Commissioner's Directive

Policy Bulletin 259

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POLICY OBJECTIVES

1. To recognize that criminal organizations pose a serious threat to the safe, secure, orderly and efficient management and operations of our institutions and community operational units.

2. To recognize that membership and association with a criminal organization shall be considered a significant risk factor and a serious threat to the safe, secure, orderly and efficient management and operations of our institutions and community operational units.

3. To ensure all actions are based on approved correctional policy and affirm our intolerance for acts of violence and other criminal activities committed by criminal organization members and their associates in our institutions or in the community while on conditional release.

4. To prevent members or associates of criminal organizations from exercising influence and power in institutions and in the community and to prevent actions and circumstances that enhance the image, prestige and status of criminal organizations by acknowledging their status or by conferring privileges and concessions. Normally, this would preclude members or associates of criminal organizations from participating in activities such as being Inmate Committee members, inmate canteen operators, or institutional spokepersons for cultural groups or associations.

5. To encourage members and associates of criminal organizations to break their ties with those organizations and to assist them in their efforts to do so.

6. To recognize the need to provide operational units with effective measures to manage security information related to criminal organizations.

AUTHORITY

7. Commissioner's Directive 568 - Management of Security Information

CROSS-REFERENCE

8. Commissioner's Directive 083 - Inmate Committees

DEFINITIONS

9. Member or associate: a person associated to or involved with a criminal organization which includes supporters, sympathizers, strikers, affiliates, hangarounds, prospects, associated members and persons aspiring to be members.

10. Criminal organization: a group or association that is involved in ongoing illegal activities. This includes gangs, groups, organizations, associations or other bodies that were established in the community before their members were incarcerated, as well as groups established in our institutions.

11. Criminal organization paraphernalia: includes tattoos, weapons, jewelry, graffiti, rituals, material, documents, activities, enemy lists, group constitutions, structures, codes, pictures, training material, clothing (including personal and altered institutional issue), literature, publications or other internal communications of specific groups indicating group involvement or activities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

12. The Director General, Security, at National Headquarters shall be responsible for the management of all security information related to criminal organizations including control of and access to the information.

13. The Director General, Security, at National Headquarters is responsible for chairing the National Strategic Intelligence Committee and will ensure representation from all regions. This committee is responsible for the national coordination of security information related to criminal organizations, their members and associates.

14. The Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Institutional Operations, shall establish a Regional Strategic Intelligence Committee with representation from all operational units.

15. The Regional Administrator, Security, shall chair the Regional Strategic Intelligence Committee and is responsible for the regional coordination of security information related to criminal organizations, their members and associates.

16. The Institutional Head and the District Director shall designate a staff member to coordinate information gathering for the identification of individuals as members or associates and criminal organizations at their respective operational units.

17. All staff shall report to the Security Intelligence Officer, as soon as practical, all activity related to criminal organizations, their members and associates.

PROCEDURES

18. The staff member designated to coordinate the gathering of information for the identification of criminal organizations or individuals as members or associates shall be responsible for:

1. the identification of members or associates by:
   1. gathering and collating all information relative to an offender's suspected membership in or association with a criminal organization,
   2. completing the Referral Sheet - Identification of Membership or Association with a Criminal Organization (CSC/SCC 1184-2),
   3. sharing the Referral Sheet with the offender prior to a final review by the Institutional Head or District Director, and advising the offender of his or her right to submit a written rebuttal,
   4. forwarding the Referral Sheet and supporting documentation to the Institutional Head or District Director and ensuring that the offender's rebuttal is included, if applicable, and
   5. upon approval of the identification, entering a criminal organization designation in the Offender Management System (OMS) and placing the original Referral Sheet and supporting documentation on the Case Management file;
2. receiving requests from offenders who claim to have disaffiliated from a criminal organization and completing the Referral Sheet - Termination of Membership or Association with a Criminal Organization (CSC/SCC 1184-3) and following the procedures listed above; and
3. identifying any new criminal organization by:
   1. discovering and referring emerging criminal organizations to the Regional Strategic Intelligence Committee for decision via the Referral Sheet - Identification of a Criminal Organization (CSC/SCC 1184-1), and
   2. upon approval, forwarding all information gathered to Regional and National Headquarters in order to create a file entry in the database on criminal organizations in the Criminal Justice Information Library.

19. The Institutional Head or District Director shall:

1. confirm or reject the identification of any offender as a member or associate of a criminal organization;
2. confirm or reject the disaffiliation of any offender as a member or associate of a criminal organization; and
3. share the results of the analysis with the offender.

20. Membership and association with a criminal organization shall be considered a significant risk factor when making any decision related to the offender.

STAFF ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT

21. The designated staff member shall provide the Institutional Head or District Director the following information on at least a quarterly basis for dissemination to staff and Regional and National Headquarters:

1. the identity of the criminal organizations operating in the institution or district;
2. their particular mode of operation and the specific details on how to deal with the members individually and as a group; and
3. the continued efforts of criminal organizations to involve staff in their activities through methods such as coercion and corruption.

22. In situations where staff members are targets of coercion, intimidation and threats, the designated person shall ensure that the Institutional Head or District Director, the Regional Administrator, Security, and the Director General, Security, are immediately advised and shall coordinate all efforts to manage the risk, including the implementation of a safety plan if necessary.

23. All provisions as described in Commissioner's Directive 253, entitled "Employee Assistance Program", and Guidelines 253-1 and 253-2, shall be made available to staff members who are targets of coercion, intimidation and threats.

Commissioner,

Original signed by:
Don Head