tion. To track the eectiveness of the strategy and these initiatives, a new performance- measurement framework will allow TPS to determine how successful it has been in reaching its social media goals over the long term. Established goals include increasing community outreach and improving com- munity engagement, measured by monitor- ing the number of friends and followers on TPS social media sites. But it will take time to incorporate both a qualitative and quanti- tative measurement component. Crime statistics for violent crimes such as homicides are signicantly down, but it is too early to say if the use of social media has had an impact on this success. Cst. Scott Mills, Toronto Police Service

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 23 Q & A FROM TRAUMA TO TELEVISION TECHNICAL CONSULTANT WORKS TO CHANGE PERCEPTIONS OF PTSD

When Toronto Police Service Det. Const. Jim Bremner started his career in policing, he was drawn to the eort and discipline involved in the SWAT team. Within the organization, he quickly worked his way up the ladder. But in 1999, struggling with the emotional cost, Bremner hit rock bottom. e road to re- coery, he explains to Gazette writer Sigrid Forberg, has led him down some interesting paths, including the opportunity to act as the technical consultant for the CBS/CTV show, Flashpoint, as well as to co-author a book on PTSD in the police force, Crack in the Armor: a police ocer’s guide to surviving post trau- matic stress disorder.

WHAT’S THE GOAL OF YOUR BOOK? It’s more or less a self-help guide to other of-

MEDIA cers who are struggling with PTSD because there’s a number who struggle with it. It’s a topic that’s in the news or the paper at least twice a month, if not more. e numbers are high in the policing community. Police see a lot of trauma regardless of whether you’re a Gibson Michael (From left) Enrico Colantoni, Det. Const. Jim Bremner and Hugh Dillon on the set of the Canadian television tactical team or on trac duty — you’re still show, Flashpoint. seeing the results of violence on the body and humans just aren’t built to deal with that. mess. Ultimately, I was charged with im- every day, and there was enough there for the ere will be post-traumatic stress and when paired driving and then through that, I - core of the book so she helped me organize that’s not dealt with, it becomes a disorder. nally got into rehab and got sorted out. But it all. I got some insight from other people it took about four years for the wheels to to- that I had worked with and my wife as well. WAS THERE A SPECIFIC EVENT THAT tally fall o the cart. So other ocers and family members, when TRAUMATIZED YOU? they read the book, maybe they can spot for COVER It’s cumulative. In 1999, our team had four WHEN DID YOU START WRITING somebody in their lives that something’s not calls within the span of six months that were YOUR BOOK? right and have a better idea what it may be. investigated by the special investigations at started around 2005 through my re- unit, so there’s a lot of pressure around that. covery process. It seemed kind of pathetic to HOW DID YOU END UP GETTING And then three of those were shootings — me that nobody was talking about this issue INVOLVED WITH FLASHPOINT? two within two days. It was the eects of the and bringing some light to it. Just to write I got a call that they were interested in speak- many hundreds of other calls I’d been to but everybody o didn’t seem right. So I spoke ing to a police ocer who was involved in a those four in that short period of time had to Dr. Sean O’Brien, who I met through my shooting. I really didn’t know what I was an impact. recovery, and I said, would you be interested going to say. I went and I talked to them And we have things going on in our in coming up with a lecture or maybe to writ- and when I told them how my life had been home lives that we struggle to deal with as ing about this? And he was, so we started o turned upside down and derailed, they well — family members and things like that. writing a paper on it called PTSD and the couldn’t believe how open and honest I was It gets to a point where there’s only so much Police that’s since been publicized in a num- about it and it actually changed the direction one person can handle. ber of dierent law enforcement journals. of the show. And then we started doing some speaking It became more about the human cost of HOW DID YOU COME TO REALIZE engagements and it grew and grew. policing than the guns, the tactical gear and THAT YOU WERE TRAUMATIZED? At some point, it came to me that I had the adventure. And while there’s still a lot of I guess I knew there was something wrong enough material to put a book together. And that in the show, now you can see that each based on the fact that I started to drink more by that time, I was associated with Flashpoint ocer on that team, they deal with their and more until the point that I was passing and a writer there, Connie Adair, assisted me own issues. I think that’s probably what at- out. I was sleeping in the street — it was a in writing the book. In recovery, I journaled tracts people to the show.

