Commissioner's Directive

Policy Bulletin 258

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POLICY OBJECTIVE

1. To ensure that consistent and accurate information is recorded and reported in a timely manner to Security Operations at Regional Headquarters and Security Operations at National Headquarters.

AUTHORITIES

2. Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), sections 3, 4, 19 to 21, 23 to 27, 53 and 97

Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations (CCRR), paragraphs 4 (b) and (c), subsections 59 (1) to (8), sections 91 and 94

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Privacy Act, paragraph 8 (2) (e) and sections 19 to 28

Inquiries Act R.S., c I-13, section 1

Treasury Board Policy on Information Management

Government Security Policy

Canada Labour Code, sections 127 and 128

CROSS-REFERENCES

3. CD 041 - Incident Investigations

CD 225 - Electronic Data Processing Security

CD 226 - Use Of Electronic Networks

CD 253 - Employee Assistance Program

CD 567 - Management of Security Incidents

CD 567-1 - Use of Force

CD 567-5 - Use of Firearms

CD 568 - Management of Security Information

CD 568-2 - Recording of Preventive Security Information

CD 568-4 - Preservation of Crime Scenes and Evidence

CD 600 - Management of Emergencies

Employee Protection Program Guidelines

Guidelines to complete form CSC/SCC 1281E - Situation Report

DEFINITION

FOR THE PURPOSE OF RECORDING AND REPORTING SECURITY INCIDENTS (see Annex A for detailed definitions)

4. Security incident:

1. any real or suspected illegal, unauthorized or disruptive activity or situation that may affect the safety of individuals, the community or the security of the institution;
2. any incident that requires activation of the Institutional Crisis Information Centre; or
3. any other incident, which, by its nature, could attract adverse media attention.

PRINCIPLES

5. The management of security information will be based on the following principles:

1. procedures related to this policy will be carried out in order to promote a safe and secure environment with fairness and consistency, while respecting the rule of law;
2. accurate, complete and timely information will be used for decision making in matters relating to the safety and security of staff, offenders and the public;
3. communication of security information will be done in an effective, clear and timely manner with those individuals who have a need to know; and
4. security procedures and practices completed in support of this directive will be respectful to both the dignity and privacy of the individual.

RESPONSIBILITIES

6. The Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs, will establish procedures for the regions to report incidents to National Headquarters.

7. The Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs, will inform the Assistant Commissioner, Public Affairs and Parliamentary Relations, of security incidents to ensure an appropriate response to the media and liaison with communications in the Minister's Office if applicable.

8. The Director General, Security, will ensure that a Duty Officer for National Headquarters (1-613-233-8254) is available during all non-working hours [normally from 16:00 to 08:00 hours (EST) Monday through Friday], and 24 hours a day during weekends and holidays.

9. The Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Institutional Operations, will ensure that procedures are in place concerning the requirements of operational units to report incidents to Regional Headquarters.

10. The Institutional Head or District Director will ensure that the appropriate staff members are aware of the requirements and procedures for reporting incidents to National and Regional Headquarters.

11. The Director General, Security, the Regional Deputy Commissioner and the Institutional Head or District Director will ensure that a Duty Officer is available at all times to facilitate the incident reporting process.

12. The District Director will ensure that all community incidents are reported to Regional and National Headquarters in a timely manner, including incidents where no particular offender is involved (i.e. community security and staff safety related incidents that do not involve an identifiable offender).

13. Institutional Heads and District Directors as well as Regional and National Headquarters are to ensure that all staff contact information is current, accurate and readily available.

14. The Institutional Head or his/her delegate will ensure that Correctional Officers are briefed on security related issues on a mandatory daily basis. This can be done through various methods such as verbal or written briefings.

15. All staff, volunteers, contractors as well as Commissionaires will use the Officer's Statement/Observation Report (CSC/SCC 0875) and/or Casework Records to provide a statement of their involvement in any security related incident.

