Canadian Forces Provost Marshal Annual Report 2020-2021

Canada's Military Police

Highly skilled soldiers and police officers serving in Canada and abroad

Office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal and Military Police Group Headquarters
2200 Walkley Road
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0K2
Telephone: 613-949-1000
Fax: 613 949-1637

Catalogue No. D3-13F-PDF
ISSN 2561-8490 (Online)

Table of Contents

• Message from the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal and Commander of the Canadian Forces Military Police Group
• Mission, Vision, MP Values and Core Functions
• Structure and Jurisdiction
• Highlights
• Military Police Strategic Plan 2019-2024
• Military Police Legal Services
• Message from the Canadian Forces Military Police Group Chief Warrant Officer
• Annex A: Investigation Statistics
• Annex B: Analytics
• Annex C: The MP in Numbers
• Annex D: Map – CF MP Gp in Canada
• Annex E: Map – MP Support to CAF Named Operations
• Annex F: Map – Military Police Security Service (MPSS) Disposition

Message from the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal and Commander of the Canadian Forces Military Police Group

It is with pride that I present you this annual report on Military Police activities in support of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Department of National Defence (DND). The report covers the period of 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

In my third year as Canadian Forces Provost Marshal (CFPM) and Commander of the Canadian Forces Military Police Group (CF MP Gp) we faced unexpected challenges and overcame many obstacles. This report provides an opportunity to showcase the perseverance and adaptibility that the women and men of the CF MP Gp demonstrated throughout a global pandemic, allowing us to continue to support DND/CAF.

With over 1800 personnel, the Military Police Group is among the 10 largest police services in Canada. We provide professional Policing, Security, and Detention services to DND/CAF, across the full spectrum of military operations in Canada and abroad. Military Police (MP) are deployed on every major named CAF Operation and in embassies around the world.

As the CFPM, I am an independent actor within the Military Justice System (MJS), and I can assure members of the Defence Team that they can be confident in the independence of our investigations and the professional capabilities of the MP. We are a learning organization, continuously striving to improve our processes to better support victims and serve the Defence Community.

The CF MP Gp displayed adaptability and creativity in order to carry on with our mission. The progression of priorities like the MP Strategic Plan 2019-2024 which includes new equipment and vehicles made significant progress as you will see in this report, despite challenges and setbacks brought forth by COVID-19.

In response to the changing security environment the Canadian Force National Investigation Service (CFNIS) stood up the Hateful Conduct, Extremism, Drug and Gang Enforcement (HEDGE) section which replaces the former National Drug Enforcement Team (NDET). HEDGE now investigates serious and sensitive offences related to hateful conduct, extremism, drug trafficking, and gangs including members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs that have a nexus to DND/CAF. This demonstrates our ability to adapt to changing times and to support the DND/CAF in our collective efforts to root out misconduct of all kinds.

Looking ahead to next year I am looking forward to examining the findings and  recommendations of the Third Independent Review of the National Defence Act (NDA) as it pertains to military policing, submitting the Statement Of Requirement (SOR) for the Next Generation Military Police Operational Dress, continuing to evolve our analytics capability and the roll out of the Conducted Energy Weapons (TASER) for our front line police personnel.

[Printed copy signed by]

S. Trudeau
Brigadier-General
Canadian Forces Provost Marshal
Commander of the Canadian Forces Military Police Group

Mission, Vision, MP Values and Core Functions

Mission

The CF MP Gp provide professional policing, security, and detention services to the CAF and DND globally, across the full spectrum of military operations.

Vision

CF MP Gp will generate and sustain a credible and professional MP force properly resourced and enabled to conduct operations in the joint, combined environment through the implementation of its assigned mission and core functions.

Values

MP are expected to conform to the standards established in the MP Professional Code of Conduct (MPPCC), which embraces the following values:

• Loyalty;
• Accountability;
• Integrity/Ethics;
• Competence; and
• Pride/Professionalism.

Core Functions

• Policing;
• Security;
• Detention; and
• Operational Support tasks for Environmental Commanders.

Structure and Jurisdiction

Structure/Independence

The CFPM is appointed by the CDS and is the functional authority for MP within the CAF and the designated advisor to the CDS on policing matters. The person assigned to the position of the CFPM is also charged with the command of the CF MP Gp and exercises full command over all MP personnel independently from the chain of command when performing police duties and functions.

The changes to the MP command and control structure in 2011 was a proactive measure by the CAF designed to strengthen the Military Justic System. This revised structure reinforces the independence and the authority of the CFPM in the exercise of the policing mandate.

As the centralized MP Headquarters (HQ), the CF MP Gp HQ provides direction to all MP members with regard to police policy and procedures, oversight on policing and security matters, professional standards, security, equipment and training, as well as broader MP Branch activities and traditions.

Jurisdiction

The CF MP Gp is among the 10 largest police services in Canada and fulfills national policing responsibilities. MP routinely exercise their unique jurisdiction within Canada and all locations where the CAF are deployed around the world.

On operations outside Canada, MP enforce Canadian criminal law and military law with respect to members of the CAF and over persons subject to the Code of Service Discipline (CSD). Within Canada, in many instances, the MP share concurrent jurisdiction with civilian police.

In the enforcement of Canadian military and criminal laws, MP are peace officers and lawfully exercise jurisdiction over members of the CAF and over persons on defence establishments including civilians. As first responders, MP have a key and important leadership role in safeguarding our Bases and Wings.

Highlights

Operations

Innovative Training

Distributed Learning. To overcome reduced student throughput compelled by Public Health Measures, mandatory quarantine of students travelling to CFB Borden, and mounting backlog of MP members awaiting advanced and specialist training, CFMPA developed strategies to bring this training to students that were also amenable to work from home arrangements. Building on the success of the MP Qualification Level 6A Distance Learning model, this advanced MP qualification course migrated entirely to the Distance Learning Portal, while the QL5 evolved into a blended Distance Learning / exported training program where explicit instruction and control mechanisms were created to facilitate training from home and at the home unit. In all instances, significant cost savings were realized without debilitating the curriculum or delays to career progression necessary for the health of the MP Branch.

HEDGE

Stand Up of the Hateful Conduct, Extremism, Drug and Gang Enforcement (HEDGE). On 2 February 2021, the CFNIS stood up HEDGE. This is in response to a changing security environment and the addition of known violent right wing groups to the Public Safety Canada terrorism listing, combined with a rise in hate motivated incidents. The HEGDE section replaces the former National Drug Enforcement Team (NDET).

With the addition of the new Military Personnel and departmental policies regarding Hateful Conduct (CF Mil Pers Instruction 01/20  (accessible only on the National Defence network) and Defence Administrative Orders and Directives 5019-0) – Hateful Conduct, the CFNIS saw a need to expand the role and mandate of NDET to address the rise in hate motivated incidents and address the existing complexities of investigations relating to drug investigations, extremism, organized crime and outlaw motorcycle gangs. NDET already held a capability to investigate illicit drug offences and was poised to investigate Hateful Conduct within existing resources.

The CFNIS HEDGE investigates serious and sensitive offences related to hateful conduct, extremism, drug trafficking, and gang enforcement including members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMG) that have a DND/CAF nexus.

HEDGE is comprised of 12 CFNIS Investigators across Canada and is centrally managed by a Warrant Officer who reports to the Officer Commanding of the CFNIS Specialized Operations Section.

Members of HEDGE receive specialized training in Hateful Conduct, hate and bias crimes, violent extremism, drug trafficking and gang enforcement techniques to include OMG.

