Gang Violence Media Content Analysis

Prepared by: Carly Paice Strategic Communications Section Operations Strategy Branch "E" Division Headquarters Royal Canadian Mounted Police

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Executive summary

y 355 news stories were analyzed from national, provincial, community papers and television news segments on gang violence from January 01 to March 15, 2009.

y The tone of the coverage was: 39% positive, 51 % neutral and 10 % negative.

Y The majority of the negative coverage stemmed from provincial or national papers, largely skewed by editorial articles written by a small group of writers.

y The majority, 52 % of the coverage related to the Lower Mainland District, with the rest of the coverage being split almost evenly by the North, Southeast and Island Districts.

y 46 RCMP officers were directly quoted in one or more news stories

y The top three quoted RCMP spokespersons were: Cpl Peter Thiessen, Cpl Dale Carr and D/Commr Gary Bass

y 80 % of the television news segments analyzed included an RCMP spokesperson

Y Gang violence and specific gang activity was the major focus of the news coverage with the top three gangs mentioned being: the UN Gang, the Red Scorpions and the Independent Soldiers

y The debate over a regional police force was another major focus of the coverage with stakeholders both for and against the idea speaking out on the Issue.

y The top three integrated units mentioned in the stories analyzed were: The Integrated Homicide Team (IHIT), The Integrated Gang Task Force (IGTF) and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU)

y Recommendations for moving forward include: clarifying key messages to ensure consistency amongst the large number of spokespersons we have speaking on this issue, have talk lines available to MROs, Detachment and Unit Commanders and Senior Management to ensure consistency of messaging as well as recognizing that a large portion of negative news coverage on this issue stems from editorial articles whose purpose is to present an opinion and not a balanced perspective.

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OBJECTIVE:

To determine the tone and focus of media coverage as it relates to gang violence and policing response to a series of high profile homicides and gang-related activity. This includes examining who within the RCMP is speaking predominately to the issue and which messages are consistently picked up by media outlets.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

A quantitative research (content analysis) approach was used to determine the tone (negative, positive, neutral)', focus, and volume of selected news stories directly related to the research topic.

This project analyzed 355 news stories including: 169 stories from national and provincial papers and 146 stories from community papers appearing in publications from January 01, 2009 to March 16,2009. The print coverage included 42 editorial articles and 13 letters to the editor.

In addition 40 television news stories were analyzed within the same time period? The search criterion for print coverage was the word "gang" combined with relevancy to the research topic. Television coverage was taken from news segments captured by the "E" Division Communications Analyst for media monitoring purposes.

TONE OF NEWS COVERAGE:

This analysis found that based on all the stories analyzed, 10 % of news coverage related to the key topic was coded as negative, 51 % was coded as neutral and 39 % was coded as positive.

The national and provincial print coverage accounted for the majority of the negative coverage (61.7%), which can be attributed in large part to editorial articles. For example, Ian Mulgrew with the Vancouver Sun and Gary Mason with the Globe and Mail wrote several opinion pieces each on how police are ineffective to handle gang violence within the current policing model. As per the majority of editorial articles there is no inclusion of comments from an RCMP spokesperson to countervail the authors' opinions.

1 For the purposes of this analysis a negative news story is one where there is either no RCMP representation within the article or where criticism of the RCMP is reported without a countervailing opinion/comment being expressed; a positive news story is one where the RCMP' s position is articulated predominantly in a news story with little to no counter viewpoint being cited; and a neutral news story is one where both the RCMP's position is reported as well as an opposing or countervailing viewpoint leading to a balanced or neutral presentation of the issue.

2 National, Provincial sources include: Globe & Mail, National Post, Canadian Press, The Province, The Vancouver Sun, The Victoria Times Colonst. Community papers sources include all Blackpress Publications. TV sources include: CTV, Global, CBC and CHEK.

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Community papers and television news segments were primarily positive or neutral in tone, partly due to the inclusion of direct quotes from either and RCMP Media Relations Officer or other RCMP spokesperson. In fact, 58 % of community papers and 80 % of the television segments included a direct quote from one or more RCMP spokespersons. This is compared with only 44 % of national and provincial coverage that contained a direct quote.

