ORGANIZED-CRIME TEAM OF RCMP AND MUNICIPAL FORCES HAILED AS THE FIRST
PROVINCE-WIDE UNIT

A memorandum of understanding was signed last week during a meeting
of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police to formally recognize the
Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which has been operating
since last year. The unit is an integrated team of RCMP and municipal
police officers whose mandate is to investigate, dismantle and
disrupt organized crime.

Solicitor-General John Les hailed the new unit Wednesday as the
country's first province-wide organized-crime unit. "There are
integrated organized-crime units in Ontario and Quebec, but these are
regional or city-based," Les said in a news release.

The CFSEU is made up of 95 municipal and RCMP officers from around
the province, as well as personnel from the disbanded Organized Crime
Agency of B.C. It is based in the Lower Mainland with a satellite
office in Victoria.

"This collaborative approach to fighting organized crime will allow
us to reach out across jurisdictions, sharing intelligence as well as
enforcement resources," said RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bev Busson, the
commanding officer in B.C.