CWO Belanger

Military Police Celebrate 80 Years of History

The 15th of June 2020 marked 80 years of unbroken lineage and identity as Military Police. This was a time to reflect upon both past and present members. Despite the pandemic environment, the CF MP Group Public Affairs Team was able to conduct several interviews from video conferencing or by maintaining social distancing with past and presents MPs for producing a tribute video. Namely, Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Paul Thobo-Carlsen, Director of History & Heritage, Canadian Military Police Association who provided invaluable support with historic imagery and information. He stated that it is important for Military Police to understand their history, to understand where they came from and where they are now. A shared history is a large part of what binds individuals into a community and instils a group with a distinct identity.

Sacrifice Medals

Two of Canada’s Military Police were presented with the Sacrifice Medal.

Canadian Forces Unit Commendation

On 30 November 2020 the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) awarded the Canadian Forces (CF) Unit Commendation to the Canadian Forces Protection Services Unit (CFPSU). “From 2015 to present, the Canadian Forces Protective Services Unit has provided impeccable support to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Canadian Joint Operations Command. The members have consistently and effortlessly adapted to last minute changes and demanding schedules at home and abroad, sometimes during challenging times. The professionalism, responsiveness and dedication displayed by each member of the Unit brought great honour to the Canadian Armed Forces.” This award brought great credit to the CFPSU, the CF MP Gp and the MP Branch as a whole. The CFPSU is a high-readiness, specialized unit that provides expert protective services capable of conducting a broad range of special protective missions and tasks in support of the DND/CAF at home and abroad. Protective services is the enhanced level of protection provided by specially trained individuals to high value strategic assets that are under specific or general threat. Protective services may vary from a security advisor up to and including the dedication of a full scale Close Protection team.

Military Police Strategic Plan 2019-2024

At the end of fiscal year 2018-2019 the CFPM put in place a five year strategic plan to be executed from 2019 to 2024. The purpose of the plan is to outline the major initiatives that will be implemented to ensure a healthy well balanced force that can execute the efficient and effective delivery of the MP program within DND/CAF.

The Military Police strategic plan 2019-2024 continues to provide a solid foundation to guide the current and future priorities of the CF MP group.

Notably, this year we saw the inauguration of the Capability Development Committee (CDC), which held its first meeting in September 2020. This governance board provides synchronization of MP led initiatives in order to ensure a holistic approach and an integrated implementation of any desired capability. While the primary focus of the CDC remains on technology, equipment, doctrine and structure, the overall objective of this committee is to continuously improve the planning and conceptualizing associated with the creation, maintenance, sustainability (LCMM), and adaptation of the capabilities in the face of a changing MP operational environment.

Further to this, posting season 2021 will see MPs attending the Canadian Army Technical Staff Programme for the first time since the course began in 1995. This year-long program, run by Royal Military College’s Department of Applied Military Science, provides an academic science foundation combined with the ability to apply defence management and technological knowledge within the context of military requirements. CF MP Gp successfully nominated one Captain and one Warrant Officer, who upon graduation will apply their technical expertise to the CF MP Gp Force Development (FD) cell.

Update on the Five Main Priorities in the Strategic Plan

Domestic Policing and Force Structure

Over the past several years the CF MP Gp has been studying how to right size domestic policing across all DND locations. These studies endeavour to ensure that the appropriate MP personnel resources are assigned to each detachment across the country. Previous studies recommended three-sized detachment models based on factors such as historic policing requirements, police files (General Occurrences), detachment population, and several other data points. The latest, and final study, known as the Domestic Police Establishment Project (DPEP), incorporates the results of the previous studies with new data which has considered the resource task bill associated with non-Policing, Security, and Detention tasks.

During 2020, it was determined that the implementation of all recommendations would be far reaching with respect to CF MP Gp and therefore would require an in depth Master Implementation Plan (MIP). With the final results of the DPEP now completed, planning of the MIP has commenced and will continue throughout 2021. The MIP will merge into another major project; the Automated Establishment Report (AER) Reconciliation. This project will align data from Human Resources software (Guardian) such as unit organization, personnel, and position numbers, with the actual verified MP organizational footprint and Command and Control (C2) structure. The execution of the MIP will commence with the 2022 posting season and will require a minimum of five years to implement in order to take into account personnel realignment and ultimate posting movements.

Health and Wellness of the Force

The CF MP Gp has made additional progress towards addressing the resilience of all MP down to the individual level. A standing Committee on Health and Wellness, chaired by the Commandant of the CFMPA stood up in 2020 to monitor and report the progress the group is making on key areas identified in the CAF Balance strategy. To this end, MP Balance, an online tool operationalizing fitness and injury prevention, sleep, nutrition, and mental resilience has been built and launched in early 2021, is expected to be accessible to each member of the CF MP Gp by mid-year. To promote the social wellness of the group a formal diversity ambassador program has been established to integrate our members into the Defence Advisory Group framework that will create a healthier and more inclusive workplace and is expected to be operating by the end of 2021.

Road to Mental Readiness for Military Police (R2MR4MP) has been integrated into new MP production on all Developmental Period 1 courses offered by the CFMPA, and great strides have been made to close the gap on rolling the training out to MP in the field. The training delta since R2MR4MP was introduced has reached approximately 70% of membership in the first of the 2 year project. Progress has slowed as a result of disruptions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is on track to resume in 2021 and train the remaining members. Furthermore, as part of review and feedback on the program after the first year, a need for recurrent training was identified by the training audience, and will form part of the final report to the CFPM for future years as an ongoing requirement.

MP Reserve Optimization

The MP Reserve is comprised of 11 Reserve MP Platoons located in Canada’s major urban centres. They are respectively under command of the four MP regiments that comprise the Army MP Group.

Over the last decade it has become apparent that the Reserve MP training model and an inconsistent assignment of mission and tasks has led to reduced operational output. Concurrent to this realization, the CF MP Gp has had to react to the CAF’s forward thinking strategic initiatives of Force Mix Structural Design (FMSD), and most importantly The Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE) Defence Policy.

On 6 January 2021 the CF MP Gp commenced the execution of Operation UNITY which is a six year undertaking to leverage the MP Reserves for the purpose of institutionalizing a permanent Close Support MP Capability across the full spectrum of operations both domestically and abroad. This undertaking will address a significant transformation of the individual training that Reserve MP will receive in addition to a deliberate focused approach to assessing, measuring, and validating collective Close Support MP Capability. It will have a transformative effect upon how the CF MP Gp trains for purposes of executing its non-law enforcement tasks for the CAF’s supported Commanders.

The future of the MP Reserve will be completely in line with the strategic intention of the CDS in that the CF MP Gp will ensure it is fully capable of providing “full time capability through part-time service” as explicitly demanded by SSE.

Information Management

Focussed on supporting evidence-based decision making throughout the entire MP structure, Information Management (IM) is linked to the Departmental Review Framework (DRF) and the MP Analytics Program (MPAP). Information Management is supported by the analysis of field-generated data which is then considered through MPAP-generated performance metrics. This information flow will enable more timely executive decision making for both short and long-term needs. Continuing efforts under the DRF better refines and aligns the MP program to meet DND/CAF requirements.

With two full-time personnel, the MPAP section works to ensure that the quality of field-generated data improves and that closer alignment can be achieved with the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS). *Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics has rebranded itself to include Community Safety.

This ongoing improvement will enable the development of improved criminal intelligence products over the next five years.

MPAP continues to work with Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), to provide research and development that supports DND/CAF in evidence-based decision making and management of personnel, equipment, readiness and infrastructure. Fundamentally, a sustained focus on IM is expected to lead to a more efficient assignment of resources, personnel and equipment, at Detachment and Platoon level operations. IM can provide iterative feedback to the first three priorities, and thereby maintain a structure for robust decision making.

Modernize MP Equipment and Technology

The CF MP Gp is continuing to develop and perfect its FD capability. This is being carried out in concert with the CDC which stood up this year to help with governance of this key long term strategic activity. FD is now fully part of the business planning and operational planning cycles. This process ensures that the CF MP Gp can be forward thinking and make best use of both in-year and out-year resource allocation.

MP equipment needs are divided into four (4) major areas of concern:

1. Soldier Systems – all equipment worn by the MP;
2. Mobility – all vehicle related equipment;
3. Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4) – tactical communications, information management equipment and digital assets and
4. Infrastructure – all MP related permanent and temporary infrastructures used to house and support MP operations domestically.

I. Soldier Systems

Enhanced Body Armour – Successful trials resulted in a new system being adopted. Roll out plan is April – June 2021.

Conducted Energy Weapons (CEW) – Continued with training and purchased 400 additional systems and ancillary equipment. There are now 193 trained users to date.

The Use of Force (UoF) section at the CFMPA have qualified the following number of MP members on the CEW since its training inception in December of 2019:

1. CEW Instructor / User – 51 members;
2. CEW User (QL3/DP1 Grads) – 128;
3. CEW User (Borden Military Police Unit) – 13; and
4. CEW User (CFMPA Staff) – 1.

MP Service Pistol Modernization – The MP have updated the statement of requirement (SOR) for pistol modernization. The project currently resides with Assistant Deputy Minister (Material) (ADM(MAT)) and is expected to move forward with contracting for 2500-3500 pistols during FY21-22 and FY22-23.

Next Generation MP Operational Dress (NGMPOD) – A survey was completed which included input from across the CF MP Gp. In consideration of gender based analysis and listening to advice from those who wear operational dress on a daily basis, this information will help to update the SOR. The results of the survey and overlapping information with Directorate of Soldier Systems Project Management (DSSPM) will ensure that the updated MP Operational Dress will meet the needs of CAF members who specialize in MP operations. We expect new sample uniforms to be trialed during FY22-23 and FY23-24.

II. Mobility

III. Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4)

IV. Infrastructure

The CF MP Gp has four main initiatives in this area:

1. Reviewing a common MP Guardhouse footprint that can be adapted to existing or purpose built buildings. The CF MP Gp is in the process of leveraging Assistant Deputy Minister Infrastructure and Environment (ADM(IE)) assets to help with the Guardhouse footprint project. The realization of this project will permit an increased understanding and efficient use of MP assets in each location;
2. Determination of the needs for CFNIS sub-detachments in specified locations across the country. CFNIS is considering locating some of its capability closer to areas where there is increased activity. This relocation of CFNIS personnel and equipment necessitates specialized infrastructure be put in place to serve these specific tasks;
3. The expansion of the CFPSU and the impacts of increased training needs within the National Capital Region (NCR). CFPSU has been mandated to grow to its full strength and as such will require increased space for personnel, equipment and training. CFPSU has engaged with Real Property Operations (RP Ops) within the NCR to begin engineering studies to determine how to best meet this growth requirement. It is expected that once this first phase is completed that the overall growth of infrastructure will take several years to be implemented; and
4. Simulation for UoF judgement training. The CF MP Gp is working in concert with its law enforcement partners to evaluate new simulators that will improve training across the MP Group and ensure optimize police response to critical situations. It is expected that the CF MP Gp will be able to procure these new simulation systems by the end of FY 21-22.

Military Police Legal Services

In 2020, the focus of the Military Police Legal Services was on two files of significant importance: supporting MP in the various Domestic Ops addressing COVID-19 and assisting with representations for the next Independent Review of the National Defence Act (NDA).

In addition to the need to adapt to the challenges associated with working remotely, COVID-19 resulted in the initiation of novel domestic operations at an unprecedented level. The first involved the repatriation of Canadians from the Diamond Princess cruise ship (Op GLOBE), quickly followed by the pandemic response (Op LASER) and then support to federal and provincial efforts to distribute vaccines (Op VECTOR). The result was many interesting legal questions that had to be answered to fully enable the MP to contribute to overall CAF efforts.

Although response to COVID-19 inevitably took center stage, the pandemic did not displace other important legal priorities. Under section 273.601 of the NDA, the Minister of National Defence (MND) is required to cause an independent review of specified provisions of the Act, and to table a report of the review to Parliament. The last independent review was in 2011.

On 16 November 2020, The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, MND, announced the appointment of the Honourable Morris J. Fish, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, as the Independent Review Authority to conduct the third independent review. The specified provisions under review include those relating to military justice (including the Code of Service Discipline), military grievances, the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, and the Military Police Complaints Commission. Significant preparation and consultation has already occurred, and will continue until its completion in June 2021.

Message from the Canadian Forces Military Police Group Chief Warrant Officer

Though 2020 was a particularly challenging year it is a privilege to highlight advancements and achievements made by our people over the last year.

Although COVID-19 was the unequivocally monopolising global focus and an exceptional generational marker, our MP, and the whole of the CF MP Group team, steadfastly maintained first-class policing, investigative, detention and security services at home and around the globe – this was no small feat. Our members, along with their families, showed exemplary resilience, commitment, ingenuity and resourcefulness in adapting to the shifting environment.   

Through adversity much was learned, opportunities seized and forward momentum uninterrupted, albeit frankly challenged at times, this is to the credit of our team.

The 80th anniversary of the MP Branch was scaled down due to the health measures in place. Yet the spirit, esprit de corps and sense of belonging was felt throughout local gatherings and celebrations, virtual vignettes leading to the event and messages shared on our social media page, thanks to our Public Affairs team who keeps our present serving members, our veteran and friends and families connected.

The CF MP Gp Health and Wellness Committee, an important committee to the CFPM/Comd CF MP Group and I, saw its Terms of Reference modernised. Under the tenet of Physical Health CFMPA introduced, as an Annex to the CAF BALANCE Strategy, the MP BALANCE Learning Portal, where resources related to nutrition, Mental Health or sleep/rest advice tailored to the dynamic of the MP realities. This is a prime example where a merge of vision, innovation, and ownership resulted in the MP Branch leading on the people front. Significant credit goes to one of our team enablers, Ms. Rachel Griese, from Personnel Support Program (PSP).

CFMPA devoted much effort at developing solutions to curtail a training backlog, particularly at the QL5 level, with the creation of the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Designed as a provisional alternative the ERT QL5 is a blend of Distance Learning and exported training that used lessons learnt, in situ trainer assistance, technologies and our field expertise. The concept proved to be a viable delivery vehicle where candidates graduated without the use of waivers or debilitating the curriculum, a critical success to the health and retention of the MP Branch.

The Next Generation Military Police Operational Dress (NGMPOD) project continued with working groups performing research and surveying local guardhouses, platoons, CFMPA, HQs as well as the greater MP Branch. The project will see the results of a survey in mid-2021 which will become the foundation of the Statement of Deficiencies for the onward movement of the project with ADM(Mat).

Some of our member’s devotion, talent and professionalism were again recognised through a myriad of honours and recognition. I would like to merely highlight a few: The introduction of CPO 2 Bryan Grass into the Order of the Military Merit, as a Member of the Order. Sacrifice Medal bestowed to Sgt Philip Daniels and Cpl Cameron Smith. CFPSU awarded the CDS Unit Commendation. LCol Micheal Motyl and Capt (Ret’d) Bernard Caron awarded the CDS Commendation. LCol Myles Macpherson and Maj Darren Lemire awarded the VCDS Commendation. MWO Harold Strain and WO Denis Dionne awarded the CJOC Commendation.

The environment awakened us to embrace technologies to stay connected and reach the mass for virtual town halls, maintaining our traditions to honour graduates, passing of command & appointments, retirement, fund raising events or to recognise achievements. This previously untapped opportunity will now become the norm where location will no longer be a limitation for loved ones, veterans and friends to join, in marking key milestones of our history.

In closing, I am most proud of our member’s dedications, empathy and professionalism towards our military and civilian population and communities. Their daily commitment throughout the department at home and abroad is humbling and empowering to me. 2021 promises to be a year where we will continue to forge ahead in our commitment to learn and adapt while focusing evermore on victim services and front line excellence – Disciplinare per exemplum! 

Annex A: Investigation Statistics

The tables below reflects the data collected from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. This is a collection of data representing the number of investigations commenced during this reporting period. Offence data is taken from the most serious violation code.

Unless otherwise stated, the numbers and analysis presented includes General Occurences (GO) in which MP had primary investigative jurisdiction but not shadow files, meaning the lead agency is a civilian police service, not MP.

This data does not reflect criminal convictions; rather, it reflects the number of investigations that were initiated by the MP.

Data collected from Security and Military Police Information System (SAMPIS) on 1 April 2021.

Year	Calls	General Occurrences	Tickets	Street Checks
2016	34986	11396	9507	40014
2017	35399	10519	10040	39412
2018	37712	10272	7280	40130
2019	36757	10231	2844	40741
2020	30991	7417	1664	37865

Property Crimes	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Breaking and Entering	30	54	54	49	49
Possession of Stolen Property	10	16	8	14	11
Theft of Motor Vehicle	14	9	9	13	9
Theft over $5000 (non-motor vehicle)	21	14	18	15	12
Theft under $5000 (non-motor vehicle)	487	386	373	302	184
Theft (Other)	*	*	172	190	103
Fraud	88	63	79	69	45
Mischief	683	683	282	224	197
Arson	4	3	2	1	3
Total	1 337	1 228	997	877	613

Other Criminal Code Offences

-	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Counterfeiting (Currency Offences)	1	0	1	0	1
Weapons Violations	12	9	10	20	14
Child Pornography	7	5	7	4	7
Prostitution	0	1	1	2	0
Disturbing the Peace	109	73	72	65	95
Administration of Justice Violations	50	60	76	46	51
Other Violations	53	61	37	38	15
Total	232	209	204	175	183

Criminal Code Traffic Offences

-	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Impaired Driving	130	182	161	183	59
Other Criminal Code Traffic Violations	39	34	22	12	15
Total	169	216	183	195	74

Drug Offences	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Possession – Cannabis	74	114	69	6	0
Possession – Cocaine	11	3	9	4	4
Possession – Other Drugs	16	17	15	10	9
Trafficking/Cultivation/Distribution – Cannabis	9	5	9	2	3
Trafficking/Production/Distribution – Cocaine	18	10	12	8	4
Trafficking/Production/Distribution – Other Drugs	10	16	13	17	8
Possess/Traffic/Produce – Precursors/Equipment	*	*	1	0	0
Cannabis Act – Offences & Violations	*	*	2	10	3
Other Drug-Related Offences	*	*	2	3	0
Total	138	165	143	68	40

Other Federal Statute Violations

-	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Youth Criminal Justice Act	10	5	2	6	5
National Defence Act	58	39	39	24	515
Other Federal Statutes	205	170	123	198	103
Total	273	214	164	228	623

*Note that a reporting difference in National Defence Act offences within SAMPIS has resulted in a significant increase.

Violent CrimesFootnote 1	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Homicide	0	1	0	0	1
Other Violations Causing Death	0	1	1	0	0
Attempted Murder (and conspiracy to commit)	0	0	2	0	1
Sexual Assault – Level 3 (Aggravated)	1	0	0	0	0
Sexual Assault – Level 2 (Weapon or Bodily Harm)	0	0	0	1	2
Sexual Assault – Level 1	175	183	230	206	106
Sexual Violations against Children	13	10	30	26	13
Other Sexual violations	*	*	13	13	7
Assault - Level 3 (Aggravated)	4	3	3	1	2
Assault - Level 2 (Weapon or Bodily Harm)	20	14	18	18	14
Assault - Level 1	164	183	173	139	89
Assault - Peace Officer	6	13	17	8	5
Other Assaults	20	13	22	14	8
Firearms - Use of, Discharge, Pointing	2	6	3	3	2
Robbery	1	1	2	2	0
Forcible Confinement or Kidnapping	10	13	9	11	8
Abduction	2	2	2	1	2
Extortion	11	6	7	6	7
Criminal Harassment	27	28	19	20	17
Uttering Threats	68	58	59	65	56
Threatening or Harassing Communications	5	7	3	3	7
Harassment	*	*	68	80	60
Other Violent Criminal Code Violations	22	23	9	4	3
Total	551	565	690	621	410

Definition

This data element will describe the status of an incident (unfounded or founded), and if it is a founded violation, its clearance status (not cleared, cleared by charge or cleared otherwise).
Charged/Suspect-Chargeable: CSC.

-	Value	Title	Description
Unfounded Incidents	A	Unfounded	It has been determined through police investigation that the offence reported did not occur, nor was it attempted.
Founded Incidents – Not Cleared	X	Open / Still under investigation	This clearance option is to be used for all open investigations and for those where action has yet to be taken on the reported incident. It includes incidents that cannot be classified as “Y - Insufficient evidence to proceed” or “Z - Victim/complainant declines to proceed (no CSC identified)”.
	Y	Insufficient evidence to proceed	When there is insufficient or conflicting evidence for the police service to substantiate laying a charge or recommending a charge to the Crown.
	Z	Victim/complainant declines to proceed (no CSC identified)	The CSC cannot be identified either because the victim/ complainant or other witnesses do not want to identify a CSC or they do not want to actively participate in the investigation.
Founded Incidents – Cleared by Charge or Charges Recommended	C	Cleared by charge (includes charges recommended)	At least one CSC has been identified and there is a criminal charge laid or recommended to be laid against this individual in connection with this criminal incident.
	W	Charges recommended but all declined by Crown	When the Police have recommend to the Crown that charges be laid, but the Crown declines to proceed with any of the charges. This clearance will largely apply to provinces that require Crown charge approval (i.e., New Brunswick Quebec and British Columbia), but can be used by police in other provinces where an incident involves a recommendation to the Crown.
Founded Incidents – Cleared Otherwise	D	Suicide of CSC	The CSC takes their own life prior to the department laying charges
	E	Death of CSC (not suicide)	The CSC loses life by circumstances other than suicide, prior to the police laying charges
	F	Death of complainant / witness	The complainant in the case or an essential witness to the incident loses their life through any circumstances prior to the police laying charges
	G	Reason beyond control of department (policy)	By directive either for policy or stated procedure, the department cannot lay charges
	H	Diplomatic immunity	CSC is a diplomat of a Member State of the United Nations and is therefore covered under the Privileges and Immunities Act 1977, which exempts the CSC from charges for specific offences committed by them in Canada
	I	CSC under 12 years of age	Children under 12 years of age cannot be prosecuted for criminal activities
	J	CSC committed to mental health facility	The CSC is not available for prosecution because: they are committed to a mental health facility without the hope of early release or As per conditions set by the court or Review Board under C.C. 672.54(b).
	K	CSC outside of Canada, cannot be returned	CSC is not present in Canada and cannot be returned to Canada to face charges because Canada does not have an extradition treaty with the country in question or the government decides not to proceed with extradition, therefore no charges are laid.
	L	Victim/complainant request that no further action is taken (CSC identified)	The CSC is known and sufficient evidence has been obtained to support a charge, but the victim/complainant request that no further action is taken by police and as a result police use discretion to not lay or recommend a charge.
	M	CSC involved in other incidents	The CSC is involved in another incident in which charges have been laid, it is decided NOT to lay charges against them for this particular incident. Should only be used if the CSC has already been charged in YOUR jurisdiction
	N	CSC already sentenced	The CSC is already serving a sentence in a correctional facility and no useful purpose would be served by laying charges in connection with this particular incident
	O	Departmental discretion	For reasons not already outlined in any of the other categories listed above and is not a diversionary program, the department’s administration decides not to lay a charge against the CSC. For example, if a CSC is given a warning, caution or a referral to a community-based program.
	R	Diversionary Program	The CSC is diverted away from the court process into a formal diversionary program. Commonly referred to as “Alternative Measures or Extrajudicial Sanctions.”
	S	Incident Cleared by a Lesser	Applies to less serious violations that can be cleared by municipal by-law or lesser statute – Note that a CSC needs to be identified in connection with the incident.
	T	Incident Cleared by Other Municipal/Provincial/Federal agency	Incident cleared by another municipal/provincial/federal agency. A CSC has been identified in connection with an incident in your jurisdiction, however, charges will be laid by another municipal/provincial/ federal agency for their incident, and you are satisfied clearing your incident by T. Note, no charges will be laid in your incident.