DISTRICTS:

The Lower Mainland District received the majority of the coverage at 52 % with the other districts sharing the remainder of the coverage evenly (North: 16%, Island: 15%, Southeast: 17%.) Articles which were provincial in scope (ie. Provincial government announcing the hiring of new officer to fight gangs) were coded as applicable to all four districts. Outside of the Lower Mainland the cities which garnered the most coverage were Prince George, Kelowna and Nanaimo. This can be attributed to specific announcements or arrests, such as dedicated units being set up in Prince George and Kelowna and the arrest ofa member of the Red Scorpion Gang in Nanaimo.

RCMP SPOKESPERSONS:

From the news stories analyzed a total of 46 RCMP officers were directly quoted in one or more stories. 16 of the 46 were identified as Media Relations Officers, 30 of 46 were classified as "other" and consisted of detachment commanders, subject matter experts, unit heads or members speaking to a specific incident or file.3

The top quoted spokespersons for national, provincial, community papers as well as television segments on this issue were:

1) Cpl Peter Thiessen, Lower Mainland District MRO (31 quotes)

" These gangsters are settling their differences in an open area, which is concerning. Basically they're turning these public areas into their boardroom and they're conducting their business in a very open, brazen way." February 04, 2009, The Canadian Press

"I think the public can see we have turned the page and that page reads our number one priority is getting these gangs. We're going to out them and arrest them, it's that simple. " February 16,2009 - Global News 6 PM

2) Cpl Dale Carr, IHIT MRO (29 quotes)

"Where does it stop? [Gang members J have killed innocents, " said Corporal Dale Carr,

a homicide team spokesman. "We're lucky in the latest spate of shots fired that no one has been hurt." Febuary 14,2009, The Globe and Mail

3 A Media Relations Officer was defined as someone who has attended the Media Relations Course and is actively using their skills to post news releases and speak to issues in a full or part time capacity.

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3) D/Commr Gary Bass, Commanding Officer of'« E» Division (13 quotes)

"We assured you and the citizens of BC that we were working together to target gangs and that arrests would be made soon. We are fuljilling that promise today" March 03, 2009 - CTV News at 6 PM

4) Sgt Shinder Kirk, IGTF MRO (9 quotes)

''Any time we have violence against members of a crime group or suspected members of a crime group, there is always the possibility of retaliatory violence and that is of great concern to us, " January 06, 2009 - Vancouver Sun

5) A/Commr Peter German, Lower Mainland District Commander (8 quotes)

"We have all seen first hand that any association to someone involved in organized crime presents a clear and present danger to the entire family and any innocent person who happens to get in the way, it could be your mother going to the shopping mall, or your best friend eating at a restaurant. If you know someone involved in organized crime, please do the right thing and call the police." February 04, 2009, The Canadian Press

6) C/Supt. Fraser MacRae, OIC Surrey Detachment (7 quotes)

"Thanks to this joint forces operation whose dedicated members devoted hundreds of hours of investigation, obtaining evidence required, police were able to arrest and charge two UN gang members, one UN gang associate and two women over the past weekend" March 03, 2009 - Global News, noon

7) Supt. Dan Malo, OIC IGTF (6 quotes)

"This is our day at work. Right from the frontline, police officers that talk regularly. The Integrated Gang Task Force, CFSEU, and a number of other integrated units. We all work together. The critics that say we don't are wrong. " February 16, 2009 Global News 6PM

8) Supt. Pat Fogerty, OIC CFSEU (5 quotes)

"Cocaine is produced in Mexico and there is a thirst for cocaine in British Columbia. That supply line has dried up or somewhat dried up, it has effectively dried up in Canada. The price has gone up, not everyone is getting their fair share of the market and so that creates tension and mistrust and a level of violence and that's what we're seeing. "

9) Supt. Bill McKinnon, OIC Kelowna Detachment (5 quotes)

"We share information. We share intelligence. We work together. I don't know what regionalization would change"

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10) Cpl Norm Massie MRO Border Integrity & Cst Holly Marks, MRO Langley (4 quotes)

"I can't imagine what one person would be wanting to do with all this ammunition if you are not involved in the criminal elements. Those are designed to kill people and nothing else." - Norm Massie, March 06, 2009 - The Surrey Leader