24 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 Q & A

WHAT INTERESTED YOU ABOUT WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO SEE YOUR your life. To me, it should be like going to DOING TECHNICAL CONSULTING FOR OWN STORY ON TELEVISION? the dentist. A TELEVISION SHOW? Surreal at times and then there’s some sense You go every six months whether you It was all timing. ey wanted to know of accomplishment because that particu- have a cavity or not. And if we could look at about what it was like to be in a shooting lar show became a vehicle for speaking out mental health in the same manner, I think and I’d just gotten out of rehab. In 2004, I about post-traumatic stress disorder. We you’d have a lot healthier police service. wasn’t on the tactical teams anymore and so have to make it clear what a serious issue it is even though it was a television team, I was because the drinking, drugging, eating, not IF THERE WAS JUST ONE THING THAT still part of a team. And I guess it brought eating, gambling are ways of masking emo- YOU WANTED PEOPLE TO KNOW some closure and gave me some inspiration tional turmoil. For years, we’ve dealt with ABOUT TRAUMA AND PTSD, WHAT at the perfect time. It those as issues on their WOULD THAT BE? really happened in a own but they’re always For every ocer who dies in the line of duty, I TELL THEM HOW HARD IT IS serendipitous way. It linked to trauma. If between three and eight commit suicide. In TO PULL A TRIGGER, HOW wasn’t that I said, ‘I you don’t deal with the policing, we’re always looking for blame and HARD IT IS TO DEAL WITH want to go out and be THE AFTERMATH OF IT. trauma, the people go fault and negligence — all of these words im- a technical consultant back to those eating, ply intent. ere’s no intent in what we do: on a show,’ it sort of not eating, drinking, we are sent to a call and we resolve it as best just happened through the developing rela- drugging — they go back because the emo- we can with the tools that we have. e real- tionship I had with the creators of the show. tional turmoil still exists. ity of violence is that sometimes there is no And once we met the crew, obviously they e funny thing about policing is that alternative. COVER needed to learn how to hold the weapons we always talk about the psychological exam I think by accepting and making it a re- and where to stand, how to look and speak all our police ocers get at the beginning of ality in training and getting people to under- and so one thing just led to another. their career, but there’s none in between. You standing that, they’re going to have a dier- haven’t been a police ocer yet so for most ent feeling at the end of it. So that’s really my IN YOUR FEEDBACK THAT YOU people, you’ve had no trauma to deal with in goal, to change how we look at everything. PROVIDE, HOW REALISTIC DO YOU TRY TO MAKE IT? Enrico Colantoni as Sgt. Gregory Parker, David Paetkau as Sam Braddock and Amy Jo Johnson as Julianna ‘Jules’ In terms of the human component, as real as Callaghan in a scene from TV’s Flashpoint. real can be. I tell them how hard it is to pull a trigger, how hard it is to deal with the aer- math of it. I’ll reect on how things have af- fected my life with the actors so they have an understanding of what they’re involved in. It’s MEDIA not just something we come by easily, these are things that we struggle with morally and ethically during and well aer the event.

WITH SHOWS LIKE THIS, HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HUMANIZE THE OFFICERS? So important. It helps us tremendously in how we deal with the public. And you know, for some reason, you run away from it. But through the book and the television pro- gram, that’s really my goal to let the public see us as the people that we are and under- stand that we have the same things going on in our lives but we just have a particular job to do.

HAVE THEY EVER DRAWN ON YOUR EXPERIENCES FOR AN EPISODE? e Haunting the Barn episode in fact was more or less about my particular episode. It was obviously done in a dierent setting but if you watch carefully, there’s no doubt that it’s me. ThijsJan

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 25 EXTERNAL SUBMISSION FAR FROM REALITY TELEVISION WEBSITE EXPLORES IMPACT OF CSI EFFECT ON JURIES By Mike O’Berry, U.S. National Forensic Science Technology Center, Largo, Florida While there is no disputing the tremendous given jurors a heightened sense of awareness ways to address this possible bias.” popularity of forensic crime dramas, what about forensic evidence. Crime scene video footage, for example, has been debated is whether these popular As noted in the NIJ Journal article “ e is nearly always portrayed on television as television shows are aecting the decisions ‘CSI Eect’: Does It Really Exist,” weekly crystal clear. In fact, this type of evidence of juries in a real courtroom. Nielsen television ratings in 2006 indicate is nearly always grainy and dicult to deci- Many members of the criminal justice that 30 million people watched the original pher. To address this, prosecutors may need community claim that jurors’ perceptions of Las Vegas-based CSI on one night, 70 mil- to proactively acknowledge the limitations the need for specic forensic evidence is im- lion watched at least one of all three CSI of the evidence and appeal to the juror’s com- pacting the decisions they make in the court- shows — including its New York and Miami mon sense. room, a hypothesis frequently referred to as spin-os — and 40 million watched two DNA identication is portrayed on the CSI eect theory. e theory suggests other forensic dramas, Without a Trace and television as a simple click of the mouse the expectations of real-life jurors can be co- Cold Case. Collectively, viewership reached matching a suspect to a DNA sample. In re- loured by the oen-unrealistic portrayal of more than 100 million. ality, testing and comparison is much more forensic science on television. ose ratings also revealed that ve of complicated and time consuming. Drawing To help explain this theory and address the top 10 television programs that week a distinction between entertainment and the challenges it creates, the National Insti- were about scientic evidence in criminal reality may help to reeducate the jurors and tute of Justice (NIJ) has launched an inter- cases. e question for those studying the keep their expectations realistic.

MEDIA active website, developed by the National CSI eect becomes whether or not there is According to O’Neill, in many cases it Forensic Science Technology Center in the a corresponding increase in bias among the is now necessary and becoming more com- United States, dedicated to exploring the pool of potential jurors. mon for prosecutors and defense attorneys CSI eect theory and the myths and facts “Many viewers of popular crime shows to be even more thorough in jury selection surrounding forensic evidence presentation report for jury duty the next day with no and interviewing as well as when planning in the courtroom. concept of what actually takes place in a fo- forensics expert witness testimony. e website, targeted to ocers of the rensic laboratory,” says Robert O’Neill, U.S. O’Neill and other high-prole experts court, provides the latest research on the Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, from the prosecution, defense and the bench theory as well as dierent perspectives and one of the featured experts on the website. explain why it is important to continually observations from experts throughout the “As a result, they may have unrealistic expec- explain to jurors — not only in voir dire, the justice community. tations of the types of forensic evidence that jury selection process, but also in opening According to some, the volume of fo- should be presented. It is critical that judges statements, witness testimony and closing rensic science-related television dramas has and lawyers understand this and identify arguments — that the evidence collection and courtroom process doesn’t work like it COVER The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in the U.S. has launched an interactive website dedicated to exploring the does on television. CSI effect theory and the myths and facts surrounding forensic evidence presentation in the courtroom. e website also provides links to ad- ditional resources, including: Inestigative Uses of Technology: Devices, Tools, and Tech- niques; Investigations Involving the Internet and Computer Networks; What Every Law Enforcement Ocer Should Know About DNA Evidence; and Principles of Forensic DNA for Ocers of the Court. Not only will the website and these resources enable users to learn more about [Image: csi_eect.jpg] CSI eect theory and its potential impact on Cutline: TCredit: Courtesy U.S. juries, but they will also allow them to draw National Forensic Science Technology their own conclusions. Center For more information, visit http://proj- ects.nfstc.org/csieect

e opinions, ndings, and conclusions or rec- ommendations expressed in this website are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.

