CSC’s Regional Connectivity Teams Create New Partnerships
Safety Through Connectivity

By Jaimie Banks, Communications Officer, Information Management Services with files from Rob Campney, Debra Coradazzo, Jacques De Laplante, Sandra Fullerton and Anita Samek

For nearly half a decade, Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) "ambassadors" – dedicated regional connectivity teams – have been travelling across the country cultivating new partnerships, strengthening pre-existing alliances, and working to make Canada a safer place to live.

Since 2001, CSC has been working with partners from across Canada 's criminal justice network to improve its system of sharing information. By building partnerships, discovering new and improved methods in using today's technology and developing customized tools for our partners, CSC has contributed significantly to the successful management and social reintegration of offenders.

The regional connectivity team at work

Our connectivity teams have spent busy years connecting partners to CSC's data systems. New and old partners now have controlled access to CSC's Offender Management System (OMS) and other systems used to share federal offender information, such as InfoPol for police services. In return, our partners transmit essential information to us, allowing us to better supervise and manage offenders.

"Before this initiative began, there wasn't much in terms of electronic information sharing," says Rob Campney, Connectivity Coordinator for the Ontario Region. "Now look at how far we have come, sharing information with so many partners."

To date, CSC's Offender Management System connectivity teams, in the regions and at National Headquarters, have connected nearly 4,000 external users to modules of OMS, including over 3,700 police officers to InfoPol, which extracts data from OMS for its police users—numbers far beyond the original estimates.

Some of these partnerships include other government departments and agencies, such as Passport Canada , Canada Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration. Other partners include provincial and territorial corrections, community residential facilities (CRF), provincial parole boards, and Canadian police services in every community.

Campney, a former Toronto parole officer, explains that his connections all began with a letter. In the case of police partners, this letter went to the chief of police of every Ontario police service, informing them that InfoPol would be available to them. That was followed by a phone call and once their interest was captured, a meeting to demonstrate the application, and a plan to train and connect the new partner. His team travelled as far south as Windsor and north to Iqualuit to secure the connections.

"We were on the road so much that we often joked about working from our rental car office or our hotel office," says Campney of the initial connections in Ontario , the last region to begin connecting police to InfoPol in 2004.

"Persistence pays off," says Sandra Fullerton, Connectivity Coordinator for the Atlantic region. "I love the interaction: working with external partners and giving them face to face contact with CSC. I find it particularly satisfying when the CRF users access our live database for the first time and see the wealth of information it contains."

Fullerton speaks proudly of the effects these new partnerships have had on the public, as well as for busy staff.

"I see that technology is allowing for a better, faster way to communicate with our partners. Not only is it great to hear from our partners, we also know it is a better use of resources. For instance, CSC staff no longer have to photocopy thick files."

As for one of the more stressful points on the job?

"We travel with five to eight laptop computers, all the associated adapters and cables, a PC-viewer and a couple of power cords," says Debra Coradazzo, Pacific Region Coordinator. "I'm sure you can imagine the hassle we experience at the airport security counter!" Still, Coradazzo explains the importance of going to our partners with everything needed to facilitate their training and help their transition to this new technology.

Richard Harvey, Director General, CSC Information Management Services

Though the bulk of the work has been completed, the connectivity coordinators say that the task will be ongoing. CSC's Information Management Services Director General Richard Harvey agrees. He says there will always be a need to keep an eye out for new partners and new operational requirements.

"The actual concept of security is in a state of constant redefinition. As Canada and Canadians grow and change, so will the methods needed to keep them safe," says Harvey . "That is one of our challenges at CSC, and we will work to meet the challenge."