[When asked if a shooting is gang related] "I am totally on the fence on that one. At this point, the only thing that links them is geography. The investigation may reveal more that links them more to some of the other events, but at this point, absolutely not. " - Holly Marks, February 12,2009, Vancouver Sun

Municipal Police Departments: Spokespersons from various municipal policing agencies were also largely represented through direct quotes. The top three municipal police departments mentioned were: the Vancouver Police Department, Abbotsford Police Department and the Port Moody Police Department. In particular several quotes from Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu garnered extensive play, such as:

''As police, we've always been told by media experts to never say or admit that there is a gang war, well let's get serious. There is a gang war and it's brutal. "

[In reference to arrests of Bar zan Tilli Choli "et al"] "To be clear this is not your average run of the mill bad guy, he is one of the top threats to public safety in the lower mainland We're here to tell you today that as a result of a multi agency investigation involving the VPD the RCMP we have arrested the leader of the UN gang and charged him with two counts of attempted murder"

FOCUS OF NEWS COVERAGE:

• Specific Gangs & Gang Related Violence

Most shootings, homicides and serious assaults in the news coverage analyzed were linked by the media either directly or indirectly to gang violence. The largest flurry of coverage was in mid-February with a number of high profile homicides including extensive coverage on the daytime shooting death of Nicole Alemy in Surrey with her young child in the back of her vehicle.

The activities, arrests and movement of specific gangs or gang members was a major focus of the media coverage. The top three gangs mentioned by the media were:

~ The UN Gang (including the arrest of Barzan Tilli Choli "et al") ~ The Red Scorpions (including the Bacon Brothers)

~ The Independent Soldiers

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The Hells Angels and other organized crime groups did not feature prominently in the media coverage analyzed.

• Integrated Units

Another major focus of the media coverage in relation to police response to gang violence was the debate over a provincial or regionalized police force that would, according to advocates, allow for better communication in tackling gang violence. The major proponents of this quoted in the media analyzed were: Criminologist Rob Gordon, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Former Vancouver Police Chief Bob Stewart and Former Police Chief ofWVPD Kash Heed.

For the countervailing viewpoint there were several proponents of the RCMP and the various integrated units including: Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender and Criminologist Darryl Plecas. One of the main arguments presented by these individuals is that the various integrated teams are already providing a regional approach.

Of the coverage analyzed the top mentions of Integrated Units were:

~ The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (mentioned 52 times) ~ The Integrated Gang Task Force (mentioned 49 times)

~ The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (mentioned 18 times)

Further to this, four of the top ten quoted spokespersons were from integrated units.

• Community Involvement

An example of an effective appeal for information from the community was the RCMP "Gang Panel of Experts" live on Global News at 6 PM on February 16 and 18. The panel included unit heads from IGTF, IHIT, CFSEU, OMG, Island Major Crime, Drug Enforcement Branch who were all given the opportunity to get several key messages across. Examples include:

Supt Dan Malo, IGTF "The one component we do need, however, is the public. And that's the one key aspect now that I think the public is very angry, and they need to be angry. Because that actually helps policing. Police are working well together, but we need the community to call Crimestoppers and help us deal with these extraordinary times. "

Inspector Gary Shinkaruk, OMG "And I would like to ensure that the people that are watching right now, there are people within these groups we deal with that are fed up within their own group and I would like to encourage them to come forward We have an established record of working with informants and confidential agents, keeping them alive, paying them well. Give us an opportunity we will succeed n this. We rely on that information to keep the people safe. "

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOVING FORWARD:

", Due to the large number of RCMP officers speaking to the issue of gang violence during the 2 liz month time period analyzed, it is recommended that simple and pointed key messaging be developed which can be applied to various situations at the detachment or unit level.

", Talk lines should be forwarded not only to the MROs but also to Senior Management, Detachment Commanders and Subject Matter Experts. This is due to the fact that 30 out of 46 spokespersons were not Media Relations Officers.

", There should be an understanding that a large portion of the negative media coverage came from provincial or national print publications. One of the reasons is these papers were less likely then community papers or television news segments to include a direct quote from the RCMP.

", However, it should also be recognized that editorial pieces contributed to over half of the negative coverage in these publications. Editorial columns present one opinion, that of the author. Even with strong messaging and proactive media relations this would not change the tone of certain editorial writers.

