Organized Crime Awareness - Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does Organized Crime affect public health and safety?
2. How is the RCMP tackling Organized Crime?
   1. Examples of proactive education/awareness initiatives undertaken by the RCMP:
3. How does organized crime impact the average citizen financially?

1. How does Organized Crime affect public health and safety?

• Children living in Marihuana Grow Operations (MGOs) or Clandestine Labs are threatened by toxic mold, volatile chemicals, violence, abuse, and neglect. The threat of fire and electrocution is also significantly higher in both MGOs and Clan Labs.
• The sexual exploitation of children and the commercial sexual exploitation of children can cause long-term damage to the victims’ physical and emotional health and destroys lives.
• Counterfeit goods are not only of inferior quality but can be life threatening if they do not meet Canadian Health or safety standards. (e.g. counterfeit pharmaceuticals, contaminated baby food, E-Coli in hair care products, faulty electrical products (eg extension cord) causing fires

2. How is the RCMP tackling Organized Crime?

• Organized crime hurts individuals in the communities we serve. That is why detecting and deterring organized crime is one of the RCMP’s priorities.
• Enforcement alone is not enough. The RCMP believes in a balanced approach including: education, awareness and enforcement.

Examples of proactive education/awareness initiatives undertaken by the RCMP:

• The RCMP works diligently to raise public awareness of organized crime issues through its web site, presentations to service clubs or other groups, media interviews, etc.
• Raising awareness helps protect individuals from becoming victims.
• School talks and community outreach across Canada to raise youth awareness of the dangers of drugs. Awareness initiatives put on by Drug Coordinators in the divisions and DOCAS (Drug and Organized Crime Awareness Services) policy centre.
• Red Serge Red Shield fraud awareness day for seniors (Ottawa. July 6, 2006) This initiative provided approximately 300 seniors in the Ottawa area with the tools to help protect themselves from being victims of various types of fraud.
• Partnerships between the RCMP and public- and private-sector partners (e.g. insurance brokers, hydro companies etc.) to raise awareness of the shared risks posed by marihuana grow operations across Canada.
• The RCMP hosted the first national Marihuana Grow Operations (MGOs) conference in 2004.
• The RCMP is working hard with its partners to gather and analyze information, to develop intelligence, and to identify those organized crime groups that law enforcement should focus on.

The RCMP participates in several Integrated Organized Crime Investigative Units (IOCIUs) including:

• Combined Forces Special Enforcement Units (CFSEUs)
• Integrated Response to Organized Crime (IROC)
• Escouade Régional Mixte (ERM) under Sûreté du Québec leadership
• Biker Enforcement Unit (BEU) under Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) leadership in Ontario.

3 . How does organized crime impact the average citizen financially?

• Public Safety Canada (PS) estimates that economic crimes (such as: identity theft, telemarketing fraud, insurance fraud and other crimes.) committed by organized crime groups cost Canadians five billion dollars every year. In a family of four, that’s six hundred dollars ($600) a year.
• Car thefts and insurance fraud mean you pay more for higher car insurance rates.
• Marihuana Grow Operations (MGOs) require large amounts of electricity to power the high-wattage lights necessary for accelerated plant growth. These hydro thefts result in you paying higher bills.
• Approximately 45% of MGOs dismantled in Ontario between 2000-2003 stole electricity using a hydro bypass.
• Conservative estimates projected that MGOs in Ontario stole between $6 and $60 million dollars of hydro in 2002 alone. (Source: 2004 Ontario Green Tide Report ,Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police ).
• MGOs consume upwards of 300 kilowatt hours (KWH) per day . This is roughly 10 times the ‘average’ electricity consumption. These figures reflect the seriousness and high dollar impacts of MGOs on the public.
• Tax fraud siphons hundreds of millions of dollars the government needs to provide services.
• Counterfeit goods rob legitimate manufacturers of sales.
• The World Intellectual Property Organization estimates that counterfeit goods account for five to seven percent of world trade.
• Money from counterfeit cigarettes funds organized crime activities.