Law Amendments Committee

Mandate

Address the needs of the Canadian law enforcement community in combating organized crime. Governed by the imperative of public safety, security and quality of life impacting all citizens of Canada and their communities, promote innovative law enforcement strategies and contribute to public policy and legislative change as a meaningful partner to the safety and security of Canadians and international partners.­

Objectives

1. Explore, evaluate and promote innovative law enforcement initiatives against organized crime through leadership at both national and international levels, through research, best practices, training, legislative and police reform, international partnerships and trends, ensuring public awareness, and addressing gaps and barriers.
2. Enhance public communications, awareness and education.
3. Promote policy development and legislative reform to combat organized crime.
4. Forge partnerships and model action plans to guide a unified law enforcement response to reduce the threat and impact of organized crime in Canada.

Significant Accomplishments 2017-2018

• The National Undercover Working Group developed and shared best practices with the Canadian law enforcement community and worked to identify and remedy gaps within the National Undercover Program as a whole. A focus on building consensus with respect to training, court testimony, new techniques in undercover operations, backstopping and precedents that need to be adhered to in the Major Crime Technique continued to be a priority.
• Advocated for the need to recruit new undercover operators within their respective organizations to address succession planning and a wide range of demographic needs.  
• Continued to focus on meeting Canadian Integrated Response to Organized Crime committee (CIROC) direction to develop a training and awareness strategy for front-line officers on Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) by examining what training their collective law enforcement agencies offered. 
• Continued exploration to identify strategies to capitalize on academic expertise and research.
• Coordinated the inaugural presentation of the Organized Crime Award, designed to recognize and reward the contributions of individuals and/or teams who have exhibited excellence, innovation and initiative to detect, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations.
• Collaborated with representatives of the CACP Drug Advisory and Law Amendments committees to prepare a written brief and presentation to the Standing Committee on Health regarding the CACP’s position, concerns and recommendations related to the Cannabis Act.
• Took steps to maximize productivity and information sharing and expand member knowledge and awareness by accessing and working with subject matter experts to offer learning opportunities.

Initiatives Planned for 2019

• Identify strategic communication opportunities and initiatives to articulate the impact of organized crime in our communities, and the successes of law enforcement in combating it.
• Continue to work on the CACP Award of Excellence for Combating Organized Crime and examine how the committee can take a more active role in developing key messages aligned with operational successes/highlights and develop more broadly-based messaging regarding organized crime.
• Provide information to increase knowledge of the cyber aspects of organized crime by engaging subject matter expert participation at its meetings.
• Continue to monitor the growing issue of opioids and the role of organized crime in this illicit market. The OCC will also continue to examine how the legalization of cannabis is impacting organized crime’s criminal operations.
• Capitalize on the newly established relationship with the US Homeland Security Investigations Department to receive regular briefings on transnational organized crime trends and to identify strategic opportunities to address emerging organized crime issues. 
• Continue to work closely with the Canadian Integrated Response to Organized Crime committee to address issues of strategic importance.