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APPENDIX: Examples of positive, negative, neutral stories

Positive:

Arrests a breakthrough in fight against gangs: police

Five charged and more arrests connected to shootings expected March 04,2009

Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun

More arrests are expected in a series of gangland shootings and targeted hits after a lengthy multi-agency investigation led to charges this week against five people linked to the notorious United Nations gang.

Senior officers in the RCMP and Vancouver police department hailed the arrests of de facto UN leader Barzan Tilli-Choli, ranking member Karwan Saed and three associates as a major blow to gang violence across the Lower Mainland.

They said at least 20 other shootings had been prevented in recent months as investigators conducted surveillance on gangsters believed to be involved in the tit-for-tat gunplay that has left the public and politicians demanding action.

Tilli-Choli, 26, and UN associates Aram Ali, 23, and Nicola Cottrell, 26, each face two counts of attempted murder for a targeted hit Feb. 16 outside a Surrey strip club on an associate of the Bacon brothers and his driver.

The three Bacon brothers, Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie, are members of the rival Red Scorpions gang and have been targets of several attempts on their lives.

The probe that led to charges this week against the UN gangsters began months earlier when Jonathan Alex Barber was mistakenly shot to death in Burnaby last May 9 in an SUV normally driven by one of the Bacons.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has identified UN gang members as suspects in the Barber slaying, though charges have yet to be laid.

The arrests this week are only the beginning, with several law enforcement agencies working closely together to put more suspects behind bars, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass said at a Vancouver news conference, attended by top police officials and Solicitor-General John van Dongen.

"Further arrests will be made, again in the very near future, and this will be a pattern which you will see on into the future until such time as the threat posed by these organized crime groups has been significantly reduced," Bass said.

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu said the arrests remind him of why he wanted to be a cop.

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"It's the satisfaction of being able to say, 'We caught the bad guy,' " he said of TilliCholi, a landed immigrant from Iraq. "To be clear, this is not your average run-of-themill bad guy. He is one of the top threats to public safety in the Lower Mainland."

Tilli-Choli assumed the leadership of the UN gang in recent weeks to fill a void left when gang founder Clay Roueche was arrested in the U.S. last Mayas he attempted to travel to Mexico. He is due to go to trial in Seattle next month for cocaine and marijuana smuggling.

Chu said taking Tilli-Choli off the streets makes rivals and citizens safer.

"This is a major blow, to the gangs generally and to the UN gang specifically," Chu said.

"I know that there are those among you and among the public that will say, 'What took you so long?' ... These arrests came during a complex six-month investigation with scores of officers working double shifts day after day."

VPD began its investigation into the UN last October, calling it Project Rebellion. It merged in December with the IHIT project dubbed E-Patroon into the Barber shooting.

"This was an excellent j oint forces operation with the RCMP and other agencies," Chu said. "We will be announcing more arrests, but we also successfully intervened and prevented many planned acts of gang violence."

VPD Insp. Mike Porteous, who headed the team, said there would have been even more violence in recent weeks if police had not been targeting gangsters.

"On several occasions, as the investigation unfolded, we came upon information that some of these suspects were going to make attempts on other people in the public, oftentimes in very public violent fashions which put the public at extreme risk. I can't go into the methods in which we interceded, but we successfully prevented these types of activities," Porteous said.

RCMP Insp. Kevin Hackett said many of the investigators put themselves at risk by following suspects closely as rivals were plotting against them.

"The fact that these individuals are sophisticated, savvy criminals prone to extreme violence makes it an even more daunting task for police officers that put their lives at risk to keep the public safe," Hackett said.

Tilli-Choli, Ali, Cottrell and another UN associate, Sarah Trebble, 28, were all picked up over the weekend. Trebble is charged only with being in a car with a firearm. She was released from custody pending her next appearance March 20, while the other three remain in j ail until a bail hearing Tuesday.

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Saed, the other full UN member, was arrested Monday afternoon and is charged with being an accessory after the crime for allegedly cleaning out the car used in the strip club shooting. The 32-year-old Burnaby man was described by police as "a mid-level trafficker. "

Police had the bullet-ridden Range Rover struck in the attack on display at Tuesday's news conference.

