The Ontario Multi-Disciplinary Case Conference Consortium was formed specifically to assist investigators who are facing a particularly challenging homicide and/or sexual assault investigation. The Consortium will assist by connecting investigators with a number of subject matter resources, with a variety of skillsets, to offer advice and support early on in the investigation or if an investigation has gone cold. This Consortium currently includes experienced officers with a variety of skillsets and backgrounds, including but not limited to additional resources from the Chief Coroner’s Office, the Ministry of the Attorney General, Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario (CISO) and other related areas of expertise. The deployment of this group may vary depending on the type of investigation and complexities surrounding the matter at hand.
Secondly, a traditional case conference remains a viable option in cases where all investigative avenues have been explored and/or exhausted by the home police service or involve an historical investigation and assistance is sought from other experienced investigators.
This forum will allow for meaningful discussion and information sharing between all members of the investigative team with all final investigative decisions remaining exclusively with the host Command Triangle. It will be up to the Command Triangle from the respective agency to choose what they do with the information provided by the Consortium. The host agency will ultimately determine whether or not they choose to use the information provided to move the investigation forward. As with any other investigative briefings, the minutes of the briefing are workflow product and as such, not necessarily disclosable. However, this may vary depending on the circumstances. If a case has been cold for some time and the Consortium suggests an idea that furthers the investigation and leads to an arrest, the crown may feel there is no harm in disclosing the minutes from the investigative briefing. The Consortium itself will be comprised of certain crowns and therefore you could invoke solicitor/client privilege if that is your assertion at the end of the consultation. The decisions will remain with the respective Major Case Manager and ultimately at the discretion of the crown within your respective jurisdiction as to what is defined as work product and what will be disclosed.
Each police service should now establish a process to determine how to triage any such requests through your proper chain of command. In keeping with the requirements of MCM, we suggest that the request be made by the Major Case Manager. Once the determination has been made at the service level to request an investigative case conference review by the Consortium, we ask that all requests be submitted to the Serial Predator Crime Investigation Coordinator (SPCIC). The SPCIC will triage the requests with the assistance of the Consortium Executive to determine the merits of the submission. To request access to this team please contact the Serial Predator Crime Investigations Coordinator at [email protected].
Please note, that at the time of the request you must provide an up to-date investigative chronology to the Consortium to review.
Where possible, the forum for these case conferences will be in-person, however given the current pandemic or when other logistical obstacles are encountered, a video-link or teleconference may be the preferred option.
The requesting agency will be required to provide a scribe for the purposes of recording minutes of the case conference including any information deemed necessary for their investigation. The minutes and/or information/recommendations will then be provided to the host Command Triangle for further action as deemed appropriate.
If you have any questions or concerns about this process please do not hesitate to contact any of the following for further information:
Secondly, a traditional case conference remains a viable option in cases where all investigative avenues have been explored and/or exhausted by the home police service or involve an historical investigation and assistance is sought from other experienced investigators.
This forum will allow for meaningful discussion and information sharing between all members of the investigative team with all final investigative decisions remaining exclusively with the host Command Triangle. It will be up to the Command Triangle from the respective agency to choose what they do with the information provided by the Consortium. The host agency will ultimately determine whether or not they choose to use the information provided to move the investigation forward. As with any other investigative briefings, the minutes of the briefing are workflow product and as such, not necessarily disclosable. However, this may vary depending on the circumstances. If a case has been cold for some time and the Consortium suggests an idea that furthers the investigation and leads to an arrest, the crown may feel there is no harm in disclosing the minutes from the investigative briefing. The Consortium itself will be comprised of certain crowns and therefore you could invoke solicitor/client privilege if that is your assertion at the end of the consultation. The decisions will remain with the respective Major Case Manager and ultimately at the discretion of the crown within your respective jurisdiction as to what is defined as work product and what will be disclosed.
Each police service should now establish a process to determine how to triage any such requests through your proper chain of command. In keeping with the requirements of MCM, we suggest that the request be made by the Major Case Manager. Once the determination has been made at the service level to request an investigative case conference review by the Consortium, we ask that all requests be submitted to the Serial Predator Crime Investigation Coordinator (SPCIC). The SPCIC will triage the requests with the assistance of the Consortium Executive to determine the merits of the submission. To request access to this team please contact the Serial Predator Crime Investigations Coordinator at [email protected].
Please note, that at the time of the request you must provide an up to-date investigative chronology to the Consortium to review.
Where possible, the forum for these case conferences will be in-person, however given the current pandemic or when other logistical obstacles are encountered, a video-link or teleconference may be the preferred option.
The requesting agency will be required to provide a scribe for the purposes of recording minutes of the case conference including any information deemed necessary for their investigation. The minutes and/or information/recommendations will then be provided to the host Command Triangle for further action as deemed appropriate.
If you have any questions or concerns about this process please do not hesitate to contact any of the following for further information:
- Detective Inspector Shelley Tarnowski, Officer in Charge – Ontario Major Case Management: [email protected]
- Staff Sergeant Rob Gravel – Serial Predator Crime Investigations Coordinator – Ontario Major Case Management: [email protected]
- Steve Kielt – Ontario Major Case Management Training Lead – Ontario Police College: [email protected]