Other terms

Clearance rate

The number of incidents that have been "solved" (cleared) by police is divided by the number of incidents reported to, and substantiated by, police. See Clearance Status for additional information of how police can clear an incident and other status.

Clearance Rate (%) = (# Cleared Files ÷ # of Founded Files) x 100

General Occurrence (GO)

A GO is created to document any incident reported to MP where investigative efforts have been expended and no other event type is more appropriate. Relevant descriptive data entered in a GO include entity data (e.g. characteristics of the complainant, subject of complaint, witness), other carded entities (e.g. license plate of a reported stolen vehicle), and a synopsis or a summary description of what occurred which typically includes the “what, where, when, why, who, and how” of the offence.

GO are used to:

• assist in the determination of whether a criminal or service offence has been committed;
• provide the results of MP investigations to prosecutors and convening authorities with a concise summary of the evidence revealed by an investigation; and
• inform the appropriate CF and DND authorities of incidents for the purpose of further administrative action.

Incident

An incident refers to the occurrence of one (or more) criminal offence(s) during one single, distinct event, regardless of the number of victims. It is the set of connected events which usually constitute an occurrence report. These may be grouped into the same unique incident if and only if they are committed by the same person or groups of persons and if they occur at the same time and place. There are some exceptions to this rule. Please see the section on “continuing offence rule” for more clarification.

An incident can contain up to 4 different violations. The most serious of which is referred to as the most serious violation (MSV) within an incident. When reporting, the MSV must always be the first incident on the file (this is usually automatically sorted within the records management system).

The Continuing Offence Rule

In some incidents, several violations are investigated and recorded in the same General Occurrence under the Continuing Offence Rule. This rule applies when several violations can be linked because they either happened in a sequential manner, they repeat over time, or they are all part of a larger case. Refer to the 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) Manual produced by Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) for more details.

Most Serious Violation/Offence (MSV/MSO)

An incident can contain one to four violation codes. The most serious violation, as determined by the maximum penalty, is referred to as Most Serious Violation (MSV) within an incident. When reporting, the MSV must always be the first violation code listed on the record. Refer to the 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) Manual produced by Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) for more details.

A hierarchical coding structure used to identify the four (4) most serious violations in an incident. MSV information is collected as it is the most comparable way of reporting incidents, and the MSV is used in the annual publication of crime statistics in Canada.

Offence (or Violation)

Offence refers to contraventions to or violations committed against the Criminal Code or other statutes. There are two basic types of offences: violent and non-violent.

Violent offence

A “violent” offence generally indicates a violation of the law which has included the use of aggressive action (with the intent to do harm) or threat of such action by one person against another. Under the UCR codes, the exceptions to this are some violations contained within “Other Sexual Offences”. Violent offences are counted in terms of the number of victims in the incident. More specifically, the basic counting rule is that one victim equals one offence.

Nonviolent offence

A “non-violent” offence is the converse of the above and means the absence of aggressive action or threat with the violation of the law. Non-violent offences are counted in terms of the number of incidents. For non-violent offences (property, drug, etc), the basic counting rule is that one offence is counted for each distinct or separate incident.

Operational (or Investigative) Status

Used to reflect the internal operational status or the current status of the GO and investigation. This field is updated by the appropriate user depending on the stage of the investigation.

• B- Ongoing
• J- Awaiting RMP Review
• X-Suspended
• C-Concluded
• Z-Ongoing Judicial Process

Security and Military Police Information System (SAMPIS)

A suite of commercial, off-the-shelf law enforcement software authorized for use by the CAF MP since 2000.

Unfounded Incidents

For an incident to be considered “unfounded” it must been determined through investigation that the offence reported did not occur, nor was it attempted.

An unfounded incident is not an incident where someone is committing mischief by reporting a violation that did not take place. In such a case, the violation that did not take place should be classified as unfounded, whereas the mischief violation should be reflected as a separate incident.

Unfounded should not to be confused with an unsubstantiated incident; wherein it cannot be determined whether a violation occurred or not. Refer to the 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) Manual produced by Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) for more details.

Victim

The term victim is a central concept in UCR scoring. For the purpose of reporting incidents, a "victim" is a person who is the target of a violent or aggressive action (or threat) not to be confused with a complainant who is the target of a non-violent incident.

Violation Code / UCR Code

UCR codes are used to classify/identify the type of incident and offences. UCR codes are assigned based on whether the incident involves Criminal Code offences (e.g. codes in the 1000 series are assigned for crimes against the person, while the 2000 series is used for offences against property), non-Criminal Code provincial legislation violations (e.g. a 7000 series code), or a UCR Statistic and Survey Code, which includes non-Criminal Code violations (e.g. a municipal bylaw; this code category is often referred to as an 8000 series code).

The UCR violation coding structure is divided into two categories of violation codes:

• violations against the person, property, drugs and others; and
• traffic violations

Violations against the person, property, drugs and others are further divided into the following subcategories:

• Crimes Against the Person (1000);
• Crimes Against Property (2000);
• Other Criminal Code Violations (3000);
• Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (4000);
• Other Federal Statute Violations (6000);
• Provincial Statute Violations (7000).

NOTE: The 8000 series of UCR codes are intended for departmental discretion and can be used by a police service as they see fit.

Refer to the 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) Manual produced by Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) for more details.

Violation type

A contravention of the Criminal Code or other Federal and Provincial Statutes. Type refers to a general character, form, or a characteristic that distinguishes a particular group or class of things.

Failing to assign the correct UCR codes to an incident can result in skewed statistics and criminal intelligence failures.

Annex B: Analytics

Foreward

As part of the CF MP Gp commitment to evidence-based decision making, the Military Police Analytics Program (MPAP) continues to work on ensuring that CF MP Gp has an increasingly precise and accurate understanding of the incidents to which it responds. Such understanding allows for an increasingly improved understanding of CF MP Gp’s performance, and ensuring it has the right resources allocated to respond to incidents. As part of this commitment, MPAP has continued its collaboration with a Defence Scientist from Defence Research and Development Canada – Toronto Research Centre (DRDC – Toronto Research Centre), receiving support to develop data analytics through advice and an analytical framework^{Footnote 1}. The product of the collaboration has produced a Reference Document (RD) with an analysis of the incidents to which CF MP Gp investigated in 2020. The framework resembles, and was informed by, previous CFPM Annual reports, with the express purpose of informing this Annual Report. However, the research differs in some slight ways, as it was able to present data on offenders and victims of crime, and their relative proportions to the crimes, and recidivism, all of which CF MP Gp could not have produced without the support of DRDC, and specifically the dedication of author of the document, Dominique Laferrière, Ph.D., whose support to this effort is incalculable.

Included below are extracts of the RD, reprinted with permission from DRDC. As noted in the RD, the analyses work presented is preliminary and is expected to be refined over time. However, caution is advised when interpreting the following findings, as the methods for data extraction and crime categorization strategies previously used in other sources may have differed from the one used by RD, which will necessarily produce differences in the results.

