2015
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
Jennifer Blanchard, Anne Marie Tibbo, Kourtney Ward
Three civilian employees with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary collaborated with officers of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit - NL in the massive and highly complex “Disclosure Phase” of Operation Turbulence – a wiretap investigation involving the RNC, the RCMP in Newfoundland and Labrador and throughout Eastern Canada, and policing organizations in Ontario, Quebec and the US-based Drug Enforcement Unit.
The work of the group was instrumental in the collection, collation and retrieval of 40,000 pages of documents in an effort to combat a multi-national Organized Crime drug importation scheme. The team executed this work in an effective and efficient manner, and with unwavering dedication to the task.
This project occurred over a number of months, and the materials produced were of high quality and set the stage for a prosecution of serious drug trafficking charges. The final disclosure product was user-friendly and provided a road-map of the entire case. The approach was novel in this jurisdiction and has received numerous commendations from both federal Crown and defence lawyers.
Operation Turbulence was a one-time project, however the disclosure policies and practices developed will be utilized in future large scale investigations by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit - NL.
Without this team working together and collaborating with external agencies across the country, it would not have been possible to bring the file to successful prosecution.