Surrey RCMP Chief Supt. Fraser Macrae said the vehicle, in which Bacon associate Tyler Willock was a passenger, was targeted at an intersection, with the driver getting struck in the shoulder.

"In this Range Rover were two women and one other male who was seated behind the driver. The target of the shooting is a known associate of the Bacon brothers," Macrae said.

Police confirmed they had recovered a number of weapons during the investigation.

They said the motive in this and other recent shootings is turf.

"In this particular case they're rival gangs who originally started out [fighting] over drug territory, but the violence is a back and forth that has been going on for some time now, but it is about territory and retribution," Porteous said.

At the news conference, van Dongen thanked all the investigators involved.

Negative:

Patchwork policing leaves no one in charge Globe and Mail - February 17,2009 (EDITORIAL) GARY MASON

There is often little worse, and usually little as inefficient and ultimately wasteful, as public policy on the fly. Which is invariably public policy hastily stitched together in response to some sudden public outcry. The B.C. government's response last week to a recent spate of gang violence certainly has all the markings of bad public policy.

When Premier Gordon Campbell announced that the province would hire 168 more police officers and 10 more prosecutors to focus on gang activity, it sure sounded good. And he was applauded at a news conference when he said that gangs are "not welcome in our province ... on our streets ... in our communities."

But the truth is his wasn't a plan conceived after months of carefully considering the gang problem in the province. Only a week earlier, B.C.'s Attorney-General had said the streets of Metro Vancouver were safe. Even a couple of days before the announcement,

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the Premier looked dumbstruck when a reporter pressed him to be more specific about what the province planned to do beyond promising to "crack down on gang activity."

In other words, there was no evidence of a brewing strategy.

But amid an unprecedented week-plus gang war that continues today, the Liberals were getting hammered by the NDP opposition for having allowed the situation to reach this point. After all, the government had pledged to do something about the issue after the gang-related, six-person slaughter - including two innocent bystanders - at a Surrey highnse.

That was back in October, 2007.

Nothing was done.

That is why this time around the Liberals knew they were vulnerable on the issue and needed to do something - fast.

The plan was so last-minute that even today no one is quite sure where all the new officers will be going. Will they end up bolstering RCMP ranks or municipal police forces like Vancouver's? They will have to go on someone's payroll.

But here's the question that no one seemed to address at the Premier's news conference on Friday: Who's in charge of eradicating gang violence in Metro Vancouver?

It's a question put to me by a Metro Vancouver police chief last week. I didn't know the answer.

"No one," he said.

You can't have a successful strategy for anything without someone in charge. And in this case, there's no one responsible because of the patchwork nature of policing in Metro Vancouver.

You have large swaths of the area controlled by the Mounties and other chunks overseen by police forces operated by municipalities and cities such as Vancouver. You have the RCMP with its opinions and strategies about dealing with gangs, and you have the Vancouver Police Department with its own.

The answer seems obvious: Go to a regional policing model such as Metro Toronto's.

But that, of course, would mean having an uncomfortable conversation with the RCMP.

"But think about it," one police chief said. "If you were to design a policing structure for the region, would you design one like ours? Not in a million years."

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Gang violence isn't a problem that can be solved with quick fixes. Pouring more officers into a model that doesn't work isn't the answer. If the current setup was working, even marginally, B.C. wouldn't be facing the gang crisis it is right now.

Even B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal knows this and has long argued for a regional police force. Even his own government won't listen to him. It's a call that has been joined by many, including Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu and West Vancouver Police Chief Kash Heed, two of the sharpest policing minds in the country.

Former Vancouver mayor and B.C. premier Mike Harcourt isn't optimistic about the recently announced strategy of the Liberal government either. He thinks it's bad public policy written in haste. He believes that only a region-wide approach to combatting gang violence is the answer.

"It won't work otherwise," the former NDP premier said the other day . "You need to bring something back like the Co-ordinated Law Enforcement Unit that we used to have and just sic it on these gangsters. You can't have all these different silos of policing, it won't work. "

And then once the police and courts nail these guys, Mr. Harcourt said, well, he has some thoughts on that too.

"You know what you do?" he said. "You send them to Baffin Island for 25 years. I'm serious. Make 'em work the entire time, pickaxe, the whole thing. I know that might make me sound a little redneck, but that's what we have to do."