26 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 COVER STORY SCARED SAFE SHOCKING SEATBELT ADS TEACH DRIVERS TO BUCKLE UP By Mallory Procunier Popping up on billboards and bathroom walls in two of Alberta’s most populous cit- ies are disturbing images that drive home an important point — “If you’re not wearing your seatbelt, what’s holding you back?” ese images are part of the Alberta Occupant Restraint Program-sponsored (AORP) “Ugly” campaign that asks Alber- tans this precise question, and blatantly il- lustrates the potential consequences of not buckling up. Beginning on October 7, 2009, the “Ugly” campaign unveiled candid billboard images and radio announcements that tar- geted at-risk male drivers between the ages of COVER 18 and 45.

Two of the most shocking images cre- The “Ugly” ad campaign depicts shocking images that have received equal praise and criticism. ated for the campaign depict a man with a scratched and bloodied face, as well as a for Injury Control and Research at the Uni- positive eect. hearse with a “Child on Board” sticker in the versity of Alberta. “I know that the AORP has had a de- back window. Many initiatives were conducted in nite impact on increasing the amount of ese images have received equal praise the province over the years to determine people wearing seatbelts in the province and and criticism in both Edmonton and Cal- the number of people who use occupant re- the Ugly campaign was a big part of that,” gary. straints. Surveys concluded that just a few Stiles says. Some say the images are eective at driv- years ago, in 1999 only 62 per cent of people “Fatalities are going down, but there is ing the point home, yet some are stunned by in rural Alberta buckled up. In Alberta, still that select group of people who are killed the campaign’s realistic and graphic nature. where drivers are not given demerit points because they are not wearing their seatbelts.” “We knew it was hitting home with for not wearing a seatbelt, one of the last MEDIA some people because resorts for seatbelt en- INTERNATIONAL APPEAL of the feedback we forcement was through Not only did these campaign materials catch were receiving. Some SOME WERE TAKEN ABACK a direct educated cam- the eyes of Albertans, but they also received were taken aback by BY THE PHOTOS AND paign. international recognition. the photos and depic- DEPICTIONS OF THE BLOODY “ e public is more e “Hearse” campaign materials, in- tions [of the bloody FACE, YET WHAT IS SHOWN IS receptive and willing to cluding billboard ads and radio announce- face], yet what is ONE OF THE LESSER THINGS take ownership of their ments, were applauded at the 2010 annual shown is one of the THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU. behavior and of the en- International Safety Media Awards. AORP’s lesser things that can forcement campaign powerful messaging earned Canada the gold happen to you,” says Insp. James Stiles of when it is supported by communications,” award in audio as well as a silver award in Alberta RCMP’s Trac Services who is in- says Joyce McBean-Salvador, who also works print. volved in the campaign. on the campaign. is international award is particularly “To us, the positives outweigh the nega- “We had to combine public awareness important to AORP, as they show just how tives and we want people to be engaged in the with public education and follow up with far Canada has come in terms of safety cam- discussion.” enforcement.” paign messages. Since the campaign began, the AORP “When the campaign began several SEEING THE EFFECT has been monitoring the number of seatbelt- years ago, the concern from the front line of e “Ugly” campaign was only one part related tickets given out in the province, as health and enforcement in the province was of the AORP, a 14-year-old program that well as taking additional surveys and testing that we needed to have strong messages,” says brings together the expertise of law enforce- focus groups to determine its success. McBean-Salvador. ment agencies in the province, as well as Al- It has been measured that Alberta cur- “We can now say that we have nally berta Transportation, Alberta Health, Al- rently has a seatbelt-wearing rate of 92 per reached that goal of being able to compete berta Health Services, St. John Ambulance, cent, but the group doesn’t need to look at with other countries that have made huge Transport Canada and the Alberta Centre numbers to see the campaign is having a strides forward in trac safety.”

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 27 Synthetic cannabis

Mephedrone

DRUG CLASS: synthetic cathinone DRUG CLASS: Synthetic cannabinoid (intended (intended to mimic the eff ects of ecstasy) to mimic THC, the active drug in cannabis) CHEMICAL NAME: 4-methylmethcathinone CHEMICAL NAME: Several, but JWH-018, “Legal highs,” or (4-MMC) JWH-073 and CP 47,497-C8 are three substances developed MARKETED AS: “bath salts,” “plant food,” common compounds. “research chemical” MARKETED AS: “incense,” “potpourri,” to circumvent existing COMMON BRAND NAMES: Blue Silk, Ivory “herbal smoking blend” drug control legislation, Snow, Vanilla Sky, White Dove COMMON BRAND NAMES: Spice, K2, Genie are a concerning new COMPOSITION: fi ne powder, crystals or pills COMPOSITION: crushed herbs sprayed with that are swallowed, smoked, snorted or injected. chemical drugs. drug phenomenon, according to the 2011 THE FACTS: THE FACTS:

