Chapter 6: Thematic Issues — Data
Special Report on the Federal Policing Mandate of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Data
146. Data are essential to police operations. The types of data collected can shape perspective and focus on criminal threats. According to Harvard professor Malcolm Sparrow:
The way that data are arranged within data files helps determine the types of analysis that can be performed and the uses to which they can be put. The manner in which information flows around a department largely determines which matters are nominated for attention at different levels and who makes which decisions. …Properly managed, information systems can serve as a powerful tool in the hands of progressive police executives. They can cut labor costs, improve resource allocation, and increase efficiency and effectiveness of existing operations. They also can help redefine the work, emphasize new values, and facilitate the development of new partnerships. Footnote 253
147. Data analysis and reporting enable the monitoring of priorities, resources, expenditures and performance, and support governance and accountability. This is particularly true in an organization with the size and scope of the RCMP.
148. Since 2018, nine separate RCMP internal audits raised data as an area of concern. Footnote 254 These audits identified three primary challenges: incomplete or absent data, data inaccuracy, and data inconsistency. These challenges contributed to significant problems in performance management, support for decision-making, and oversight. Despite commitments to improve data within the management responses and action plans for these audits, these challenges persist.
Data systems
149. The RCMP has three main electronic records management systems in which policing information is entered and stored. These systems contain operational information on criminal activity and investigations. They are the primary source for intelligence analysis, crime statistics, priority-setting and performance metrics. The first system is PROS, which is used by the majority of RCMP units. The second is Secret PROS (SPROS), which contains all classified material and is the primary database for Federal Policing national security investigations. The third is PRIME, which is a databased established and used solely within the RCMP (and other police forces) in British Columbia.
150. These three systems lack interoperability. PROS is run by the RCMP, SPROS is reserved for classified information and is kept separate for security reasons, and PRIME falls under the authority of the government of British Columbia. The RCMP must therefore access and manipulate the data for these three systems to understand and track Federal Policing activities nationally. A unit called the Situational Awareness Support Unit (a team of approximately 20) is responsible for data reporting and analysis.
151. The three systems of the RCMP (PROS, SPROS, and PRIME) have varying criteria and inputs. Each system has its own criteria in its drop-down menus, making records inconsistent across Federal Policing and the RCMP. Neither PROS nor PRIME has codes for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents. Footnote 255 This inconsistency makes it challenging for the Support Unit to link data to Federal Policing priorities. The result is that the Support Unit classifies a large share of Federal Policing tiered projects as “other” when assigning them a priority area. A full 28% of all tiered projects classified as “other” are from British Columbia (E Division) and are attributable to data and access limitations with the PRIME system. Footnote 256 These inconsistencies undermine Federal Policing’s ability to develop a full picture of the frequency and type of occurrences and investigations.
152. These variances affect how Federal Policing tracks its investigative activities. Each occurrence that is recorded within the data systems is counted as Federal Policing-led when it is primarily responded to by a Federal Policing unit. However, there is no field within the data systems to identify Federal Policing units: these occurrences must be compiled manually. Footnote 257 This means that there is no ability for Federal Policing to have a snapshot of data to assist in decision-making and prioritization. Without this data, Federal Policing may not be able to identify its highest risks or respond to them. Footnote 258
153. Data integrity is an ongoing concern for the RCMP. Of the information that is entered into the various data systems, many include incomplete records, outdated reporting, inconsistent use of codes and flags, incorrect data and missing information. Footnote 259 The RCMP also lacks Quality Assurance teams across divisions. Footnote 260 With all input at the discretion of the investigating officer and variance between the data systems, inconsistency and a lack of standardization mean that data, an essential element to effective policing, is not reliably available to effectively support operations and decision-making.
154. In 2020, Federal Policing introduced a new business intelligence system to address some of these issues. FOYER is an interface system used by Federal Policing that was designed to fill gaps among the data systems (SPROS, PROS and PRIME). The goal of this system is to increase consistency and the ability of the Situational Awareness Support Unit to properly analyze and report on operational data. It also assists with accountability, as supervisors can see drafts of the standardized forms that populate the data systems. In addition, Federal Policing introduced the Occurrence Triage Aid to ensure that their efforts and resources are directed at the most significant criminal threats. According to the RCMP, the Triage Aid “serves to ensure consistency in decision-making while enabling the collection of previously unavailable data.” Footnote 261
155. Compliance with FOYER and the Occurrence Triage Aid has been low. Federal Policing set full compliance for June 2021, but left the Divisions to set up their own rules around the use of the Triage Aid and FOYER. In early 2021, the Deputy Commissioner Federal Policing sent a mandate letter to all divisional Commanding Officers requiring full compliance with these data systems. In March 2022, Quebec (C Division) had the highest rate of compliance at 24%. Ontario (O Division) had a compliance rate of 1% and British Columbia (E Division) had a compliance rate of 0%. In February 2023, Ontario had improved to a compliance rate of 11%; Quebec dropped to 16%, and British Columbia remained at 0%. The overall compliance rate was 3%. Footnote 262 The Divisions are aware of their non-compliance, as the Situational Awareness Support Unit distributes monthly reports on system usage. Footnote 263
156. This creates significant challenges. The RCMP cannot accurately calculate the cost of investigations. The executive of the RCMP does not receive annual reports on operational data and its analysis. The RCMP also has no governance system, such as standardized methods or approaches, for data analytics. Footnote 264 This data and information gap has knock-on effects for the organization, its governance and accountability. In 2021, the Senior Management Team of the RCMP noted that the RCMP's data mechanisms and inconsistencies in reporting across Federal Policing “do not support evidence-based decision making.” Footnote 265 The organization itself has identified ongoing challenges with the collection, interpretation and presentation of data, making it difficult to accurately assess the RCMP's impact on criminal activity. Footnote 266
157. Executive decisions regarding resource placement are also affected. In January 2019, the RCMP created a Federal Policing accountability framework. Federal Policing decided that “evidence-based decision-making and operational priorities will determine where resources are deployed” and that corporate management systems for HR and finance would be maintained and updated regularly. Footnote 267 To do this, the accountability framework placed responsibility for tracking and reporting of the Federal Policing program’s workload and resources on the divisions. The Federal Criminal Operations officers were directed to provide regular performance reports, including “consistent and comparable data” to inform decision-making. Footnote 268 These changes were not always well-received. According to a 2019 consultation report on Federal Policing Criminal Operations,
Overlapping responsibilities with Divisions can create tension when Divisions get the impression that they are not trusted to make their own decisions, based on budget and priorities, without NHQ intervention. Footnote 269
158. These tensions undermined Federal Policing’s efforts to deploy and track resources accurately. The report added that pushback from Divisions made it “very difficult to exercise the kind of oversight that the new Governance Framework stipulates.” Footnote 270