Keeping Canada and Our Communities Safe and Secure

CANADA'S SAFETY AND SECURITY STARTS IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOODS, IS STRENGTHENED BY OUR EFFORTS ACROSS THE PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES, FROM COAST TO COAST, AND IS ENHANCED BY OUR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS AND PRESENCE IN COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.

Table of Contents

• Safe Homes — Safe Communities
• In Your Neighbourhood
• Working With Our Partners
• Around the World
• How to Reach Us

Safe Homes — Safe Communities

WHAT IS THE RCMP?

Steeped in tradition and proud of our history, we are Canada’s national police – a modern police organization that is responsible for enforcing the law, preventing crime and protecting Canadians at home and abroad. We are accountable to the communities and partners we serve in the use of tax dollars and resources to accomplish our mandate.

WHO WORKS FOR THE RCMP?

We are an increasingly diverse workforce, 22,000 strong, made up of regular members, civilian members and public service employees. Some 75,000 volunteers assist us in our efforts.

WHERE IT ALL BEGINS: THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN

While civilian members and public service employees join the RCMP as professionals in a specific area, all regular members begin their careers at the RCMP Training Academy, also known as Depot Division in Regina, Saskatchewan. Here they become part of a troop and undergo an extensive 22-week basic training course, under the guidance of some of the best police instructors in the world.

Training methods include physical and ordnance training, values, role playing, performance demonstrations, lectures, panel discussions and community interaction. We’ve even got a small village on campus, where we enact various policing scenarios. Our program is tough and not all participants make it through. But those who do, have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. As they head off from Depot for six months of recruit field training under the supervision of a detachment coach, new Mounties do so knowing that they have just received some of the best police training in the world.

So, next time you see a Mountie displaying the deportment and professionalism for which the RCMP has become known worldwide, remember, it all began at Depot.

WHAT DOES THE RCMP DO?

Operating from more than 750 detachments, we provide daily policing services under contract to eight provinces, three territories, more than 200 municipalities, 65 Aboriginal communities and three international airports, plus numerous smaller ones. We are organized into four regions, 15 divisions and National Headquarters. Everywhere in Canada and internationally, as part of our federal mandate, we apply innovative ideas and sophisticated methods to target organized crime, terrorism and specific crimes related to the illicit drug trade; economic crimes such as counterfeiting and credit card fraud; and offences that threaten the integrity of our national borders. In addition to protecting Canada and our communities, we also protect VIPs, including the Prime Minister and foreign dignitaries, and provide the Government of Canada with a full range of physical and computer-based security services.

National Police Services, managed by the RCMP on behalf of all Canadian law enforcement organizations, offer valuable resources to members of Canada’s 500 other law enforcement agencies. These resources include databases – fingerprint, criminal record, forensic image, missing children, firearms – and other specialized services such as those offered by our forensic laboratories, our Canadian Bomb Data Centre, the Automated Criminal Intelligence Information System, the National DNA Data Bank, and Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.

In Your Neighbourhood

Whether on highway patrol in the communities of Newfoundland, educating youth on the dangers of illicit drugs in the classrooms of rural Saskatchewan, or intercepting illegal activities along the BC coast, the men and women of the RCMP can be found all across Canada. We provide daily policing services in over 200 municipalities; provincial or territorial policing services everywhere but Ontario and Québec; and federal policing services from coast to coast. We strive to fulfill our commitment to you – to keep your homes and communities safe.

WORKING WITH CANADA'S FUTURE

In communities across Canada, we help children and youth. We support numerous community-based programs for young people and participate in many innovative initiatives to protect children.

Examples of programs where we partner:

• Kidz Printz with AOL Canada – makes it possible for police to positively identify missing children.
• Be Bright-Think Right developed with Scouts Canada – a national interactive safety awareness program for school children.
• www.deal.org – a website designed for youth, by youth, to help promote healthy life choices through education and empowerment.

WINNING TRUST, ONE STEP AT A TIME
Many members of Canada’s Aboriginal community face particular challenges. We’re working very hard to assist them and to strengthen our relationships with these communities.

• A Winnipeg River Detachment program developed by five of our members encourages local youth to remain in school, avoid delinquent behaviour and, eventually, to consider a career in the RCMP. With the support of the local First Nations community, a number of students from three local high schools go on a five-day escorted trip to the RCMP Training Academy in Regina. Since the program was first introduced, several of these students have applied to join the RCMP!
  
• The Saskatchewan Community-Based Training Team was nominated for a National Restorative Justice Award for their innovative approach to training community members to conduct mediation, conferences and community justice forums. The team is made up of our members, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and Saskatchewan Justice Mediation Services.

“We have some input with the judge, even on serious cases. we are working well with the rcmp. every morning, even if they are not on duty, the members come in just to talk to us and they are very involved in community events.”
Band Councillor Lester Roberts

DRUGS: A THREE-PRONGED APPROACH
(ENFORCEMENT, EDUCATION AND PREVENTION)
Many of our members across Canada are assigned exclusively to target growers, importers, distributors, street traffickers, money launderers and others. But while our enforcement efforts get the most public attention, we also visit schools, talk to parents and children, as well as support a variety of community-based drug education and prevention programs.

GETTING INVOLVED
All across Canada, you will find our members involved with their communities – attending information sessions and public meetings and acting as resource and liaison persons for community organizations.