United Nations World • Fourth most popular street drug (after • Spurred 4,421 calls to U.S. poison centres Drug Report. Some of cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine) used in the between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2011 — up these substances are last month by respondents to a November from 2,915 calls for all of 2010 — 2009 online drug survey conducted by the according to statistics from the American marketed as products U.K.-based clubbing magazine Mixmag. Association of Poison Control Centers. that appear harmless — • Used, at least once, by 61 per cent of • Reported to produce a high up to four participants in a second Mixmag survey times stronger than that of marijuana (for with labels reading “not conducted in 2010. Seventy-fi ve per cent JWH-018 and JWH-073), according to drug for human consumption” of users reported taking mephedrone after information posted by Utah-based drug- — but they pack a the U.K. had legislatively banned the drug test provider Transmetron. on April 16, 2010. • Used by 12.6 per cent of U.K. respondents powerful punch and • Sold on at least 77 English-language in a 2009 online drug survey conducted by leave regulatory bodies Internet sites as of March 8–10, 2010, Mixmag. By comparison, 85.9 per cent of according to web analyses by the European respondents had used cannabis. struggling to play catch Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug • Linked to periods of extended psychosis up. Here’s a look at two Addiction. Nine of these sites still openly — lasting anywhere from fi ve days to such substances, now sold mephedrone on the day the U.K. three months — according to case studies legislatively banned the drug. conducted by the Naval Medical Center in controlled in several • Easier to obtain than cannabis, according to San Diego. countries, and their the 80 per cent of Northern Irish students • May present a higher potential for aged 14–15 who reported knowing where addiction than does cannabis, due to impact on the global to buy mephedrone in a May 2010 doctoral quicker development of tolerance among drug landscape. study by C. Meehan of the University users, according to the 2011 United of Ulster. Nations World Drug Report. • Recorded as the cause of death in two • Used, at least once, by seven per cent of fatalities in the west of Scotland between 1,157 students aged 15–18 surveyed in February and May 2010, according to Frankfurt, Germany, according to a 2009 toxicology reports completed by the study by the Centre for Drug Research at Forensic Medicine and Science unit at the Frankfurt University. University of Glasgow. • Implicated in approximately 50 seizures • Present in nine of more than 110,000 drug made by the Canada Border Services exhibits analyzed by Health Canada Agency (CBSA) and police forces across in 2010. Canada since 2008, according to a CBSA • Largest seizure in Europe: more than 130 media release issued on Jan. 27, 2011. kilograms — approximately 260,000 tab- lets — taken from a tabletting operation in the Netherlands in October 2009.

28 Gazette Gazette Vol. Vol. 73, 73, No. No. 3, 3, 2011 2011 EMERGING TRENDS WIPING CRIME OFF THE MAP MATHEMATICAL MODEL FORECASTS CRIME HOTSPOTS By Sigrid Forberg Like with earthquakes, crimes start with an model from an operational standpoint. place policing,” says Brantingham. “ e art initial incident, followed by a wave of aer- e SCPD launched their pilot project of policing includes experience, expertise shocks. in July 2011. Every day, Friend organizes and and intuition and clearly that is absolutely is principle is known as repeat victim- then inputs crime data into a computer da- essential. ese sorts of tools hopefully just ization. Six years ago, a group of researchers tabase that uses the algorithm to generate a produce an added value for police work.” at the University of California, Los Angeles map of the 10 most likely hotspots for crimes In addition to the LAPD, two dozen (UCLA) formed a team to build a crime for the day. other American law enforcement agencies model based on seismological models that ese maps are given to the patrol sta have contacted Friend as well as three major could eectively predict crime locations. at the beginning of their shis. When of- Canadian cities to express their interest in e team, comprised of two mathema- cers have free time, they’re asked to pass the program. ticians, a criminologist and an anthropolo- through the marked areas. e idea is that e research team will continue to work gist, represented two unique skill sets. e their presence will serve as a deterrent, pre- with the feedback from the pilots to perfect mathematicians brought a practical, simpli- venting crimes entirely. the model for greater use. ed perspective to the creation of the model, “ e criminologists didn’t believe that Repeat burglaries can’t be explained by fixed social while the social scientists brought an intui- there’s displacement of these types of crime,” or environmental factors, but rather what a burglar is tive, experiential understanding of human says Friend. “We understand that people ac- able to learn about a home during the crime. behaviour. tually will not travel a mile or six blocks to Dr. Jerey Brantingham, an associate commit the crime.” professor in the anthropology department Brantingham explains that several fac- at UCLA, says these dierences are what tors make a home or neighbourhood where helped perfect the model. someone has already committed a crime “We actually sort of struck a nice bal- more likely to be targeted again, but it’s not ance between a simple model, but with as simple as “good” versus “bad” neighbour- enough details that it was behaviourally re- hoods. alistic,” says Brantingham. “If you try and “Fixed environmental characteristics work with too many things and build it too do not explain repeat victimization,” says complex, then the math won’t work for you.” Brantingham. “Rather, it’s something that Dr. George Mohler, an assistant profes- the burglar learns about your house in the sor in the department of mathematics and act of committing the initial crime that computer science at Santa Clara University, brings them back to do it again.” joined the research team in 2008. While While this isn’t a new theory in crimi- searching key words in academic databases, nology, having a tool that puts it into practi- Mohler kept coming across seismological cal use is new. models. Friend says it’s too soon to determine e models for earthquakes, Mohler the success of the program, but he does note explains, have been around for decades and that burglaries in Santa Cruz were down 27 are very well-developed and specic, but they per cent in July 2011 compared to July 2010. didn’t necessarily t for crime data. He adds that one of the biggest benets “We were basically just guring out is that it doesn’t add more work to the al- what was the appropriate model for these ready busy patrol ocer’s day. patterns and in some sense, the class of mod- If they have time, they visit the marked els existed already,” says Mohler. “It was just spots on the map, but if they don’t, there’s no a matter of tailoring the existing ones to the onus. crime data.” Another advantage to the model is that e team tested the model’s accuracy it requires little to no adjusting to work any- using crime data from the Los Angeles Po- where. However, varying city sizes and popu- lice Department’s (LAPD) records dating lations may mean larger cities like L.A., who back several years. plan to roll it out soon, will have to adapt Zach Friend, a crime analyst for the their practices to best utilize the model. Santa Cruz police department (SCPD), Brantingham adds that this model is heard about the research and contacted not meant to take the place of real ocers. Mohler to see if the SCPD could test out the “We would never say this is going to re-