16. To ensure the integrity of the reports, all staff involved in an incident will prepare and sign their own report with no collaboration with others and submit it to the supervisor for review and sign off.

17. The report will be completed prior to the staff member leaving the facility. If circumstances do not allow the staff member to submit an Officer's Statement/Observation Report (CSC/SCC 0875) prior to leaving the facility, one will be completed immediately upon his or her return to work.

18. The Correctional Manager or Supervisor will quality control the report unless this individual was involved in the incident, in which case a person of higher rank will perform the task.

19. The Chief, Health Services or his/her delegate will classify the severity of any inmate injury as either non-serious bodily injury or serious bodily injury.

20. National Headquarters Health Services have the authority to reclassify injuries based on information received from the field, including documentation and videotaped evidence, and will advise the operational unit that the injury has been reclassified in order for the appropriate institutional authority to update it in the Offender Management System (OMS).

21. The Security Branch at National Headquarters will monitor the Security Incident Reports daily and include any reports having an impact on the safety and security of inmates/offenders, staff and the public in the daily SITREP.

PROCEDURES

Immediate Notification of Incidents to National Headquarters (Annex B)

22. The incidents listed in Annex B will be reported immediately by telephone to the Regional Duty Officer who will in turn notify the National Headquarters Duty Officer.

23. A Duty Officer Report (CSC/SCC 1004) will also be completed by the Regional Duty Officer and sent via e-mail to the GEN-NHQ Incident-Reporting Officer account.

24. An OMS Incident Report or Sensational Incident Report will be completed by the operational unit within one (1) working day and share-printed to Security Operations at Regional Headquarters and National Headquarters.

Incidents to be Reported Within One (1) Working Day (Annex C)

25. All incidents listed in Annex C will be reported to Security Operations at Regional Headquarters and National Headquarters within one (1) working day.

26. These incidents will be reported via e-mail to the GEN-NHQ Incident Reporting Officer account, by fax or via the share-printing of the OMS Incident Report or Sensational Incident Report.

Incidents to be Reported Within Three (3) Working Days (Annex D)

27. All incidents listed in Annex D will be reported to Security Operations at Regional Headquarters and National Headquarters within three (3) working days.

28. The Incident Reports will be entered in OMS and share-printed to Security Operations at Regional Headquarters and National Headquarters.

Other Reportable Incidents

29. Incidents not identified in Annexes B, C and D will be entered in OMS within three (3) working days. These incidents do not need to be reported to Security Operations at National Headquarters, or share-printed.

Reporting of Serious Bodily Injuries

30. As per section 19 of the CCRA, CSC will investigate all serious bodily injuries.

31. The Chief, Health Services or his/her delegate will notify the Institutional Head or his/her delegate when an injury is classified as a serious bodily injury and provide the supporting criteria for the classification. In the case of an offender residing in a community-based residential facility (CBRF), the District Director or his/her delegate will gather as much information as possible from the health care professional in the community to determine if the injury falls within the definition of a serious bodily injury as described in Annex A. If in doubt, the District Director or his/her delegate will consult with the Regional Director, Health Services, in assessing and determining a serious bodily injury.

32. All injuries classified as serious bodily injury will be reported to Security Operations at National Headquarters. (Refer to Annexes B, C and D to determine when the incident needs to be reported.)

33. If the classification of the severity of the injury increases from what was initially reported, the Institutional Head or his/her delegate will notify the Institutional Security Intelligence Officer (or the person performing that function) to update the Incident Report, by adding the following statement:

"The injury sustained by this inmate meets the definition of a serious bodily injury and an investigation pursuant to section 19 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act is required."

34. In the case of an offender residing in a community-based residential facility, the increase of the severity of the injury will be updated in a Sensational Incident Report.

35. If the classification of the severity of the injury decreases from what was initially reported, the Institutional Head/District Director or his/her delegate will notify the Security Intelligence Officer (or the person performing that function in the community).

