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Let's Talk

VOL. 31, NO. 3

Community Supervision of Offenders

The Case of Mr. Z

BY Bill Rankin, Communications Officer, Communications and Citizen Engagement Sector, Teal Maedel, Psychologist, Vancouver Parole, and RCMP Staff Sergeant/Psychologist Matt Logan, Behavioural Science Group

Photo: Pierre St-Jacques

Mr. Z is released
Mr. Z is released under the 810 order imposed by the court.

Section 810 peace bonds are court orders that enable the police to protect the public by requiring an individual who poses a threat to society to abide by specific conditions for up to one year. This is the story of how this complex and demanding process is successfully coordinated by criminal justice partners and includes the key role played by the Correctional Service of Canada.

Mr. Z is an offender with a lengthy criminal history. For his most recent crime, he was sentenced to seven years inside the Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC’s) maximum-security Kent Institution near Chilliwack, British Columbia. When he reached his parole eligibility date, the National Parole Board (NPB) decided to keep him in prison until warrant expiry.

The NPB decision was based, in part, on CSC’s contribution to the process. CSC psychologist Teal Maedel carefully assessed Mr. Z’s risk and concluded that for numerous reasons he should be detained. As Mr. Z’s warrant expiry date draws near, CSC and its partners want to take action to ensure that he receives adequate supervision and support once he is outside the jurisdiction of the Service.

Effective Measures

Currently, to help ensure public safety, law enforcement depends on some very innovative and effective measures – legislation that has evolved to allow offenders like Mr. Z to be controlled with restrictions that extend beyond their warrant expiry dates.

One of these powerful legal tools is called a Section 810 (of the Criminal Code of Canada) recognizance order. It allows police to impose restrictions for up to one year after release if there are reasonable grounds to expect an offender may commit a serious personal injury offence. Strict conditions can be imposed, including a measure that prohibits a suspect from possessing firearms or ammunition, and another that requires the offender to report to police or a correctional authority. Section 810s have been particularly useful in cases where prior violent crimes resulted in a sentence that was eventually completed, as in the case of Mr. Z.

Essential Intelligence Networks

As Mr. Z’s release date approaches, law enforcement agencies are in close communication with CSC institutional parole officers who provide information from their own files on the offender, including his risk and psychological assessment and evidence of his crime cycle. In the Pacific Region, these data are relayed to the RCMP Behavioural Science Group (BSG), which has developed highly sophisticated intelligence networks to gather all available high-risk offender information, not only from CSC, but also from the Vancouver Police Department’s High-Risk Offender Unit.

RCMP behavioural psychologist Staff Sergeant Matt Logan explains: “Using a template called I-SPIN, we take all this information… Every known location frequented by each of these offenders is plotted on an electronic mapping system and colour coded to correspond with the template score given to each offender.”

“This system is crucial,” says Staff Sgt. Logan. “Should there be [an offence committed] in a particular location, the mapping system will identify the most likely suspects.”

But I-SPIN is only half the story. Both the RCMP and Vancouver Police have at their disposal observation teams (I-SPOT) that closely monitor offenders who show signs of trouble. These teams, ideally made up of full-time units of 10 officers, are trained in surveillance techniques and in understanding offenders and their specific crime cycles.

Preparing for Mr. Z’s Release

Three months prior to his release, Mr. Z’s name is passed from the CSC Warrant Expiry Date Coordinator to the High Risk Recognizance Advisory Committee (HRRAC), an interagency coordinating body that reviews every federal offender that has been detained until his or her warrant expiry date, with an eye to applying an 810 order. A case review by HRRAC weighs many factors, including Mr. Z’s refusal to cooperate while incarcerated and the disturbing reports of some of his victims.

A Legal Threshold

The two psychologists on the committee, Teal Maedel and Staff Sgt. Logan, help their fellow committee members reach a consensus: Mr. Z should be subject to sanctions once he is released. Now, the committee turns to Crown Counsel Roger Cutler to tell them whether the offender meets the legal threshold for imposing the 810 order.

Cutler ponders the key legal question: Are there reasonable grounds to fear that Mr. Z will commit a serious personal injury offence on his release? Because of Mr. Z’s criminal record, his refusal to take programs while incarcerated and the results of his recent psychiatric assessments, the Crown prosecutor believes an 810 order should be sought that includes specific conditions (no alcohol or drugs), with the aim of preventing his crime cycle from being triggered.