The Mounted Police Foundation (www.mountedpolicefnd.org) is a great example of how the RCMP gets involved. The foundation regulates the sale of licenced RCMP products and the proceeds provide funding to hundreds of crime prevention, victim services, drug awareness and child and youth oriented programs.

TOGETHER WE WILL FIND SOLUTIONS!
Today, policing means reaching out to the community for input and new approaches to crime prevention. We encourage individuals and community groups to work with us to address common challenges. Here are just a few examples of how we work with you:

• In Manitoba, our Gang Awareness Unit monitors gang activity and provides community-based gang prevention, intervention and educational programs throughout the province. In partnership with other organizations, the unit helped produce an award winning gang prevention handbook.

Working With Our Partners

The RCMP increases its effectiveness and strength as a modern policing organization by working with other law enforcement agencies, governments, agencies, individuals and the communities we serve. With an increasingly sophisticated criminal element, there has never been a greater need to share timely and reliable criminal intelligence with domestic and international partners.

INTEGRATED POLICING BREAKS NEW GROUND
As Canada’s national police, we play a lead role in ensuring safety and security at major international events held in Canada such as the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. We work closely with other police services and organizations to maintain public order, while respecting people’s right to peaceful protest.

WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
As Canada’s national police, we protect national security and play an important role in carrying out the Government of Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Plan. One of our top priorities is to combat organized crime and to assist other police services in their effort to do the same. Mutual assistance, information sharing and combined-forces and special ventures lead to better results.

PROTECTING CANADIAN AND FOREIGN DIGNITARIES
Mounties perform high-risk work protecting VIPs and their spouses, including Canada’s Prime Minister and Governor General, foreign heads of state, certain visiting dignitaries and others.

Whenever you see these people, whether at a special event, in a crowd or in a vehicle as part of a motorcade, look very closely and you will see Mounties in
action – behind steering wheels, standing in the wings, walking close by.

HELPING OUR PARTNERS HELP THEMSELVES
We have earned an international reputation for policing excellence that results in a large number of requests from other law enforcement agencies and government departments, both foreign and domestic, for specific types of training. Over the years, we have trained thousands of people from outside the RCMP, both Canadians and others, at the RCMP Training Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan, at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa, Ontario, and elsewhere.

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP USING LEADING EDGE TECHNOLOGY
The National DNA Data Bank, which we administer for the benefit of all Canadian police services, has become a valuable investigative tool. The Data Bank uses robotic technology to process, analyse and compare DNA samples.

Matches help identify suspects and/or link crimes, and negative results help eliminate individuals as suspects. Since its inception, hundreds of convicted offenders have been matched to crime scenes.

Here are some other examples of sophisticated technologies that are in use:

• The Technological Crime Unit successfully tracks down cyber-criminals, who steal, tamper with or destroy computer systems or data.
• The Integrated Proceeds of Crime Section, which includes police officers from other services, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency staff and government lawyers and accountants, conducts complex financial investigations that allow the courts to seize assets gained through criminal activities.
• Paint fragments, hair samples and even maggots come under searching eyes at the forensic laboratories. Our highly trained experts at the Forensic Laboratory Services help police solve crimes. Located in several cities, the labs accept evidence from police services across the country.
• The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) operates out of RCMP Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, and acts as a co-ordinator for information on organized crime provided by numerous police agencies.
• The Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) is the electronic backbone of Canadian law enforcement. Whether searching for stolen vehicles, lost seniors, escaped prisoners or trying to access criminal records, marine equipment identification or even dental characteristics, over 60,000 police investigators in every province and territory have a wealth of data at their fingertips through CPIC.

Around The World

Ask people in other countries what they know about Canada and chances are they will mention the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They may even recall having seen the RCMP Musical Ride or an old movie where a steadfast Mountie kept the peace, protected our border and eventually “got his man”. Whatever the reason, for many people the RCMP symbolizes Canada.

Today, the legacy lives on. In addition to our proud past, and in cooperation with our partners, we are recognized in Canada and around the world as an international leader in policing – for organizational integrity, the quality of our members, and for our values and policing methods. Through our international peacekeeping duties and our work with Interpol, our reputation grows, as does the assistance that we are able to offer to and receive from our growing list of partners.

RESPECTED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR OUR PEACEKEEPING SUPPORT

CIDA Photo Library

We manage the selection and participation of all Canadian police who take part in Canada’s international peacekeeping missions. Nearly half of them come from RCMP ranks, while the balance come from over 30 Canadian provincial, territorial and municipal police services. Mounties have participated in international peacekeeping missions since 1989. Our peacekeeping teams help restore and monitor local police services, investigate human rights violations, oversee public security, support the rule of law and provide investigative resources to international tribunals.

In this increasingly globalized world, crime knows no borders and criminals frequently operate in many countries and continents. Interpol, the international police agency based in France, provides a co-ordinated approach and infrastructure to enable its 179 member-states to deal with crime. The RCMP is responsible for Canada’s National Central Bureau, where Interpol’s members handle inquiries, share information and help each other in a multitude of ways.

How To Reach Us

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE
– REGIONS AND DIVISIONS
We hope this document has helped you understand us a little better.

For further information:

Contact your local RCMP Detachment.
RCMP Headquarters: telephone (613) 993-7267

OUR REGIONAL AND DIVISIONAL OFFICES: