MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN CORRECTIONAL SERVICE CANADA
Forecasting Project
INTRODUCTION
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), as part of the criminal justice system and respecting the rule of law, contributes to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure and humane control.
​
Within CSC, Parole Officers supervise offenders both within the institutions and in the community on a form of release. This project focuses on Community Parole Officers, their current technology and forecasted technological advancements for case management and safety reasons.
TECHNOLOGICAL CURRENT STATE & FUTURE
Current technologies, safety tools and comparisons
Although federal Parole Officers in Canada have Peace Officer status under the Criminal Code of Canada, they receive no formal law enforcement training and are currently equipped with a laptop and smartphone. CSC has just moved to the Samsung smartphones which replaced BlackBerry. Parole Officers perform all case management duties with the use of the Offender Management System which CSC (2013) describes as "a computerized case file management system used by the Correctional Service of Canada, the Parole Board of Canada, and other criminal justice partners, to manage information on federal offenders throughout their sentences. The system gathers, stores, and retrieves information required for tracking offenders and making decisions concerning their cases. Information on provincial offenders applying for parole in provinces without their own parole boards is also stored in OMS." OMS is currently only available on computer desktops.
REAL-TIME SAFETY TOOLS
Unlike CSC's counterparts south of the border, their Parole Agents are equipped with a myriad of safety tools including but not limited to portable radios, sidearms, and handcuffs. Canadian Parole Officers do receive some limited hand-to-hand self defense training and have an App on their smartphones for emergency situations. A demonstration of the App created by SafetyLine and it's limitations can be found at the following link - https://safetylineloneworker.com/tour/smartphone-app-tour/
COMMUNITY SUPERVISION OF OFFENDERS
The Correctional Service of Canada is dedicated to protecting society by monitoring and supervising offenders and by helping them change the attitudes and behaviours that led them into criminal activity. Unfortunately due to technological limitations those being no mobile capabilities with OMS, etc., Parole Officers spend the majority of their time in their offices inputting case work records and reports which could be done on the road if easy technological advancements were made.
TECHNOLOGICAL FUTURE
Efficiencies. Expertise. Investment.
MOBILE WORKSTATIONS
Canadian police forces have been equipped with mobile workstations since the 1990's with the Ontario Provincial Police coming onboard in 2002. Parole Officers all have laptops that could be configured with a mobile docking station which would allow them to complete casework on the road, saving hours. Mobile work stations would allow Parole Officers to enter supervision notes after leaving an offenders residence versus them driving back to the office to perform this task.
​
The investment cost the OPP $4 million and they employ over 5000 police officers which far outnumbers the number of community Parole Officers across Canada.
OMS SMARTPHONE INTERFACE
CSC would be well served to come up with an interface for the OMS and smartphones that Parole Officers use as their primary tools. Additionally, the ability to turn a smartphone into an in-vehicle computer now exist. Samsung's DeXÂ platform allows the latest Galaxy smartphones to power a desktop computing experience, essentially replicating an in-vehicle computer by using a dedicated display and keyboard. DeX optimizes mobile applications to make full use of the larger display, rather than simply stretching the smartphone interface. The technology exists and CSC will need to learn how to make it work to their employees advantage.
REFERENCES
Correctional Service Canada. (2015). Community Corrections. Retrieved from https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/parole/index-eng.shtml
​
Correctional Service Canada. (2012). CSC Values Statement. Retrieved from https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/about-us/006-0026-eng.shtml
Correctional Service Canada. (2013). Job profile - Parole officer. Retrieved from https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/careers/003001-1103-eng.shtml
Correctional Service Canada. (2013). The Offender Management System. Retrieved from https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/oms/004003-0001-eng.shtml
CrimeStar Web Interface. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.crimestar.com/cwi.html
Gale, F. (2012). Vehicle mobile workstations a useful tool: Cpl. Mary Gale. Retrieved from https://www.thewesternstar.com/news/local/vehicle-mobile-workstations-a-useful-tool-cpl-mary-gale-116025/
Scotti, M. (2017). Correctional service: 16 prison staffers potentially exposed to fentanyl. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3850905/correctional-service-16-prison-staffers-potentially-exposed-to-fentanyl/
Smartphone App Lone Worker. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://safetylineloneworker.com/tour/smartphone-app-tour/
Stockton, D. (2019). Your Smartphone Can Make You a Better Law Enforcement Officer. Retrieved from https://insights.samsung.com/2019/06/28/law-enforcement-technology-tips-for-effective-smartphone-use-and-deployment/
List Subtitle
ABOUT ME
Truman Tremblay has worked for Correctional Service Canada since 2006 in the National Capital area, the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, and currently as a Parole Officer is Kamloops, British Columbia. He completed his undergraduate degree from Royal Roads University, and graduate degrees from Marist College and the University of Western Ontario. In addition to being a Parole Officer, Truman has lobbied to elected officials and departmental heads for better safety tools and mobile technology for Parole Officers. Additionally, he facilitates continuous development training each year and is a member of various committees in hopes of advancing Parole Officer working conditions.