36. In addition to the Incident Report/Sensational Incident Report update, the type of injury will be changed in the original Incident Report/Sensational Incident Report and the National Headquarters Incident Reporting Officer will be notified via e-mail.

37. Where an initial report of serious bodily injury is subsequently not supported by a review performed by Health Services, it will be amended in OMS to reflect a non-serious bodily injury based on the advice received.

Commissioner,

Original signed by:
Don Head

Annex A

DEFINITIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF REPORTING SECURITY INCIDENTS

Incident	Definition	Institutional Reporting	Community Reporting
Accident	An act resulting in a physical injury which cannot be attributed to an altercation or any other type of assaultive behaviour.	X	X
Armed robbery	A robbery committed by an offender armed with a weapon or imitation thereof.		X
Arson	The criminal act of deliberately setting fire.		X
Assault on staff	An inmate/offender commits an assault when he or she initiates and exerts physical force, with or without a weapon, (instigator) against a staff member/volunteer/contractor (victim).	X	X
Assault on inmate/offender	An inmate/offender commits an assault when he or she initiates and exerts physical force, with or without a weapon, (instigator) against another inmate/offender (victim).	X	X
Attempted murder	An act for which there is evidence that the instigator intended to kill the victim.		X
Confinement	A non-routine situation which results in partial suspension of activities/privileges and the inmates are confined to a specific area. (This excludes Community Correctional Centres).	X
Death – foul play	Death involving apparent signs of trauma.		X
Death – natural causes	The cessation of life as a result of a pre-existing medical condition.	X	X
Death – overdose	The cessation of life as a result of the unintentional consumption of a lethal dose of a substance without the intent to commit suicide.	X	X
Death – police intervention	Intervention by police which results in death.		X
Death – unknown causes	The cessation of life in which the cause of death has yet to be determined.	X	X
Disciplinary problems	An inmate’s refusal to follow staff orders and/or disrespectful behaviour by an inmate towards any person.	X
Escape attempt	Where an inmate attempts to leave the institution through unauthorized or illegal ways but is unsuccessful. (This excludes Community Correctional Centres.)	X
Escape from CSC escort	Unlawful departure of an inmate while under CSC supervision outside the perimeter of the institution.	X
Escape from an institution	Unlawful departure of an inmate from the confines or property of an institution, excluding Community Correctional Centres.	X
Escape other custody	Unlawful departure of an inmate while under the supervision of an individual other than a CSC employee outside the perimeter of the institution.	X
Exceptional search	Section 53 of the CCRA:  Where the Institutional Head is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that:  (a) there exists, because of contraband, a clear and substantial danger to human life or safety or to the security of the penitentiary, and (b) a frisk search or strip search of all the inmates in the penitentiary or any part thereof is necessary in order to seize the contraband and avert the danger.	X
	Section 53 of the CCRR:  Where an emergency occurs and the Institutional Head believes on reasonable grounds that contraband or evidence that relates to the emergency is located in the cells, the Institutional Head may authorize a search of cells and their contents by a staff member.	X
Fail to report	Offender fails to report to the Community Correctional Centre (CCC) or community residential facility (CRF) where he or she is to reside upon his or her release from any institution.		X
Fail to return	Offender fails to return to the CCC or CRF where he or she is residing after having signed out.		X
Fail to return from unescorted temporary absence	When an inmate does not return from an unescorted temporary absence from an institution into the community.	X
Forcible confinement	Holding of another person(s) against their will.	X	X
Forcible confinement with sexual assault	Holding an individual against his/her will and involving a sexual assault.	X	X
Government Security Policy breach	Disclosure or loss of protected information under CSC control and custody to persons with no legal entitlement to see the information (need to know).	X	X
Hostage taking	When someone is taken and held by force against their will and used as part of a negotiation or other bargaining process by threatening to cause them harm.	X	X
Incident Report	A report of factual information concerning a security incident or situation.	X	X
Inmate fight	A physical altercation between two or more inmates where the respective roles (instigator vs. victim) cannot be ascertained.	X