The 810 Coordinator

Once these decisions are made, Mr. Z’s file is passed on to 810 Coordinator Judy Dizy, a detective from the RCMP Behavioural Science Group and an expert at preparing the report for Crown counsel that will be handed to the judge in charge of granting the order. Offender information, including victim target group, known residences, associates, crime cycle and many other factors, is part of the report to Crown prosecutors.

In the meantime, Detective Dizy makes the journey from downtown Vancouver to Kent Institution to interview Mr. Z and inform him of the intent to impose the order. After mulling it over and weighing his options, Mr. Z realizes that he has little chance of successfully blocking it and decides not to legally contest the order. This is a relief for law enforcement; a challenge would eat up valuable time. Naturally, for everyone involved, offender consent for an 810 order is the preferred route.

Everyone Gets Ready

Pacific Region team
The Pacific Region team involved in the 810 order process. Left to right: Steve Howell, British Columbia (BC) Corrections; Teal Maedel, on secondment to RCMP-BSG from CSC and past Chair, Pacific Region NJC; Roger Cutler, Crown counsel, BC Criminal Justice Branch; Greg Fitch, Director, Ministry of the BC Attorney General and Pacific Region National Joint Committee Chair, Senior Criminal Justice Officials; Staff Sergeant Matt Logan, RCMP; Bob Brown, Corrections Program Director, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy

The court imposes the order two weeks before Mr. Z’s release, and now police are empowered to take over the functions of monitoring and, if need be, intervention. The offender has refused the offer of a Circle of Support—dedicated and trained volunteers who would keep a close eye on him, report any evidence of him entering into another crime cycle and help him in his transition into the community on release.

Mr. Z informs his institutional parole officer that he intends to head for Vancouver once he is released. The Vancouver Police’s High Risk Offender Unit is notified. Another team, the Coordinated High Risk Offender Management team (CHROMe), composed of police, a community probation officer, a psychologist and outreach workers, is waiting in Vancouver, ready to help Mr. Z with his transition into the community.

The two weeks finally pass and Mr. Z is released, on the street and on the move. Will he comply with the conditions of his 810 order? For a few days, the answer is ‘yes,’ but then both the Vancouver Police and CHROMe workers note signs of deterioration in his attitude and a return to his crime cycle: he skips a therapy session, neglects to complete daily logs on his thoughts and feelings, and cooks up a story about why he can’t meet with support workers. CHROMe notifies Behavioural Sciences and an I-SPOT team is quickly dispatched and begins surveillance.

It’s not long before their man reveals his intentions. The team trails him by vehicle and on foot to one of his old haunts, a crumbling block of dilapidated hotels near the corner of Main and Hastings in Vancouver’s notorious east end. He’s observed buying cocaine from a drug dealer and kibitzing with known prostitutes along their stroll. Clearly, the offender has no wish to stick to his conditions. The I-SPOT team quickly nabs him before he can progress in his crime cycle. He is charged with possession of a narcotic and breach of recognizance.

“In British Columbia,” comments Crown Counsel Cutler, “our courts take breaches of 810s much more seriously than breaches of other court orders. The judges recognize the risk the community is exposed to and they know that the offender fully understood that his breach triggers his criminal behaviour.”

Mr. Z is handed a sentence of three months. While in custody, outreach workers visit him and discuss the breach and plans are made for substance abuse treatment. On release, I-SPOT surveillance resumes while outreach workers help the offender find a place to live and other efforts are made to stabilize him.

A Year Later

Fast forward almost a year to a time close to the expiry of the 810 order. Since his release after the breach conviction, Mr. Z has been compliant, crime free and cooperating with outreach workers. The I-SPOT surveillance has been called off, but HRRAC members agree that an application for renewal of the 810 order is necessary. Before they make the application, the offender is brought in for another psychological assessment.

“Mr. Z is one of those individuals who seems to thrive on structure and support,”  the psychologist reports. “His history both in custody and on release indicates that his present success is due to it, at least in part.”

The 810 coordinator prepares another application and the Crown takes it to court three weeks before expiry of the first order. Mr. Z opposes the application. He is quickly placed on bail with conditions identical to the expiring order and a trial date is set. At the trial, six months later, the court grants a renewal for another year.

The year passes uneventfully and Mr. Z’s support system in the community continues to strengthen: he has settled into an apartment and been hired at a local recycling plant. He is assessed again and no renewal of the 810 order is sought.

Partners in Safety

Mr. Z’s 810 order is a study in cooperation between criminal justice partners. It highlights the importance of strong alliances and interagency communication in managing the risk of re-offending and provides the offender with incentives to participate in the community. CSC plays a key role in this complex response and makes an essential contribution to community safety. ♦

 

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