PPSC Survey of Investigative Agencies in the Provinces 2008: Questionnaire
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your views are important to us, and will help us to strengthen our prosecution services.
Should you have any questions or require assistance with any part of the survey, please contact Tina Hattem, Principal Researcher, PPSC, at 613-946-7934 or tina.hattem@ppsc-sppc.gc.ca.
Part A – Indentification
1
Agency Information
Name of your investigative agency:
Number of investigators in your agency:
2
Please indicate the capacity in which you are commenting on the PPSC’s work, using more than one category if required.
An investigator referring matters to the PPSC
A manager of investigators who refer matters to the PPSC
A person who is involved in liaison with the PPSC
Other capacity – please explain
3
Please indicate the city and province that you work out of.
4
How often did you interact with PPSC prosecutors over the last year?
Daily
Weekly
Bi-Weekly
Monthly
Less than once per month
Part B – Prosecution of drug offences
Drug offences refer to offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA).
My agency has not initiated any drug prosecutions under the CDSA over the last year. (Please go to Part C)
5
Please rate the following aspects of the PPSC’s drug prosecution services:
Do not use service
Poor
Acceptable
Good
Very good
Excellent
Understanding of your agency’s responsibilities as they impact on prosecutions
Guidance / assistance in the preparation of search warrants
Guidance / assistance in the collection of disclosure information
Informing your agency when charges are varied or withdrawn
Preparation for court
Consistency of advice / prosecution strategies
Timeliness of pre-charge advice / court prosecutions
Quality of your interactions with PPSC personnel
Overall assessment of the PPSC’s drug prosecution services
6
What do you see as the strengths of the PPSC’s drug prosecution services?
7
How could the PPSC’s drug prosecution services be improved?
Part C – Prosecution of organized crime offences
My agency has not initiated any organized crime prosecutions over the last year. (Please go to Part D)
8
Please rate the following aspects of the PPSC’s organized crime prosecution services:
Do not use service
Poor
Acceptable
Good
Very good
Excellent
Understanding of your agency’s responsibilities as they impact on prosecutions
Guidance / assistance in the preparation of search warrants
Guidance / assistance in the collection of disclosure information
Informing your agency when charges are varied or withdrawn
Preparation for court
Consistency of advice / prosecution strategies
Timeliness of pre-charge advice / court prosecutions
Quality of your interactions with PPSC personnel
Overall assessment of PPSC’s organized crime prosecution services
9
How important to your agency is the advice provided by PPSC counsel assigned to the following units / teams?
Do not use service
Not important
Fairly important
Important
Very important
Critical
Integrated Proceeds of Crime Units
Integrated Market Enforcement Teams
10
What do you see as the strengths of the PPSC’s organized crime prosecution services?
11
How could the PPSC’s organized crime prosecution services be improved?
Part D – Prosecution of regulatory offences (other than CDSA offences)
My agency has not initiated any regulatory offence prosecutions (other than for CDSA offences) over the last year. (Please go to Part E)
12
Please rate the following aspects of the PPSC’s regulatory offence prosecutions (other than for CDSA offences):
Do not use service
Poor
Acceptable
Good
Very good
Excellent
Understanding of the legislation administered by your agency
Understanding of your agency’s responsibilities as they impact on prosecutions
Guidance / assistance in the preparation of search warrants
Guidance / assistance in the collection of disclosure information
Informing your agency when charges are varied or withdrawn
Preparation for court
Consistency of advice / prosecution strategies
Timeliness of pre-charge advice / court prosecutions
Quality of your interactions with PPSC personnel
Overall assessment of PPSC regulatory prosecution services (other than for CDSA offences)
13
What do you see as the strengths of the PPSC’s regulatory prosecution services (other than for CDSA offences)?
14
How could the PPSC’s regulatory prosecution services (other than for CDSA offences) be improved?
Part E – General legal advice
General legal advice refers to oral or written advice concerning legal matters of a more general nature, rather than a specific file or prosecution.
The PPSC has not provided general legal advice to my agency over the last year. (Please go to Part F)
15
How often has the PPSC provided general legal advice to your agency over the last year?
1 to 3 times per year
4 to 6 times per year
7 to 9 times per year
10-12 times per year
More than 12 times per year
16
Please describe the general legal advice that the PPSC has provided to your agency (e.g. issues addressed, oral and/or written) over the last year.
17
Please rate the following aspects of the PPSC’s general legal
advice:
Do not use service
Poor
Acceptable
Good
Very good
Excellent
Consistency of the general legal advice
Timeliness of the general legal advice
Usefulness of the general legal advice
Overall assessment of the quality of PPSC’s general legal advice
18
What do you see as the strengths of the PPSC’s general legal
advice?
19
How could the PPSC improve its provision of general legal advice?
Part F – Liaison between the PPSC and your agency
Liaison refers to periodic meetings between your agency and the PPSC to discuss matters of a more general nature, rather than a specific file or potential prosecution.
There have been no liaison meetings between the PPSC and my agency over the last year.
20
Would you like to have periodic liaison meetings with members of the PPSC and, if so, how often?
No - conduct all liaison through other mechanisms
Yes –1 to 3 times per year
Yes –4 to 6 times per year
Yes –7 to 9 times per year
Yes –10-12 times per year
Yes – More than 12 times per year
Please go to Part G
21
How often have there been liaison meetings between your agency and the PPSC over the last year?
1 to 3 times per year
4 to 6 times per year
7 to 9 times per year
10-12 times per year
More than 12 times per year
22
How useful do you find the liaison meeting(s) between your agency and the PPSC?
Not useful
Fairly useful
Useful
Very useful
Extremely useful
23
Please comment on the following aspects of the liaison between your agency and the PPSC.
Do not use service
Poor
Acceptable
Good
Very good
Excellent
Liaison between PPSC prosecutors and your agency’s investigators
Liaison between PPSC management and your agency’s management
Overall assessment of the liaison between the PPSC and your agency
24
What do you see as the strengths of the liaison between your agency and the PPSC?
25
How could the liaison be improved?
Part G – Training for your agency
There have been no liaison meetings between the PPSC and my agency over the last year. (Please go to Part H)
26
How often did the PPSC undertake training activities in your agency over the last year?
1 to 3 times
4 to 6 times
7 to 9 times
10-12 times
More than 12 times
27
Please describe the training that the PPSC has provided to your agency (e.g. topics addressed, length and training approach) over the last year.
28
Please comment on the following aspects of the PPSC’s training:
Do not use service
Poor
Acceptable
Good
Very good
Excellent
Overall relevance / usefulness of the training activities undertaken by the PPSC
Usefulness of PPSC material provided as part of the training (e.g., articles and other written documentation)
29
What do you see as the strengths of the PPSC’s training activities?
30
How could the PPSC’s training activities be improved?
Part H – Concluding remarks
31
How important to your agency are the following services provided by the PPSC?
Do not use service
Not important
Fairly important
Important
Very important
Critical
Pre- and post-charge advice
Prosecution of drug offences
Prosecution of organized crime offences
Prosecution of regulatory offences (other than CDSA offences)
General legal advice
Liaison between the PPSC and your agency
Training for your agency
32
Please list any other prosecution related activities that you think the PPSC should be involved in but currently is not.
33
Please provide any additional comments that you may have on the PPSC’s services.