Gazette vol. 73, no. 3, 2011 29 BEST PRACTICE CURE FOR THE ‘SICK’ eDuCaTIon-BaSeD DISCIPLIne oFFeRS aLTeRnaTIve By Sgt. Albert Cobos, Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department, Education-Based Discipline Unit Conceived in 2008 and introduced to the also a ects those with whom they interact a disciplinary investigation is o ered the law enforcement community at Harvard on a daily basis. option of EBD. e o er of EBD to the em- University in 2009 by Sheri Leroy Baca of EBD is a program that proactively ad- ployee usually occurs at the point where the Los Angeles County Sheri ’s Department dresses these negative attitudes by o ering employee is being formally noti ed of the (LASD), Education-Based Discipline (EBD) behaviour focused training that is related to department’s intent to suspend them for a is an innovative concept that o ers an alter- the incident resulting in discipline. speci c number of days. native to the traditional discipline process It is at this point of the discipline pro- used by many law enforcement agencies in IMPLEMENTATION cess where the employee will be o ered an the United States. e LASD implemented EBD over a EBD proposal that details what classes and/ Under the former discipline model of 16-month period between January 2008 and or independent study options the employee the LASD, the largest sheri ’s department April 2009 to o er an optional alternative will be required to complete in lieu of receiv- in the world and third largest local polic- to employees who were facing an unpaid sus- ing an unpaid suspension. ing agency in the U.S., sheri deputies and pension as a result of a disciplinary investiga- When the EBD proposal is o ered, civilian sta received discipline in the form tion. the employee has three options to consider. of written reprimands, unpaid suspensions, For the LASD, there were a variety of With the  rst option, an employee can reject demotions, or terminations. stakeholders that had an interest in the im- the EBD proposal and accept the suspen- e desire to o er an alternative to the plementation of EBD. e process had to be sion. e second option occurs when the traditional discipline process of adminis- presented to executive sta members, the Of- employee  les a grievance regarding the dis- tering unpaid suspensions to employees is  ce of Independent Review, Internal A airs, cipline being imposed; again, all employee rooted in Baca’s desire to have employees Employee Relations/A airs and the three protections remain intact. e third option complete the discipline process and remain unions that represent the majority of people is the voluntary acceptance of the EBD pro- viable employees who continue to contribute employed by the LASD. And since EBD was posal where the employee agrees to ful ll the to the department and its mission. a new program that had not been used by any requirements of the proposal. “Employees are led to the muddy waters other policing agency in the United States, Once an employee agrees to EBD in lieu of punitive discipline and made to drink, e ectively communicating the basic tenets of of an unpaid suspension, the employee has a and then they get sick,” says Baca, who is EBD was important. 12-month period to satisfy the requirements responsible for the LASD’s 18,000 sworn/ But because EBD was being presented of the agreement. e EBD settlement agree- civilian employees that serve and protect the in a relatively transparent manner and was ment states that the employee waives future approximately four million people. “Some proposed as an additional option for employ- grievances regarding this particular disci- are sick for the moment, and for some it takes ees facing an unpaid suspension — ensuring pline process in addition to agreeing to sat- a lifetime to cure.” employee protections remained intact — the isfy all of its requirements. Additionally, if Baca understands that discipline will EBD Unit, which consists of one lieutenant, an employee fails to satisfy the requirements continue to be a component of any organiza- one sergeant and two clerks, had to overcome of the EBD settlement agreement, the entire tion. But some disciplined employees become very few obstacles to successfully implement unpaid suspension originally proposed to “sick” a er the discipline process. ese em- the new process. the employee will be imposed. ployees remain with the organization and their commitment to the department may EBD IN PRACTICE be negatively a ected by the discipline they e EBD process is relatively simple. have received. Any employee who is facing Most law enforcement o cers, par- an unpaid suspension ticularly supervisors, have experienced some resulting from negative attitudes that disciplined employees bring to shi brie ngs, training sessions and the work environment. ese negative attitudes not only in uence the individual o cer that has been disciplined, but it

