Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
Encyclopedia
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) is an inter-agency organization in Canada
designed to coordinate and share criminal intelligence amongst member police forces. The CISC has a central bureau in Ottawa
and ten bureaus in each province offering services to over 380 law enforcement agencies in Canada.
There are two levels of membership in the CISC. Level I is for police
forces responsible for federal and provincial law enforcement and have their own criminal intelligence
unit. Level II is for member agencies that do not meet the criteria for Level I membership.
Intelligence units of member agencies supply their provincial bureau of the CISC with raw intelligence data, which is then added to an online database, Automated Criminal Intelligence Information System
(ACIIS). The Ottawa Bureau is the custodian of the national database, and manages it in consultation with member agencies. The purpose of the CISC initiative is to not only coordinate information sharing across jurisdictions, but to facilitate investigations into organized
and serious crime across Canada.
The central bureau is staffed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police
employees along with secondments from the following agencies:
The CISC has a strategic plan consisting of four pillars.
The first pillar is criminal intelligence personnel. According to this pillar, the CISC intends to improve national criminal intelligence by directing resources to the cultivation of intelligence expertise and equipment and to attract talent in this field to the CISC through its hiring policies.
Secondly, the CISC aims to provide support to its intelligence personnel through the direction given by the leadership of the organization, by making the necessary technological tools available to intelligence personnel based on the "need to know/right to know" principle, and by facilitating the analysis of intelligence data through training personnel in intelligence analysis methodology and best practices. The second pillar also includes disseminating processed intelligence back to member agencies and measuring the "value added" of criminal intelligence through assessing feedback and determining the satisfaction of members with the service through a performance-measuring tool called the "balance scorecard."
The third pillar is "criminal intelligence technologies," meaning the maintenance of the ACIIS system and data mining
technology, and keeping up-to-date as new technologies develop. The fourth and final pillar is the "criminal intelligence communications plan," which consists of coordinating information flows between member agencies as well as with members and non-member partners and instilling strategic-thinking on a national scale in criminal intelligence workers.
The CISC also publishes an annual report on organized crime in Canada.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
designed to coordinate and share criminal intelligence amongst member police forces. The CISC has a central bureau in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and ten bureaus in each province offering services to over 380 law enforcement agencies in Canada.
There are two levels of membership in the CISC. Level I is for police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
forces responsible for federal and provincial law enforcement and have their own criminal intelligence
Criminal intelligence
Criminal Intelligence is information compiled, analyzed, and/or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor criminal activity....
unit. Level II is for member agencies that do not meet the criteria for Level I membership.
Intelligence units of member agencies supply their provincial bureau of the CISC with raw intelligence data, which is then added to an online database, Automated Criminal Intelligence Information System
Automated Criminal Intelligence Information System
The Automated Criminal Intelligence Information System is a Canadian on-line computer application established in 1976.This database is the national intelligence repository for the use of all Criminal Intelligence Service Canada members in Canada...
(ACIIS). The Ottawa Bureau is the custodian of the national database, and manages it in consultation with member agencies. The purpose of the CISC initiative is to not only coordinate information sharing across jurisdictions, but to facilitate investigations into organized
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
and serious crime across Canada.
The central bureau is staffed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
employees along with secondments from the following agencies:
- Canada Border Services AgencyCanada Border Services AgencyThe Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border enforcement, immigration enforcement and customs services....
- Department of National DefenceDepartment of National Defence (Canada)The Department of National Defence , frequently referred to by its acronym DND, is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for all matters concerning the defence of Canada...
- Ontario Provincial PoliceOntario Provincial PoliceThe Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
- Ottawa Police ServiceOttawa Police ServiceThe Ottawa Police Service serves the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.-History:The OPS roots come from the formation of the "Bytown Association" in 1847. In 1855 Roderick Ross was the first Chief Constable for the newly formed City of Ottawa...
- Service de police de la Ville de MontréalService de police de la Ville de MontréalThe Service de police de la Ville de Montréal is the police force for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With about 4,400 officers and 1,600 civilian staff, it is the second largest municipal police agency in Canada after the Toronto Police Service and second largest in the province behind the...
- Sûreté du QuébecSûreté du QuébecSûreté du Québec or SQ is the provincial police force for the Canadian province of Québec...
The CISC has a strategic plan consisting of four pillars.
The first pillar is criminal intelligence personnel. According to this pillar, the CISC intends to improve national criminal intelligence by directing resources to the cultivation of intelligence expertise and equipment and to attract talent in this field to the CISC through its hiring policies.
Secondly, the CISC aims to provide support to its intelligence personnel through the direction given by the leadership of the organization, by making the necessary technological tools available to intelligence personnel based on the "need to know/right to know" principle, and by facilitating the analysis of intelligence data through training personnel in intelligence analysis methodology and best practices. The second pillar also includes disseminating processed intelligence back to member agencies and measuring the "value added" of criminal intelligence through assessing feedback and determining the satisfaction of members with the service through a performance-measuring tool called the "balance scorecard."
The third pillar is "criminal intelligence technologies," meaning the maintenance of the ACIIS system and data mining
Data mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
technology, and keeping up-to-date as new technologies develop. The fourth and final pillar is the "criminal intelligence communications plan," which consists of coordinating information flows between member agencies as well as with members and non-member partners and instilling strategic-thinking on a national scale in criminal intelligence workers.
The CISC also publishes an annual report on organized crime in Canada.