Check against delivery
Hello. I'd like to start by saying that I'm deeply appreciative of the leadership of our partners in coming together today to talk about this serious issue.
I share the concerns raised here today that vehicle theft is reaching concerning volumes with a level of violence never seen in Canada, and it is impacting community safety and well-being across the country.
We have a common goal to prevent and reduce auto theft crimes, enforce the law and keep people safe. Police organizations continue to work together, as we always do.
We have already heard from OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique and SQ Director General Johanne Beausoleil about the complex challenges faced by police.
The RCMP is engaged with our partners that are leading integrated, multi-jurisdictional taskforces to combat organized crime, some involved in theft and overseas export of stolen vehicles.
From the perspective of the RCMP, we have a multi-faceted mandate that contributes to efforts to combat vehicle theft. While current trends are high in Ontario and Quebec, RCMP officers across the country are closely connected with their communities on the issue of vehicle theft.
The RCMP's Federal Policing program is responsible for combatting threats to Canada, such as serious organized crime groups operating at the international level.
We are aware of trends in vehicle theft, and our intelligence resources continue to collect and analyze intelligence to inform our direction.
We work closely to strengthen strategic and operational partnerships with domestic and international partners to disrupt illicit markets and dismantle criminal groups.
The RCMP's Federal Policing program has a network of liaison officers and analysts deployed around the world to work with our international partners.
As one example, RCMP liaison officers posted in Italy recently collaborated with Italian authorities when 251 large cars stolen in Canada were seized in an Italian port. The RCMP's liaison officers and analysts in Rome have been working with Italian authorities since 2018 on the seizure of stolen vehicles originating from Canada.
From a National Policing Services perspective, we are the stewards of the common tools and databases that are needed and used by law enforcement agencies across Canada.
The RCMP is the host of the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC). This is one of the primary national information-sharing systems that is used by police from across Canada to enter information about stolen vehicles. It holds data on over 150,000 stolen vehicles.
We are in the process of integrating CPIC stolen vehicle information with INTERPOL's Stolen Motor Vehicle Database, and expect this integration to be complete next week. Once entered, information on vehicles stolen in Canada will be accessible to foreign authorities.
The RCMP also hosts the Central Bureau for the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada (CISC).
The Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada delivers criminal intelligence products and services to the entire Canadian law enforcement community and other key stakeholders responsible for public safety.
This past December, the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada released its 2023 Public Report on Organized Crime. It assigned a threat rating to 638 organized crime groups, 8 of which were assessed as national high-level threats to Canada.
Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada has also released an unclassified report on organized crime involvement in vehicle theft in Canada. It found that the number of organized crime groups involved in vehicle theft grew by 62% since 2022.
It also found that most vehicle thefts involve lower-level threat groups, with violent street gangs being the most prevalent, while higher-level organized crime groups and transnational facilitators are involved in export.
The Canadian Police College offers a Specialized Vehicle Theft Investigative Techniques Course, and other courses related to organized crime investigations. These are available to municipal, provincial, and federal levels of law enforcement through the College.
As always, we will continue to work tirelessly to tackle auto theft and ensure the criminals are held to account.
Thank you.
Mike Duheme
Commissioner