Alberta, December 15, 2011 - Today, the Province of Alberta and the RCMP announced that Albertans living in smaller communities can now expect faster processing times for Criminal and Vulnerable Sector Checks, with the installation of 20 LiveScan Real Time Identification Devices (RTID) at strategically located RCMP detachments throughout the Province.
"Our government is very proud to announce today that we have partnered with the Government of Alberta to support the purchase and installation of 20 LiveScan devices across Alberta, "said the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety Canada. "This system will ultimately help more volunteers in the community do good work, while providing more stringent identification of those who we don't want near our kids."
"Given the important role volunteers play in our communities, all Albertans benefit when their security checks are processed as swiftly as possible," said Deputy Commissioner Dale McGowan, Commanding Officer "K" Division. "Installation of these new LiveScan devices means that all Albertans - even those living in smaller communities - are now only a drive away from access to faster service."
With this technology, applicants can submit their fingerprints for verification and in a matter of minutes receive a response, as opposed to the weeks or months of waiting that were required under the previous system. Fingerprints related to vulnerable sector checks are destroyed after the fingerprint process is completed. This technology is already in use in 36 police jurisdictions across Canada.
The LiveScan initiative is in response to the service delivery challenges imposed by the 2010 enhancements to screening processes that made fingerprints mandatory for Vulnerable Sector Checks (VSC) if an applicant's gender and date of birth matched that of a pardoned sex offender. This new requirement saw paper-based fingerprint submissions related to VSCs climb from 130 to 8000 per month, and resulted in longer processing times for many applicants who work or volunteer with the vulnerable sector.
Additional information, on Criminal Record Checks and Vulnerable Sector Checks, including estimated processing times and fees, is available at www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cr-cj/index-eng.htm.
Information:
Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
media@ps-sp.gc.ca