30 BEST PRACTICE

e EBD settlement agreement states that the majority of the classes and/or inde- EBD CROSS COUNTRY pendent study requirements are to be con- Agencies within the U.S. that have implemented portions of the EBD program or are ducted while on duty. ere are exceptions seriously considering implementing include: for alcohol and domestic violence o enses where an employee would be required to at- ■ California Highway Patrol ■ Los Angeles City Fire Department, tend counseling sessions. ■ Border Patrol, Department of Home- California Due to the nature of counseling sessions land Security ■ Newport News Police Department, being o ered at a variety of hours during the ■ Sacramento Police Department, Virginia day, it would be di cult have the employee California ■ Clay County Sheriff ’s offi ce, Florida attend them in an on-duty capacity. But for ■ Canton Police Department, Ohio ■ Muskogee Police Department, all other class requirements, the employee at- ■ Los Angeles Airport Police, California Oklahoma tends them while on duty. ■ Las Vegas Metropolitan Police De- ■ Kennebec County Sheriff ’s offi ce, e formula used by the LASD to o set partment, Nevada Maine suspension days with EBD requirements is a ■ Los Angeles County District Attor- ■ Seattle Police Department, Wash- simple one. For every four hours of training ney’s offi ce, California ington that an employee receives in an EBD course/ ■ Johnson County Sheriff Department, ■ Dallas Police Department, Texas class, the employee will receive one EBD Colorado ■ Cass County Sheriff ’s offi ce, north credit that will o set one day of an unpaid Dakota suspension. For example, an employee that receives a 10-day suspension will need to at- tend  ve eight-hour classes to o set the un- violation in which an employee may be in- bilities. paid suspension. volved, are described by the following behav- As the foundational class for any EBD Additionally, an employee may be given ior characteristics: settlement agreement, the class has proven more training hours than is needed to o - to be a very successful component of the pro- set the number of unpaid suspension days ■ problem solving and self-management; gram. imposed. Having an employee attend more ■ skill enhancement; According to a sampling of a survey classes than needed to o set unpaid suspen- ■ boundary recognition; of approximately 300 employees, a major- sion days is acceptable since the employee ■ substance misuse/abuse awareness; ity agreed that they would make better de- is voluntarily entering the EBD settlement ■ character reinforcement; and cisions as a result of the class and that they agreement. ■ external factors would recommend it and EBD to others con- Selecting classes and/or independent sidering it as an option. study options for an EBD settlement agree- Each of the behavior characteristics has ment is an easy process. e unit commander several recommended classes or training op- EXPANSION of the disciplined employee has a menu of tions available. ere are approximately 35 agencies using options that relates to the speci c o ense or EBD throughout the U.S., while several oth- policy violation for which the employee is LIFE CLASS ers have implemented portions of the pro- involved. One requirement for all EBD settlement gram or are seriously considering it. Developed by a police psychologist with agreements mandates that an employee must And as the interest in EBD continues more than 20 years experience in the  eld, attend a Lieutenants’ Interactive Forum for to grow, the LASD is committed to assist- these options, which apply to every policy Education (LIFE) class, which focuses on ing agencies interested in implementing the decision-making. rough interactive group program. activities, participants are exposed to the Any public service agency is welcome to notion that decision-making is a contact the EBD Unit, which o ers a variety process that is in uenced by of information on the program. their needs, values and responsi- FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT [email protected]

31 ON THE LEADING EDGE LATEST RESEARCH IN LAW ENFORCEMENT e following are excerpts  om recent research A frequent type of interaction involved be- able to colleges, employers and child por- related to justice and law enforcement. To ing transported (e.g., to hospital or to jail) by nography tra ckers; and that youth may be access the full reports, please visit the website a police o cer. charged with serious sex crimes and placed links at the bottom of each summary. Other common interactions included on lifelong sex o ender registries for impul- mental health crises, being stopped for al- sive teenage indiscretions. A STUDY OF HOW PEOPLE WITH MEN- leged criminal behaviour and requesting as- To help promote an objective discussion TAL ILLNESS PERCEIVE AND INTER- sistance as a victim of crime. of the problem and to develop strategies to ACT WITH THE POLICE Despite an expressed lack of con dence minimize its dangers and harm, we have re- in the abilities of the police, 85 per cent of in- viewed approximately 550 sexting cases that By Dr. Johann Brink et al. for the Mental terview participants perceived that they were came to (U.S.) law enforcement attention in Health Commission of Canada treated in a procedurally fair manner by the 2008 and 2009 to develop an evidence-based police o cer(s) who were involved in their typology. ough a considerable body of research ex- most recent interaction. e cases all involved “youth-produced ists concerning the perceptions of police Items that were less frequently endorsed sexual images,” de ned as images of minors o cers towards people with mental illness, by participants concerned whether they un- created by minors that could qualify as child there is a dearth of research focusing spe- derstood, or were told by the o cer(s), what pornography under applicable criminal stat- ci cally on the perceptions that people with was happening to them during the interac- utes. mental illness hold toward the police. tion, or what would happen to them a er the e aim of the typology is to show the e research described within this re- interaction. diversity of sexting incidents and to organize port is focused on addressing this knowledge Most interview participants thought it them in a way that helps law enforcement, gap. would be helpful for a police o cer to have school o cials, parents and others confront- e study was carried out in British Co- access to background information about a ed with sexting incidents to di erentiate lumbia (B.C.), Canada, from August 2009 person with mental illness prior to arriving among and assess such cases. to March 2011. on the scene with them. We determined that cases could be e study participants comprised peo- Ninety per cent of interview partici- broadly divided into two categories, which ple who live with schizophrenia, schizoaf- pants felt that it was “very” or “extremely” we termed “aggravated” and “experimental.” fective disorder, other psychosis or bipolar important to train police o cers to handle Aggravated incidents involved additional disorder and have had direct contact with situations that involve people with mental criminal or abusive elements beyond the the police. illness. creation, sending or possession of youth- Sixty people participated in interviews, produced sexual images. ese additional 244 completed surveys, and 28 took part in elements included: focus groups. TO ACCESS THE FULL A review of the research literature re- REPORT, PLEASE VISIT: 1. adults soliciting sexual images from vealed several interesting trends regarding MENTALHEALTH minors, other instances of minors how people with mental illness have per- COMMISSION.CA sending images to adults, or other illegal ceived and interacted with the police in oth- adult involvement; or er jurisdictions. 2. criminal or abusive behaviour by For example, two in  ve people with SEXTING: A TYPOLOGY minors such as sexual abuse, extortion, mental illness have been arrested in their deception or threats; malicious conduct lifetime, three in 10 people with mental ill- By Janis Wolak and David Finkelhor for arising from interpersonal con icts; or ness have had the police involved in their the Crimes Against Children Research creation or sending of images without care pathway, and one in 20 police dispatch- Center the knowledge or against the will of es or encounters involve people with mental minors who were pictured. health problems. e term “sexting” has been used in the e survey results suggest that people media and by researchers to refer to sexual In experimental incidents, by contrast, youth with mental illness in B.C. tend to hold a less communications with content that includes created and sent sexual images without any positive attitude, in comparison to the general both pictures and text messages, sent using of these additional elements. public, toward the police. cellphones and other electronic media. ere was no criminal behaviour be- In contrast to the 76 per cent of the gen- Sexting has prompted considerable wor- yond the creation or sending of images, no eral public in B.C. that endorsed con dence ry and controversy. apparent malice and no lack of willing par- in the police, only a slight majority of partici- ere is concern that young people are ticipation by youth who were pictured. pants in our survey indicated that they had adding unknowingly to the already daunting Generally speaking, in these Experi- con dence in the police. supply of illegal online child pornography; mental episodes, youth took pictures of Numerous and recent contacts with the that youth may be compromising futures themselves to send to established boyfriends police were common among the participants. with images that could be permanently avail- or girlfriends, to create romantic interest

