NCJ Number
204631
Date Published
September 2002
Length
41 pages
Annotation
This report provides findings from a feasibility study conducted to determine the possibility of collecting police-level data on organized crime in Canada.
Abstract
While organized crime in Canada has received much investigatory attention, there has not been a focus on measuring the volume and extent of organized criminal activity in Canada. As such, the feasibility study had three main objectives: (1) to consult on the possibility of collecting police-level data on organized crime; (2) to identify challenges to the compilation of organized crime data by law enforcement agencies; and (3) to recommend feasible options for data collection. The report is organized into five chapters following the brief introduction which summarizes the objectives and background of the study. Chapter 1 focuses on the purpose of the site visit consultations, which was to assess the feasibility of collecting police-reported information on organized criminal activities. Consultations were conducted with 11 law enforcement agencies and topics of discussion included working definitions of organized crime, data accessibility, limitations, and respondent burden. Chapter 2 reports the results from the site visits. Overall, a significant problem was noted in the wide array of accepted definitions of organized crime. One of the main issues is whether street gangs or youth gangs should be included under the category of organized criminal groups. Other findings indicated that it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between organized crime groups; intelligence data collected by law enforcement agencies are stored in qualitative, rather than quantitative form, making statistical analysis problematic; the burden to intelligence personnel was considered “major” when faced with the possibility of completing an annual survey on organized crime; and police intelligence files often contain unsubstantiated or possibly inaccurate information. Chapter 3 presents a brief description of the lessons learned concerning the challenges of collecting police-level data on organized crime. Challenges ranged from the need for standard definitions and guidelines to the limitations of police information systems. Chapter 4 offers recommendations for short and long-term data collection options. The main short-term recommendation was to continue with special studies concerning organized criminal groups, while the main long-term recommendation was to amend the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR2) by adding a variable identifying whether a criminal incident is suspected to be connected to organized crime. Chapter 5 offers a brief conclusion. Appendix