He probably has a lot of people agreeing with him.

Neutral:

Victim of Walnut Grove gangland shooting dies Langley Times - February 06, 2009

John GORDON

Kevin Robert Leclair, 26, died Sunday morning in hospital after what appears to be a targeted shooting in a busy Walnut Grove mall parking lot Friday afternoon.

Police have said Leclair was known to them, but refused to comment on any gang ties he had.

A witness, shaken almost to tears, watched from her apartment balcony as the terrifying scene unfolded in the parking lot of Thunderbird Village shopping centre at 88 Avenue, east of 200 Street.

She reported that around 4:20 p.m. a dark grey pickup was sprayed with bullets from what appeared to be an automatic weapon, fired from another vehicle.

Reports put the number of shots fired at the truck as high as 40.

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Waitress Nicole Watt was wiping tables when she heard a noise that sounded like fireworks. She looked up to see a man in a blue minivan firing shots at the pickup, before speeding away with two other vehicles following.

She called 911.

A doctor from a Thunderbird Village medical practice came to administer aid to the victim, described as "a huge man, covered in tattoos."

Another witness reported seeing guns thrown from the suspect vehicle or vehicles onto the pavement as they sped off.

It appears the victim was alone inside the pickup, which remained behind police tape, its driver's side and back windows smashed out, in front of the IGA supermarket Friday evemng.

Nearby, police interviewed dozens of witnesses as an RCMP helicopter hovered overhead.

One other vehicle, a small SUV, was caught in the crossfire, but its female occupant was not injured in the attack.

Police said Sunday that they believe the shooters fled north in a vehicle into the Colossus Theatre parking lot, linked to Thunderbird's parking lot by a short road and a bridge. They are asking anyone who may have seen a vehicle being driven erratically through that area at about 4:30 p.m. Friday to contact the Integrated Homicide investigation Team tip line at 1-877-543-9217. If you wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers at 1- 800-222-TIPS.

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5.19(1)

Content analysis is a methodology for studying the content of communication. It helps to define and understand our media coverage by evaluating issues, messages, advocates, critics, and media sources which can help in recommending action and response.

- Helps us to paint a picture of our coverage

Measurement tool. How are we doing in getting our key messages across help us uncover trends

a measurement of whether key messages are uniform and consistent who is speaking, MROs, Others??

how can we improve, is there an area where the message isn't getting through

not a complete aerial, more like a snapshot (we know we can't capture every radio announcement, every tv clip, article, online blog) but we can get an idea by analyzing a portion of the coverage

Often we are focused on our detachment level, so we don't get the big picture of what is being said across the division. It shows that even the interviews done on the local level, they very much tie into the division as a whole.

Crime Reduction Content Analysis

For this particular analysis we looked at close to 300 articles, nationally (Globe & Mail, National Post) provincially (Province, Sun), locally (local blackpress, Canwest papers) as well as online publications on the local level such as Castanet in the southeast and Opinion 250 in the North.

What we're specifically looking for is the amount of coverage, where is appearing, what is the tone of the coverage (positive - RCMP position presented no countervailing) (neutral- both positions, perhaps just a description of events) negative - countervailing viewpoint only presented. For this we concentrate on the first 3 paragraphs. Negative

tends to be the case with most editorials, the main focus or

topic, who are the stakeholders (might be a partner agency, municipal police force, local or provincial politicians, how many of the articles are based on news releases put out by us

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Reinforcing some of what we already know

Local papers are your bread and butter. 84% of coverage was in your local papers, 15% provincially, 1 % nationally

Break down of coverage by district, not surprisingly highest amount of coverage in areas with the biggest population, highest # of police officers (55% LMD, 20% SE, 17% North, 8% Island)

Overwhelmingly positive (31 %) or (68%) neutral in tone for crime reduction, in only 1 % of the coverage were classified as negative. Articles tend to be proactive, a police initiative, capturing a prolific offender, crime stats going down.