Information technology related incident	Incident involving components of electronic material or electronic information in which the ability of the operational unit to conduct its computer-based business is affected (i.e. major computer virus, loss or serious compromise of network capability or a loss of ability to use any mission critical computer system). For more details regarding procedures to follow, please refer to CD 225 and CD 226.	X	X
Lockdown	A non-routine situation which results in full suspension of all activities/privileges and the inmates are locked in their cells on a non-individualized basis. (This only applies to multi-level, maximum and medium security institutions.)	X
Major disturbance	Violence, behaviour or other event (riot, fire, flood, pandemic, natural disasters, etc.) which causes the disruption of routine for the whole or a significant portion of the inmate population.	X
Medical emergency	An event which requires medical intervention, which is not attributable to assaultive behaviour and which normally requires outside treatment with or without hospitalization.	X	X
Minor disturbance	Violence, behaviour or other event such as unlawful assembly, which causes a limited disruption of institutional routine for part of the inmate population (range, unit, work area).	X
Murder	To kill intentionally and with pre-meditation.	X	X
Murder – inmate/offender	An inmate/offender killed intentionally while under federal jurisdiction.	X	X
Murder – staff	A staff member/volunteer/contractor killed intentionally during the course of his or her duties.	X	X
Non-serious bodily injury	An injury that does not have the potential to endanger life, does not result in permanent physical impairment, significant disfigurement or protracted loss of normal functioning. (The classification of the injury is to be determined by the Chief of Health Services or his/her delegate.)Non-serious bodily injury includes but is not limited to: simple fractures of the nose, phalanges, metacarpals, and metatarsals isolated non-displaced rib and/or clavicle fractures not associated with any other injuries lacerations requiring sutures only without permanent neurological impairment superficial bruising avulsed teeth.	X
Overdose interrupted	Intervention by staff to prevent death by accidental overdose.	X	X
Possession of contraband	Possession of:
	an intoxicant;	X	X
	a weapon or a component thereof, ammunition for a weapon, and anything that is designed to kill, injure or disable a person or that is altered so as to be capable of killing, injuring or disabling a person, when possessed without prior authorization;	X	X
	an explosive or a bomb or a component thereof;	X	X
	currency over any applicable prescribed limit, when possessed without prior authorization; and	X
	any item that could jeopardize the security of a penitentiary or the safety of persons, when that item is possessed without prior authorization.	X	X
Possession of an unauthorized item	Possession of an item that is not authorized by a Commissioner’s Directive or by a written order of the Institutional Head or the District Director and that an inmate possesses without prior authorization.	X	X
Reception or transport of contraband	Seizure of contraband (as defined in the CCRA) at the time it is being introduced into the institution.	X
Robbery	To steal from any person using violence.		X
Self-inflicted injuries	The deliberate harm of oneself without the intent to commit suicide as determined by a mental health professional (i.e. Psychologist or Psychiatrist).	X	X
Sensational Incident Report	A report of factual information concerning a security incident or situation in relation to a conditionally released offender.		X
Serious bodily injury	Any injury as determined by Health Services personnel as having the potential to endanger life, or which results in permanent physical impairment, significant disfigurement or protracted loss of normal functioning.Serious bodily injury includes, but is not limited to: any intracranial bleed with or without skull fracture fractures of the limbs, skull, and torso all injuries requiring surgical intervention wounds that penetrate the abdominal and/or chest cavity wounds that result in permanent neurological and/or vascular impairment wounds that result in a reduction in an offender’s ability to perform activities of daily living.	X	X
Sexual assault / sexual offence	An assault or offence of a sexual nature that violates the sexual integrity of the victim.	X	X
Suicide	The act of taking one’s own life.	X	X
Suicide attempt	An unsuccessful attempt to take one’s life as determined by a mental health professional (i.e. Psychologist or Psychiatrist).	X	X
Threats towards staff	Incidents where the safety of staff/volunteers/contractors has been seriously threatened physically and/or verbally and which require significant intervention and/or have been reported to an outside law enforcement agency.	X	X
Walkaway	Offender leaves the CCC or CRF where he or she is residing without signing out.		X