Selected excerpts from the Reference Document

Individuals involved in incidents under the investigative jurisdiction of the Military Police in 2020

Perpetrators and alleged perpetrators

Because of its importance from both public and policing perspectives, this section offers a preliminary profile analysis of individuals who were involved in Criminal Code of Canada (CCC) - or Code of Service Discipline (CDS) - related incidents in 2020. First, the analysis focused on perpetrators and alleged perpetrators of such incidents. Following the Canadian Centre of Justice Statistics’ definitions and using the Role Description variable found in Security and Military Police Information System (SAMPIS), the individuals of interest in this section are those whose roles were listed as suspect, accused or charged. In order to focus the analysis on violations that were deemed to have occurred and avoid presenting inflated numbers of perpetrators/alleged perpetrators, this section focuses strictly on founded incidents.

Table 1: Distribution of Adults and Young Persons who were Suspected, Accused, Charged with, or Arrested for Founded CCC-Related or CSD-Related Violations in 2020 (N = 628)

CCC-Related IncidentsFootnote a	Adult CSC			YP CSC
-	F	M	CAF	F	M	CAF
Crimes Against Person	40	128	101	2	13	0
Crimes Against Property	25	69	29	7	4	0
Other CCC Violations	10	53	25	0	0	0
Drugs and Substances Act	2	16	8	0	1	0
Other Federal Statute Violation	6	47	29	2	1	0
Provincial Statute Violation	0	1	1	0	0	0
Traffic Violation	14	47	31	0	0	0
Provincial Traffic Violation	2	10	6	0	0	0
Total	93	356	220	11	19	0

CSD-Related Incidents	Adult CSC			YP CSC
-	F	M	CAF	F	M	CAF
Assaults	0	12	12	0	0	0
Other Violations Involving Violence or Threat of Violence	0	1	1	0	0	0
Dangerous Operation	1	4	5	0	0	0
Thefts	0	3	3	0	0	0
Mischiefs	0	1	1	0	0	0
Military-Specific Offences	5	82	85	0	0	0
Offences Against Public Order	0	1	1	0	0	0
Offences Against Administration of Law and Justice	5	25	28	0	2	2Footnote b
Other Offences	0	11	10	0	0	0
Criminal Intelligence Files	0	1	1	0	0	0
Total	10	131	136	0	2	2

Overall, males—adults or YP—were identified as the CSC in 78.3% of CCC-related incidents and in 93.0% of CSD-related incidents. A similar gender-based distribution was also found across the more specific types of CCC-related incidents. Indeed, the proportion of males ranges between 69.5% (crimes against property) and 100.0% (provincial statute violations). The gender imbalance was also found in specific CSD-related incidents, with males being identified as the CSC in proportions ranging from 80.0% (dangerous operation) to 100.0% (assaults; other violations involving threat; thefts; mischiefs; offences against public order; other offences). This uneven gender-based distribution of CSC is in line with previous research in criminology, which suggests that an important proportion of individuals who are convicted of offences are male (for e.g., see Reitano, 2017).

The gender-based distribution of CSC is also likely influenced by the fact that the CAF workforce is composed of a larger proportion of males than females (Manser, 2018; Statistics Canada, 2019). This being said, while CAF members^{Footnote 2} were identified as the CSC in most CSD-related incidents, the proportions of CAF members identified as CSC in CCC-related incidents were smaller (45.9% of all CCC-related offences vs. 95.1% of all CSD-related incidents).

Victims of Founded Crimes Against the Person

This section pursues the profile analysis of individuals involved in CCC- and CSD-related incidents under the investigative jurisdiction of the MP in 2020, by analyzing the data pertaining to the victims of such incidents. When it reports on crime trends across Canada, the CCJS defines victims as: “person[s] who are the target of a violent or aggressive action (or threat)” (CCJS, 2016, p. 13). Following the CCJS’ definition, and because of the importance of victims in policing work (e.g., victims assistance, public opinion, investigation process), the focus is placed on victims of crimes against the person in the following analyses.^{Footnote 3} In 2020, 289 individuals were victims of one of the founded incidents involving a crime against the person under the investigative jurisdiction of the CF MP Gp. Of those 289 individuals, 229 were adults and 60 were YPs at the time of the offence. Ten individuals (7 adults, 3 YPs) were identified as a victim in two distinct incidents involving a founded crime against the person. The specific distribution of victims per category of crimes against the person and per gender can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1: Gender Distribution of Adults who were Victims of Founded Crimes Against the Person in 2020 (N = 139)

• Figure 1: Long description

  Number of Victims per Category of Founded Crimes Against the Person under the Jurisdiction of the CF MP in 2020 (N = 289)

  Categories of Crimes Against the Person	Adult Victim
  -	F	M	CAF
  Violations Causing Death	1	0	0
  Attempting the Commission of a Capital Crime	0	0	0
  Sexual Violations	71	18	71
  Assaults	45	18	69
  Violations Resulting in the Deprivation of Freedom	2	0	1
  Other Violations Involving Violence or Threat	11	22	25
  Total	128	101	164

As shown in both Figures, females formed the largest share of victims in sexual violations (79.8% of adult; 87.5% of YPs). In contrast, males were more frequently victims of assault than females, both among adults (57.5%) and YPs (54.2%). Overall, there were fewer victims of other violations involving violence or threat, but males were also more frequently victims of this type of crime against the person than females. Additionally, there were four victims of deprivation of freedom (2 female adults, 1 female YP, and 1 male YP), 1 female YP victim of an attempt to commit a capital crime and 1 female adult victim of a violation causing death.

Figure 2: Gender distribution of young persons who were victims of founded crimes against the person in 2020 (N = 60)

• Figure 2: Long description

  Number of Victims per Category of Founded Crimes Against the Person under the Jurisdiction of the CF MP in 2020 (N = 289)

  Categories of Crimes Against the Person	YP Victim
  -	F	M	CAF
  Violations Causing Death	0	0	0
  Attempting the Commission of a Capital Crime	1	0	0
  Sexual Violations	28	4	4
  Assaults	11	13	0
  Violations Resulting in the Deprivation of Freedom	1	1	0
  Other Violations Involving Violence or Threat	0	2	0
  Total	41	19	4

  YP: Young Person (under 18).

Among the 289 victims of a founded crime against the person in 2020, 168 were CAF members (58.1% of all victims). Of those 168 individuals, there were 72 adult women and 92 adult males. Among CAF victims of crimes against the person, there were also 4 females who were YPs at the time of the offence. These 4 female YPs were victims of sexual assault.

Sexual offences

Annex A of the 2019 CFPM Annual Report presented a descriptive analysis of sexual-related incidents that were either reported to or investigated by the MP between 2016 and 2019. In order to enable the CFPM to pursue the analytical exercise presented last year, this section analyzes the sexual-related incidents that were reported to the MP in 2020. Additional analyses on the individuals who were involved in these incidents are also presented. The analysis of sexual-related incidents are based on a slightly different dataset from the one used in the analyses presented in the previous sections. In order to ensure comparability with the findings presented in the 2019 CFPM Annual Report, the data selection procedure used in the 2019 report was reproduced. Specifically, the dataset used in this section includes all offences that were reported to the MP in 2020, including shadow files and incidents that were determined to be unfounded. In terms of crime categorization, the following UCR codes were included in the analysis: (1) all UCR codes included in the sexual violations category used by the CCJS; (2) all sexual-related offences that are in the other criminal code category used by the CCJS; and (3) select CSD-related UCR codes. Lastly, in order to capture all sexual-related offences reported to the MP in 2020, all UCR codes within an incident were considered. When more than one sexual-related offence was present in an incident, the primary offence or the most serious sexual-related offence was included in the analysis.^{Footnote 4}

In 2020, the MP documented a total of 234 sexual-related incidents, 75.2% of which were sexual assaults, 13.2% of which were other sexual assaults, and 11.5% of which were sexual offences against children (see Table 2). A comparative analysis highlights that fewer sexual-related offences were reported in 2020 than in the past 4 years. Indeed, the total number of sexual-related offences during the 2016–2019 period ranged from 301 (2017) to 358 (2018). The same finding was observed when considering more specific offence categories. Between 2016 and 2019, there were between 222 (2017) and 280 (2018) sexual assaults, between 30 (2018) and 39 (2016) sexual offences against children, and between 43 (2017) and 48 (2018) other sexual-related offences. In fact, a general upward trend in sexual-related offences had been noted between 2016 and 2019, such that an additional increase of 5.2% was predicted for 2020 (predicted range between 300 and 403 sexual-related incidents).

Table 2: Sexual-Related Incidents Reported to the MP in 2020

-	Type of Sexual Offence	Total	Total Founded	Involving a CAF MemberFootnote a
Sexual Assaults	Sexual Assault with a Weapon	3	3	3
	Sexual Assault	173	167	102
	Total	176	170	105
Sexual Offences Against Children	Other Sexual Crimes	11	11	10
	Sexual Interference	12	11	7
	Invitation to Sexual Touching	2	2	1
	Sexual Exploitation	2	2	1
	Total	27	26	19
Other Sexual Offences – Related Offences	Voyeurism	4	4	0
	Distribution of Images	3	2	1
	Indecent Acts	5	5	1
	Child Pornography	15	15	8
	Public Morals	1	1	0
	Sexual Offences, Morals and Disorder	1	1	0
	Sexual Harassment (OUTCAN)	2	2	1
	Total	31	30	11
-	Grand Total	234	226	135

The data used in this RD suggests that the predicted increase in sexual-related incidents reported to the MP did not materialize in 2020.^{Footnote 5} While this could be interpreted in a positive light, it remains unclear whether lower reporting levels can actually be translated into lower numbers of sexual-related offences. Indeed, victims could simply have reported such crimes at a lower frequency in 2020. Of course, this downward trend is also in line with the COVID-19 hypothesis, which was examined above. Although other hypotheses cannot be discarded, a monthly analysis of the reporting of sexual-related offences to the MP in 2020 supports this hypothesis (see Figure 3). As can be seen, sexual assaults, sexual offences against children and other sexual assaults all dropped in March 2020. As opposed to the temporal analyses presented above, however, sexual-related offences had risen back to their pre-COVID-19 rates by the end of the summer and did not undergo a second decline in December 2020. Analyses of the 2021 data will be required to confirm the long-term effects of the current pandemic on the reporting rates of sexual-related offences to the MP.

Figure 3: Types of Sexual-Related Incidents Reported to the MP in 2020, Per Month (N = 234)

• Figure 3: Long description

  Month	Sexual Assaults	Sexual Offences Against Children	Other Sexual Offences	Total
  January	14	1	2	17
  February	21	5	4	30
  March	13	0	3	16
  April	11	0	1	12
  May	4	2	3	9
  June	13	1	2	16
  July	14	5	3	22
  August	23	2	4	29
  September	17	1	2	20
  October	20	4	3	27
  November	11	3	1	15
  December	15	3	3	21

Out of the 234 sexual-related incidents that were reported to the MP in 2020, 129 were cleared, either by charge or otherwise, at the time of data extraction. This resulted in a clearance rate of 57.1%, which is higher than the overall clearance rate of 41.6% calculated for the 2016-2019 period. Of these cleared incidents, 57 were cleared by laying or recommending laying a charge. An additional 72 incidents were cleared otherwise, the majority of which were cleared by another agency (50 incidents) and by the use of departmental discretion (11 incidents). Out of the 97 incidents that were not cleared at the time of data extraction, 49.5% were still open/under investigation. The remaining incidents were not cleared because there was insufficient evidence to proceed (35 incidents), and because the victim declined to proceed (14 incidents).

Table 3: Clearance and Operational Statuses of Sexual-Related Incidents Reported to the MP in 2020 (N = 234)

-	CCJS Status					Operational Status
-	Unfounded	Not Cleared	Cleared Charge	Cleared Otherwise	Clearance Rate (%)Footnote a	Concluded	OngoingFootnote b
Sexual Assaults	6	77	40	53	54.7	96	80
Sexual Offences Against Children	1	8	9	9	69.2	19	8
Other	1	12	8	10	60.9	22	9
Total	8	97	57	72	57.1	137	97

In total, 3.4% of sexual-related incidents reported to the MP in 2020 were determined to be unfounded, which is slightly above the average proportion of unfounded incidents between 2016 and 2019 (2.8%). However, as was the case in the four previous years, the proportion of sexual-related offences deemed to be unfounded remains below the national average, which was 10% in 2019 (Moreau, Jaffray, Armstrong, 2020). In line with the findings presented in the 2019 Annual Report, sexual-related incidents occurred or were reported to have occurred more frequently within areas under the CA’s AOR (53.8% of sexual-related incidents; see Table 4). The RCAF (15.8%), the RCN (15.4%) and support/training bases (14.5%) reported lower rates than the CA, a finding that also echoes the 2016–2019 data. As previously noted, this imbalance could be due to the fact that the CA is the largest of the CAF environment.

Table 4: Environmental AORs and Geographical Location of Sexual-Related Incidents Reported to the CF MP in 2020

Environmental AORs	Region Where Sexual-Related Incident Occurred						-
-	Pacific	Western	Central	Eastern	Atlantic	OUTCAN	Total
RCAF	0	21	3	7	6	0	37
CA	3	3	55	18	14	0	126
RCN	17	0	0	0	29	0	36
Support/Training	0	0	28	0	0	6	34
Other	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Total	20	57	86	25	39	7	234

Because the Regionalization strategy used in this RD differed slightly from the strategy used in the 2019 Annual Report, caution is warranted in the comparison of region-based analyses presented in the two reports. As shown in Table 4, a total of 36.7% of all sexual-related incidents reported to the MP in 2020 occurred or were reported to have occurred in the Central region. In line with the CCC- and CSD-related analyses presented above, the second region reporting the largest number of sexual-related incidents was the Western region (24.4%), followed by the Atlantic (16.7%), and the Eastern (10.7%) regions.

A more precise analysis suggests that sexual-related incidents were reported more frequently in certain municipalities/districts than in others. For instance, in 2020, 9.4% of sexual-related incidents occurred or were reported to have occurred in Petawawa. Other municipalities also had relatively high rates of sexual-related incidents reporting: Halifax (7.7%), Esquimalt (7.3%), Kingston (7.3%), Edmonton (6.4%), and Montréal (6.4%). These specific areas differ slightly from the areas listed in Annex A of the 2019 CFPM Annual report, a discrepancy that is likely due to the different categorization strategies used in each reports.^{Footnote 6}

Tables 5 and 6 display additional data extracted from SAMPIS that contextualize the sexual-related incidents that were reported to the MP in 2020. First, an analysis of time elapsed between the occurrence of a sexual-related offence and its reporting to the police suggests an increased delay in 2020 in comparison with the 2016–2020 period. In 2020, 26.1% of sexual-related incidents were reported within a week, while that figure reached an average of 42.3% between 2016 and 2019. A similar increase in reporting delays was also noted when looking at incidents reported within a month (38.0% in 2020 compared with 53.4% in 2016-2019) and within a year (63.7% in 2020 compared with 75.8% in 2016–2019).

Table 5: Time Elapsed Between the Occurrence or Alleged Occurrence of Sexual-Related Incidents
and their Reporting to the Police

-	0 Days	1 - 7 Days	1 Wk –1 Mth	1 Mth – 1 Yr	1 – 10 Yrs	>10 Yrs	Average Number of Days	Median Number of Days
Sexual Assaults	19	23	24	42	41	27	1 997	139
Sexual Offences Against Children	3	4	1	7	8	4	1 717	255
Other	6	6	3	11	5	0	177	34
Total	28	33	28	60	54	31	1 724	132

In order to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a role in this increase in reporting delays, pre-pandemic reporting delays were compared with post-pandemic delays. While the median number of days that had elapsed between the occurrence (or alleged occurrence) of a sexual-related incident and its reporting to the police before the remote work posture was 117 (average = 1,487 days), it increased to 204 days (average = 2,461) after the beginning of the pandemic.