32 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 ON THE LEADING EDGE in other youth, or for attention-seeking or other following the growth of industry lob- countries examined. Rather, piracy is other reasons that did not appear to involve bies that have reshaped laws and law enforce- part of the daily media practices of large elements of the aggravated cases. ment around copyright protection. and growing portions of the population. e most important implication of e report argues that these e orts have ■ Changing the law is easy. Changing the this analysis is the recognition that youth- largely failed, and that the problem of piracy practice is hard. Industry lobbies have produced images are made and disseminated is better conceived as a failure of a ordable been very successful at changing laws to under a wide range of circumstances. It is access to media in legal markets. criminalize these practices, but largely crucial that no single stereotype about these unsuccessful at getting governments cases be allowed to predominate in popular MAJOR FINDINGS to apply them. ere is, the authors thinking or in uence public policy. argue, no realistic way to reconcile mass ■ Prices are too high. High prices for enforcement and due process, especially media goods, low incomes and cheap in countries with severely overburdened TO ACCESS THE FULL digital technologies are the main legal systems. REPORT, PLEASE VISIT: ingredients of global media piracy. ■ Criminals can’t compete with free. e UNH.EDU/CCRC/ Relative to local incomes in Brazil, study  nds no systematic links between Russia or South Africa, the retail price media piracy and organized crime of a CD, DVD or copy of Microso or terrorism in any of the countries MEDIA PIRACY IN EMERGING O ce is  ve to 10 times higher than examined. Today, commercial pirates ECONOMIES in the U.S. or Europe. Legal media and transnational smugglers face the markets are correspondingly tiny and same dilemma as the legal industry: By Joe Karaganis et al. for the Social underdeveloped. how to compete with free. Science Research Council ■ Competition is good. e chief ■ Enforcement hasn’t worked. A er a predictor of low prices in legal media decade of ramped up enforcement, Media Piracy in Emerging Economies is the markets is the presence of strong the authors can  nd no impact on the  rst independent, large-scale study of music, domestic companies that compete overall supply of pirated goods.  lm and so ware piracy in emerging econo- for local audiences and consumers. In mies, with a focus on Brazil, India, Russia, the developing world, where global South Africa, Mexico and Bolivia.  lm, music and so ware companies TO ACCESS THE FULL Based on three years of work by some 35 dominate the market, such conditions REPORT, PLEASE VISIT: researchers, the study tells two overarching are largely absent. PIRACY.SSRC.ORG/ stories: one tracing the explosive growth of ■ Antipiracy education has failed. e piracy as digital technologies became cheap authors  nd no signi cant stigma THE-REPORT/ and ubiquitous around the world, and an- attached to piracy in any of the

A sea of pirated CDs, DVDs and video tapes moments before destruction.

Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 33 FROM OUR PARTNERS CALL FOR CHANGE QUESTIONING CANADIAN INTERVIEWING TRAINING AND PRACTICE By Cst. Michael Stinson, Greater Sudbury Police Service ere has been a lot of interest in the last important investigative interviews are in BRITISH MODEL couple of years regarding the British PEACE investigations it is virtually ignored training Canadian police can, however, learn from model of investigative interviewing and its wise. the British PEACE model, which was de- presence in Canada. ere is very little done at the recruit veloped in the United Kingdom as an in- e article, “Reforming Investigative level. ose ocers that eventually receive vestigative interview framework for police. Interviewing in Canada,” which appeared in training are usually at the detective rank and Aer examining miscarriages of justice that the Canadian Journal of Criminology and have had several years of learning this criti- had occurred in England and Wales, new Criminal Justice in April 2010, provided cal skill on the job, usually from more senior legislation contained in the 1984 Police and a snapshot of current Canadian practices, members who themselves have learned it Criminal Evidence Act required changes as highlighted shortcomings to current train- the same way. Arguably, this is not the best to how police conducted investigative inter- ing, described the PEACE model and its training method. views. benets and proposed reforms to improve ere have been judicial inquiries in PEACE stands for preparation and and professionalize the role of the investiga- Canada that have described poor interview- planning; engage and explain; account clari- tive interviewer. ing practices as problematic — yet little has cation and challenge; closure and nally is article will examine these recom- changed. evaluation. e basic function of the PEACE mendations as they will not only prove to be e cognitive interview, for example, model is to develop interviewing skills and of interest to Canadian investigators but will is considered the most productive interview this skill development begins at the recruit also highlight what has been missing from technique with regards to victims and wit- level. the discussion to date. nesses and it is not widely taught at the start e rst recommendation in “Reform- of an ocer’s career, if at all. ing Investigative Interviewing in Canada,” CURRENT CANADIAN SITUATION While some police services may super- calls for Canadian police to have a standard- Current interviewing practices in Canada vise and evaluate interviews, this is likely ized investigative interview training pro- can be described as cursory at best. Investi- done more so for suspects and the accused gram, much like that in the U.K. gative interviewing is, without a doubt, one than for witnesses. And this is far more likely According to the U.K. National Polic- of the most important functions of policing. for major crimes than a standard, across-the ing Improvement Agency (NPIA) brieng Despite this acknowledgement of just how board activity. paper on its national investigative interview-

Canadian police can learn from the PEACE model of investigative interviewing used by police in the United Kingdom.

34 Gazette Vol. 73, No. 3, 2011 FROM OUR PARTNERS ing strategy, all ocers are trained to be able Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ca- terviewers are focusing on getting accurate to interview victims, witnesses and suspects nadian Police Association to support a stan- and reliable information from interviewees for priority and volume investigations. In- dard investigative interview program cen- and away from confessions. Almost 6,500 terview training begins at the recruit level tered around the PEACE model. Although members have been trained at the basic level and is reinforced through refresher courses. coming to a consensus on a national stan- and they recognize the value of both the En- Interviews are reviewed and evaluated and dard interview proto- hanced Cognitive In- feedback is provided. col could be dicult, terview technique and ere are higher levels of training for the potential for such INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWING research into investi- IS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, ONE detectives who may proceed to a specialist a positive impact on gative interviewing. OF THE MOST IMPORTANT role (witness, suspect or both) and then may our justice system is at ere were grow- FUNCTIONS OF POLICING. go on to be interview advisors. In order to least worth the debate. ing pains to be sure, qualify for advanced training every ocer International experts but they had assis- must demonstrate a prociency at their cur- may be able to assist in this regard. tance from British experts and now have rent level and submit interviews as evidence their own experts in the eld of investigative of their skill level. Ocers would have to ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS interviewing. Considering the size of their have had interviewed a large number of Finally, the appeal for police and academics police service and the logistics involved, the people and applied lessons learned as well as to work together to improve interviewing New Zealand Police have done an incredible feedback from evaluations. practices is attractive. It’s been done in the job at implementing a complete interview Advanced training classes are small and United States and when that happened the training schedule. interviewers are expected to achieve a certain Cognitive Interview was born. Globally, the level of expertise in order to pass the course. cognitive interview is perceived to be the CONCLUSION ese advanced course trainees conduct sev- best interview technique for interviewing Where does that leave Canada? We have an eral interviews over a number of weeks and witnesses and victims. incredible opportunity to learn from other they are expected to improve. ey will be e PEACE framework was devel- Commonwealth countries about how they evaluated by instructors and peers alike and oped when psychologists and police ocers implemented the PEACE model to suit their will be able to watch others as they apply worked together and it, too, is seen as inter- domestic needs. England, Wales and New their training. It is an immersive training national best practice. With the assistance of Zealand have recognized a need for change. environment where ocers learn by doing. researchers, police interview training could And where the U.K. was legislated to shi Not every ocer will pass and those who do be based on scientically validated material. their culture, the New Zealand police did so are expected to maintain a high skill level in Police services could benet from hav- voluntarily, albeit with some obstacles. the eld. ing their interviews evaluated and studied. We have seen the beginnings of a shi is could assist with program development here in Canada. e Royal Newfoundland DEDICATED TRAINING UNITS delivery and foster international relation- Constabulary is well on its way with respect e article’s second recommendation calls ships with other researchers and practitio- to implementation of international best for Canadian police services to create dedi- ners. practice. It has arguably developed the rst cated investigative interviewing training exhaustive investigative interview training units. is ties in with the standardized NEW ZEALAND EXPERIENCE program in Canada. And it has taken large training program. While it may not be re- e New Zealand Police conducted an as- strides to professionalize the role of the in- alistic for smaller services to have such units sessment of their training standards and a vestigative interviewer, much like the British or trainers they could enter into agreements review of investigative interview training PEACE model emphasizes interviewer de- or protocols with larger services to provide available worldwide. As far as their training velopment as one of its core values. training. status was concerned, they had some of the Canadian police can learn and benet ese trainers would receive specialized same issues we currently have in Canada — a from the Newfoundland, British and New training in providing the standard interview lack of a national standard, a lack of training Zealand experiences. program including the more advanced cours- and guidance. A national training standard could es. Every member of a police service would e review of the investigative inter- involve training every police ocer in the receive the basic course and detectives would view models compared the pros and cons of country to a basic and adequate level of in- receive the advanced training. them all. From this comprehensive review terviewing skill. We could incorporate a e immediate costs would be absorbed they decided that the British PEACE model training regimen that would include using up front but considering how much it costs was what they needed for their national po- international best practices and the use of re- to send ocers to various interview courses, lice service. search. We could promote research partner- including hotels and meals, it makes eco- In brief, it was recommended that they ships to develop our own Canadian experts nomic sense to have this training in-house. adopt ethical principles, a national training to help deliver the best progressive standards program, implement investigative interview- that we can. FINDING A CONSENSUS ing units and a move away from confessions. Other countries have made the move to e article’s third and very likely toughest at was near the end of 2007. PEACE and, even if you disagree, it’s at least recommendation called for the Canadian By June 2010 they have seen a shi. In- worth asking about.

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