 

Annex B

INCIDENTS TO BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY

To Regional Headquarters Duty Officer
who will notify the National Headquarters
Duty Officer:
613-233-8254
GEN-NHQ Incident-Reporting Officer:
INCIRO@csc-scc.gc.ca

Reportable Institutional Incidents

Any incident involving serious bodily injury

Any incident that requires activation of the Institutional Crisis Information Centre

Any incident which could or has attracted significant media and/or ministerial attention

Assault on a staff member/volunteer/contractor

Attempted suicide

Discharge of a firearm

Discovery of firearms, explosives and/or lethal substances

Any death

Escape from institution (excluding CCC)

Escape from institutional escort (staff or citizen) (excluding CCC)

Exceptional search (section 53 of the CCRA)

Failure to return from a work release or an unescorted temporary absence, involving an offender who has a history of violent and/or sexual offences (as per Schedule 1 of the CCRA) or a conviction for murder

Hostage taking, forcible confinement, forcible confinement with sexual assault

Information technology related incident (for more details regarding procedures to follow, please refer to CD 225 and CD 226)

Major disturbance (in an institution or other CSC facility/workplace)

Murder

Sexual assault

Staff caused disruption of day-to-day institutional activities (This includes, but is not limited to, complaints under sections 127 and 128 of the Canada Labour Code, information pickets, strike activity and job actions.)

Suicide

Reportable Community Incidents

Any incident involving serious bodily injury of an offender residing in a community-based residential facility

Any incident where staff/volunteer/contractor safety has been put at immediate risk and which requires police involvement (see Employee Protection Program Guidelines)

Any incident which has the potential to attract or has attracted significant media and/or ministerial attention

Hostage taking, forcible confinement, forcible confinement with sexual assault

Incident with significant police involvement

Information technology related incident (for more details regarding procedures to follow, please refer to CD 225 and CD 226)

Major disturbance in a CSC facility/workplace, parole office, CCC, CRF

Murder or attempted murder by or of an offender

Suicide

Annex C

INCIDENTS TO BE REPORTED WITHIN ONE (1) WORKING DAY

National Headquarters incident reporting
fax number: 613-992-8720
GEN-NHQ Incident-Reporting Officer:
INCIRO@csc-scc.gc.ca

Reportable Institutional Incidents

All deployments of the Institutional Emergency Response Team (IERT) or Crisis Negotiators

All lockdowns of the institution

All confinements

Disciplinary problems with significant staff intervention or use of force

Hunger strike longer than 48 hours (beginning when the inmate has made statement of hunger strike)

Medical emergencies

Minor disturbance (in an institution or other CSC facility/workplace)

Threats towards a staff member/volunteer/contractor (verbally and/or physically)

Reportable Community Incidents

All deaths other than suicide and murder (which require immediate notification)

Any minor disturbance in a parole office, CCC or CRF

All other incidents related to staff/volunteer/contractor safety (other than incidents which place staff at immediate risk)

When an offender, who has a residency condition, absconds from, fails to return to, or fails to report to a CCC or a CRF

When an offender has committed or will be charged with committing an offence as outlined in Schedule 1 of the CCRA

Annex D

INCIDENTS TO BE REPORTED WITHIN THREE (3) WORKING DAYS

Reportable Institutional Incidents

Accident

All other threats to staff/volunteers/contractors not included in Annex B

Assault with non-serious bodily injuries or no injuries

Damage to Government property

Government Security Policy breach

Inmate fight with non-serious bodily injuries or no injuries

Non-serious bodily injuries

Other disciplinary problems not deemed reportable within 24 hours

Overdose interrupted

Possession of contraband

Reception or transport of contraband

Self-inflicted injuries

Reportable Community Incidents

Government Security Policy breach