Privacy Impact Assessment - Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME-BC)

Executive Summary

This report contains a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the RCMP Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME-BC) being implemented under the name Records Management System (RMS) Renewal. PRIME-BC is an initiative, sponsored by the Ministry of the Solicitor General, in the Province of British Columbia, legislating all police forces to use the same occurrence records management system. The RCMP “E” Division (British Columbia) has partnered with other municipal police agencies and the B.C. provincial government in the acquisition of a common information system.

The scope of this PIA is broad and encompasses the harmonization of the RCMP legacy RMS, Police Information Retrieval System (PIRS), Operations Statistical Reporting (OSR), Computer Integrated Information and Dispatching System (CIIDS) and Remote Office, Dispatch System (ROADS), Versadex Police CAD or Mini-CAD and the Mobile Report Entry (MRE), through the implementation and continued development of a contemporary operational records management system (PRIME-BC) which will meet the needs of the 21 st Century law enforcement and support the mission of the RCMP. It is understood that this PIA is limited to the RCMP “internal” releases/implementation of PRIME-BC and will be the subject to updates/amendments for any future sharing of PRIME-BC with other law enforcement agencies

Currently, two legacy applications, namely PIRS (Police Information Retrieval System) and OSR (Operational Statistical Reporting), process approximately 2.5 million occurrence files per year, and are central and vital instruments used to support the law enforcement mission of the RCMP. These systems, although national, do not permit the exchange of information efficiently. Furthermore, these systems have outlived any lifecycle expectations and cannot meet the challenge of the 21 st Century.

A dynamic contemporary occurrence/records management system (PRIME-BC) is vital to support effective policing in British Columbia. A renewed RMS is a major initiative for the RCMP and is identified as one of the key elements of the Federal and Provincial Integrated Justice Initiatives (IJI) Action Plan. It is the essential component that will enable law enforcement to meet the objective of integrated justice, enhancing public safety through the elimination of obstacles to the quick and effective sharing of information on a national basis within the RCMP and with other law enforcement organizations across the justice system.

PRIME-BC will meet the RCMP strategic objectives by ensuring consolidated and timely information at all levels on a national scale via the Law Enforcement Information Portal (LEIP). It will enhance integrated policing through exchange of criminal information; therefore laying the foundation that will meet the requirements for an integrated justice information system. PRIME-BC provides the street level enforcement officer the tools to gather information, share information and build Reports to Crown Counsel, internally in the RMS in preparation for the export of this information to external Integrated Justice Systems (JUSTIN). Furthermore, PRIME-BC will provide a common platform for sharing information to respond more efficiently to requests in areas such as Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and rules for disclosure to Crown and Defense.

PRIME-BC represents a complete occurrence and record management system that will allow users to electronically query or populate other indexed data repository systems of law enforcement information such as CPIC (Canadian Police Information Center) and the CFRS (Canadian Firearms Registration System). The “data standards” utilized by PRIME-BC are based upon the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), Common Police Environment Group (CPEG), CPIC, and the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2.1). The RCMP cooperates with the Data Standard Secretariat of the Solicitor General’s Integrated Justice Initiative. PRIME-BC permits the management, analysis and reporting of all criminal evidentiary information leading to convictions.

PRIME-BC will lay the foundation for the RCMP to achieve its immediate operational and long-term strategic goals and objectives of integrated policing and integrated justice. As a contemporary occurrence management and reporting system, PRIME-BC will also directly address the Federal Government’s and the RCMP’s priority to provide “Safer Homes and Safer Communities for Canadians” as mentioned in the 1999 and 2001 Speeches from the Throne.