Experts have begun examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society and crime. They have suggested that while the stresses imposed by the pandemic may have led to increased gender-based violence, major changes in the availability of support services such as hotlines and shelters may have affected victims’ abilities to seek refuge and, in turn, may have affected their likelihood of reporting the acts of violence they have experienced (Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children, 2020). While more analyses are needed to determine whether these COVID-related impacts have played a role in the reporting of sexual-related incidents to the MP in 2020, the data indicates that reporting delays doubled once the remote work posture began across DND/CAF.

Table 6 presents the data related to flags and special study fields for all sexual-related incidents reported to the MP in 2020. The data found in SAMPIS indicates that 9 incidents were transferred from the CAF Sexual Misconduct Response Centre (SMRC), 9 were flagged as having occurred at the Royal Military College, and 8 involved cadet camps or units. Alcohol and family violence were respectively recorded as having played a role in 32.5% and 15.8% of sexual-related incidents. Lastly, victims’ assistance was involved in 32.9% of all incidents reported to the MP.

Table 6: Factors Involved in Sexual-Related Incidents Reported to the MP in 2020 and Other Special Study Fields (N = 234)

-	Received Via SMRC (CT)	Royal Military College (RM)	Cadet Camp/Unit (CR)	Victims Assistance (VA)	Drug/Alcohol	Family Violence
Sexual Assaults	8	8	4	68	72	30
Sexual Offences Against Children	1	1	3	6	3	4
Other	0	0	1	3	1	3
Total	9	9	8	77	76	37

Individuals involved in founded sexual-related incidents reported to the MP in 2020

Perpetrators and alleged perpetrators

A total of 109 individuals were identified as the CSC in one of the founded sexual-related incidents that were reported to the MP in 2020. Of those 109 CSC, 1 individual was involved in 2 distinct incidents, and 1 was involved in three incidents. Figure 4 shows the gender and age distribution of these CSCs. The large majority of individuals identified as perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of founded sexual-related incidents was male (97.2%, adult and Young Persons (YP) combined), but 3 adult females were also identified as the CSC (2 sexual assaults and 1 sexual offence against children). Additionally, three-quarters of perpetrators/alleged perpetrators were CAF members, all of whom were adults at the time of the offence (75.2%).

Figure 4: CSC Involved in Sexual-Related Incidents Reported to the MP in 2020 (N = 109)

• Figure 4: Long description

  Type of Sexual-Related Incident	Adult CSC		YP CSC		CAF Members	Total
  -	F	M	F	M	-	-
  Sexual Assaults	2	74	0	3	60	79
  Sexual Offences Against Children	1	17	0	3	15	21
  Other Sexual Offences	0	11	0	0	9	11
  Total	3	100	0	6	82	109

Victims

A total of 168 victims were identified in the founded sexual-related incidents reported to the MP in 2020. Of those 168 individuals, 7 were identified as victims in 2 separate incidents. Contrasting with the gender distribution of CSCs, females formed the largest proportion of the group of identified victims (83.3%). However, a non-negligible number of males (22 adults and 6 YPs) were also identified as the victim in sexual-related incidents in 2020. The proportion of CAF members among victims was lower than that of CSCs, with about half of the victims being CAF members (55.4%).

Figure 5: Victims of Sexual-Related Incidents Reported to the MP in 2020 (N = 168)

• Figure 5: Long description

  Type of sexual-related incident	Adult victim		YP victim		CAF member	Total
  -	F	M	F	M
  Sexual assaults	97	20	21	5	86 (3 YPs	143
  Sexual offences against children	3	2	13	0	5 (1 YP	18
  Other sexual offences	5	0	2	1	3	8
  Total	104	22	36	6	93	168

Conclusion

Although some data-related issues were noted throughout, the analyses presented in this RD highlight the richness of the policing data collected in SAMPIS by the MP and the breadth of information that crime analysis can convey. The long-term impacts of the current pandemic on crime trends and on victimisation are difficult to predict at this time. Thorough and consistent analyses will be required to ensure a policing response that is adapted to the new reality.

Based on work done in close collaboration with the MPAP, new and preliminary analyses using the MP policing data have also been presented. First, CSD-related incidents have been categorized and analysed using a similar strategy used in the analysis of CCC-related incidents. Being an integral part of the MP law enforcement mandate, only an analysis that includes such incidents can be fully informative. Second, this RD has taken advantage of the richness of the entity section of SAMPIS in order to provide more information on individuals involved in the offences and violations that occur under the MP’s jurisdiction.

This RD has only brushed the surface of the kinds of analyses that an analytical cell such as the MPAP could be capable of, given the right tools and resources. For instance, temporal analyses could, over the next few years, provide an in-depth understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on offending patterns across the CAF and DND. More precise geographical analyses could help identify hot spots of crime under the jurisdiction of the MP, and contextual data could be used to understand what makes certain areas more prone to illegal behaviours and violations. Additional analyses looking at the impact of deployment on crime or of the implementation of new programs are also possible.

This RD is not without its limitations. First, analyses can only be as good as the data that is used to conduct them. Second, the analyses presented above are strictly based on the most serious violation found in each incident. While this is in line with the CCJS’ analytical strategy when reporting on crime in Canada, it cannot provide a completely accurate picture of the crimes and violations that come under the jurisdiction of the MP.

Over the course of the MPAP-DRDC collaboration and during the production of this RD, many lessons were learned. Notably, the value of a data analytics capability for the MP was noted. However, the very existence of the MPAP-DRDC collaboration has also highlighted the need for resources that would enable the maintenance of this capability over the long-term.

References for this Annex

• The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (2016). Uniform crime reporting incident based survey. Statistics Canada.
• Laferrière, D. (2021). Building a framework to support the development of a crime analytics capability within the Canadian Forces Military Police: A look at the 2020 crime data. Defence Research and Development Canada.
• Manser, L. (2018). Profile of military families in Canada: 2017 Regular Force demographics [PDF, 992KB]. Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services.
• Moreau, G., Jaffray, B., & Armstrong, A. (2020). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2019. Statistics Canada.
• Reitano, J. (2017). Adult correctional statistics in Canada, 2015/2016. Statistics Canada.
• Statistics Canada (2019). Men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces, 2019.
• Western University Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children (2020). COVID-19 and gender-based violence in Canada: Key issues and recommendations.

Annex C: The MP in Numbers

MP Regular Force Personnel	Authorized (Preferred Manning Level)	Actual (Trained Effective Strength)
Officers	186	215
Non-Commissioned Members (NCM/NCO)	1 289	1 066
Total	1 476	1 281

MP Reserve Force Personnel	Authorized (Preferred Manning Level)	Actual (Trained Effective Strength)
Officers, NCOs and NCMs	NCM 615 / MPO 45 Total 660	NCM 199 / MPO 39 Total 238

MP Group Gender Distribution	Officer	NCM/NCO
Female (Regular Force)	MP Officers 24% (CAF 16%)	MP 14% (CAF 16%)
Male (Regular Force)	MP Officers 76% (CAF 84%)	MP 86% (CAF 84%)
Female (Reserve Force)	MP Officers 15% (CAF 17%)	MP 16% (CAF 16%)
Male (Reserve Force)	MP Officers 85% (CAF 83%)	MP 84% (CAF 84%)

Annex D: Map – CF MP Gp in Canada

Annex E: Map – MP Support to CAF Named Operations

Annex F: Map – Military Police Security Service (MPSS) Disposition