RCMP head calls for more integrated policing

(January 28, 2005) Canada’s self-regulatory organizations need to cooperate better with law enforcement and integrate their systems to ensure public confidence in the capital markets, according to the head of the RCMP.

“I believe that it has never been so important to take the time to analyze and assess both the impacts of and necessary responses to, wrongdoing and crime in a corporate context,” said RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, in an address to a conference of self-regulatory organizations in Toronto.

He says the constant barrage of bad news in the mainstream media is eroding the very foundation of the capital markets.

“The single most important factor needed for societies to work effectively and for citizens to flourish is trust,” he said. “Trust is the bedrock of a civilized world. When trust is diminished, the ability of the collective to act for, protect and foster what is good and creative in society dissipates.”

But Zaccardelli says the RCMP cannot act alone in rooting out corporate criminals, simply because it does not have the resources or the exposure to market participants that it requires to do the job effectively.

“Law enforcement plays only one part in the corporate regulatory environment,” he says. “We need to work with oversight bodies at all levels of the business community — leaders, managers and practitioners — in order to effectively achieve a safe, law-abiding and successful corporate sector.”

Zaccardelli told the audience that the RCMP cannot address all crime alone, especially in the business world, where SROs can play a major role. He called for an improved flow of intelligence between these bodies, provincial regulators and the RCMP to safeguard public confidence in the market.

“Introducing integration into our organization means we commit to establishing a shared framework and shared strategic priorities, to the free flow of intelligence and to more interoperable systems, in order to create a seamless law-enforcement service delivery system without duplication, without fragmentation and, hopefully, without turf wars,” Zaccardelli said.

“Criminals count on failure to cooperate: victims not cooperating with authorities and authorities not cooperating with one another. We need to frustrate that expectation.”

Because of the front-line nature of SROs — they receive the complaints, they hear the rumours — he says they can play an important role in the detection of illegal schemes and the ability to shut them down.

“Of course our readiness to embrace integrated approaches is not entirely or necessarily shared,” he said. “Going it alone is sometimes easier. It eliminates concerns about how impossible it is to really share accountability and responsibility.”

Between self-regulators, the RCMP and the regional regulators, he says enforcement has the same knowledge and skills as the corporate wrongdoers.

“It’s downright scary, because they know what we know,” Zaccardelli says. “The same knowledge we are using in law enforcement to deal with cyber-crime, terrorism and organized crime, is also in the hands of those who commit commercial crimes.”

Filed by Steven Lamb, Advisor.ca, steven.lamb@advisor.rogers.com