Some we were really good at translating into media coverage, others not so good. But first, what are our key messages? We need these to measure against. (ask for participation)

WE TARGET PROLIFIC OFFENDERS/ CRIME HOTSPOTS (126 out of298) WE HAVE DEDICATED TARGET TEAMS (88 out of298)

INTELLIGENCE DRIVEN / CRIME ANALYSIS (44 out of 298)

WE HAVE INTEGRATED UNITS AND PROGRAMS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO CRIME REDUCTION (27 out of 298)

WE ARE BUILDING ON OUR SUCCESSES BY ADAPTING BEST PRACTICES FROM AROUND THE WORLD, SUCH AS THE UK (22 out of 298)

What percentage ofMROs versus other members and staffs. Well you might be surprised that 47% of the time it's the MRO, 53% it is other. Who is this other?

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NCO i/c or OIC of the detachment (mostly in reference to stats) , someone on the crime reduction team

Countdown

How many articles were based on news releases posted to the [Link]? 66 (22% of the total coverage). By this I mean a news release was posted to the website and resulted in one or more news articles of the 300 that were tracked. And further to that only 24 of those news releases were tagged or labeled as being about "Crime Reduction" on the website.

What does this say, especially considering there was so much positive coverage on this topic?

I think it reinforces that our MROs have built strong relationships with local reporters, arranged for interviews with experts, OICs. We see some great examples of this across the province. Articles are based on quarterly reports, crime trends, statistics that don't necessarily make it onto the website in a news release format. However this has still equated in very positive coverage.

Examples -

1-800-CRACK- North Vancouver

A night in the life of the Crime Reduction Unit.

Penticton cops say they will focus on summer hotspots

In keeping with the RCMP' s new crime-reduction strategy that targets high-crime areas and prolific offenders, Cpl. Rick Dellebuur said this summer's policing patrols will take a focused approach. "A very targeted, very rapid and very flexible approach is what we are looking at," said Dellebuur.

Education linked to drop in crime: RCMP - West Shore

West Shore RCMP statistics show street crime has dropped over the past year-and-a-half but marijuana trafficking and grow operations are on the rise.

Const. Tasha Adams said the RCMP has specifically targeted grow-ops and trafficking in 2006 and 2007, leading to more charges and higher numbers.

Street crime and other drug offenses are down due to a number of projects police have set up and implemented in the community, she said.

Two projects throughout 2007-08 were set up to target drug trafficking, property offenders, and prolific repeat offenders, said Staff Sgt. Michael Legassicke.

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So these are great examples of local coverage - not based on a specific release but rather an interview.

But why not, if you've arranged for an interview with your OIC and local paper. ... go along, record it and write your own piece to post to the website. This way you continue to foster those great relationships with the locals at the same time as producing a feature story for the web. Give them first dibs on the story in terms of publication, and then post your own story to the website. This means the public from across the province will have access and it may even increase the provincial coverage on the great work the members and staff are doing on the road. Bridging back to the theme of the conference - Chang in Direction ... Let's tell our own story, in our words on the web. I know you are all good story tellers!

This is an example of how we can use content analysis to guide us, it highlights where we're already doing very well. We're getting that message out that we are out targeting prolific offenders, we're focusing on hotspots, we're using tools such as crime analysis to ensure we are accurately targeting our problem areas and the results are in .... major decreases is several communities in crime especially dramatic in areas like property cnme.

And it also reveals were we could use improvement. We could stand to highlight the integrated units that help our detachment level efforts in crime reduction. We can continue to do the great work in fostering relationships with our local papers who have that interest in profiling our accomplishments. But in tandem we can use that great material to write our own stories and feature them on the web.

So this was a larger scale analysis, over the course of 7 months, in depth. An analysis project does not have to be on a major program or initiative such as crime reduction. I want to spend just a few minutes talking about how you can apply a similar style project to your detachment level on a much smaller scale.

- because they don't go into the same level of quantitative analysis but they can be really useful to demonstrate the impact of a particular announcement or initiative.

- can look at a particular announcement, initiative, news release or news conference.

- Include a background, main focus or topic of the coverage, quantity of coverage, quotes,

clippings

- Great way to compile and give an overview on a particular topic

just want to encourage you to use the tools at your disposal ... web, google news alert, enterprise news desk,

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pleasure to do this content analysis. I've included some quotes and MROs but really there was so much great material to choose from. It's really encouraging to see this kind of positive coverage. We often concentrate on the larger, crisis issues that make the headlines ... but this content analysis shows the great work you all are doing on a daily basis.

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