TORONTO — A joint program of 11 Ontario police forces that collects intelligence on extremist groups is running out of money – again.
The Hate Crime Extremism Investigative Team was forced to scale down operations once its funding from the 2007-08 fiscal year ran out at the end of March, said Sgt. Don McKinnon of London Police Service. The unit has requested approximately $220,000 for the 2008-09 year, which began on April 1, but it has heard nothing from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said McKinnon, the unit’s team leader.
In the meantime, the unit is making do. “We’ve been operating, but we’re severely limited. We’re holding on. We’ve been very creative in how we do our spending.”
The financial shortfall facing the unit is nothing new. Three years ago, The CJN reported on a similar cash crunch when the unit’s funding ran out. In 2005, the unit had been operating on a budget of $93,000 per year but its finances fell short pending approval of new funds by the minister.
McKinnon said the team’s operating funds are now more or less depleted. It is in danger of shutting its phone lines, mailboxes and still must pay its civilian analyst, Abbee Corb. Corb, who tracks the activities of hate groups on the Internet, is responsible for maintaining the team’s database, which boasts 6,000 files, reports, photographs and other documents. The database is accessible to hate crimes and intelligence services of the 11 participating police forces as well as the RCMP and CSIS, said McKinnon. Police units in Toronto, London, Waterloo Region, Hamilton, York Region, Ottawa and Guelph are among the team members.
McKinnon said the program is a valuable tool used by police to gather intelligence and prevent hate crimes. If police attend hate marches or other events, they could nip in the bud any trouble that might occur, he said.
The unit has added an educational component to its work, he continued. It has produced three training videos on hate crimes distributed to frontline police officers, to community groups and to Crown attorneys and judges.
McKinnon said funding shortfalls have occurred in the last few years, though in the end the province came through with support. “It’s always been last second funding,” he said.
Tony Brown, a spokesperson for the ministry, said more than $726,000 has been provided to the police unit since funding began in 2003. “We have received a funding proposal and we are in the process of reviewing it,” he said.
Brown said the unit’s grants are reviewed annually. He would not give a timeline for a decision on the current funding request.
