Justice to create new positions to combat organized crime

While speaking yesterday to the 101st annual Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in St. John�s, Justice Minister and Attorney General Tom Marshall announced government�s intention to add an additional 13 � positions to Criminal Intelligence Service Newfoundland and Labrador (CISNL) during the fiscal year 06/07 and early next fiscal year.

The minister�s announcement came on the heels of a report released on Friday by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada on organized crime groups in the country.

"Even though we are located on the far east coast of Canada we are not immune to organized crime. While we are fortunate that we do not have the level of organized crime as is prevalent in some other regions, organized crime is still of serious concern to our government and our provincial police forces," said Minister Marshall. "Currently, the human resources allocation to Criminal Intelligence Service Newfoundland and Labrador is limited to four and a half positions. We feel this number is inadequate and plan to significantly increase the number of positions by 13 �."

The minister said these positions will include nine intelligence officers, a senior non-commissioned officer operations officer, two strategic analysts and 1 � support staff. "We take organized crime seriously and we will put the necessary resources in place to deal with it."

Yesterday�s announcement complements government�s commitment to training 75 new RNC officers over a three-year period, as well as the $10 million increased investment announced in Budget 2006 aimed at improving human and operational resources of both provincial police forces. "Every Newfoundlander and Labradorian has a right to feel safe and secure in their community and our government will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this right is protected," said the minister.

Criminal Intelligence Service Newfoundland and Labrador is a branch of Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC), a national agency tasked with unifying criminal intelligence units of Canadian law enforcement agencies in the fight against the spread of organized crime in Canada.

Media contact: Bill Hickey, Communications, (709) 729- 6985, 691-6390

2006 08 21                                     4:10 p.m.