Froese Forensic Partners Ltd.

There is always pressure on law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to meet and exceed the expectations of those they serve. Although crime rates have continued to decrease in recent years, the high profile reporting of crime has lead many citizens and business owners to be more fearful for their personal safety, and the protection of their property, than in the past.

Members of the public, community groups and activists, local governments and the media hold law enforcement and regulatory bodies up to exceptionally high standards of performance. These demands to function at your highest level of capability come at a time when resources are often stretched to their maximum.

We believe the all-important credibility of law enforcement and regulatory bodies rests on your ability to perform to the expectations of the citizens and the communities you serve. It is essential that the ways and means by which you adapt to these demands be correct, effective and efficient. Our aim is to help make it so.

To assist law enforcement in these challenging times, Froese Forensic Partners Ltd. has established a Law Enforcement Assessment & Performance (LEAP) practice to help our clients improve and implement the best possible policing practices.

The directors of our LEAP practice have backgrounds in law enforcement, forensic accounting (including monitoring the LAPD and Detroit Police Departments) and human performance (including a multi-year engagement with the RCMP to improve front line police performance).

These distinctive but highly integrated backgrounds provide LEAP with a unique combination of skills and experiences to conduct performance assessments.

Brian Verheul, (Director), CFE, had a distinguished 35-year career with the RCMP, including two decades in the Financial Crimes Directorate. Prior to retiring in 2008 he spent five years as the Officer in Charge of the Greater Toronto Area Commercial Crime Section. During his career Brian served as a principal on the RCMP National Audit Team. He also developed considerable experience in risk management when he revitalized the Unit Level Quality Assurance Program for the RCMP.

William Pullen, (Director), MA, MHCS, PMP, CPT served in the public sector for four decades, including 25 years in a range of operational, management and executive positions. He has extensive experience consulting on performance improvement, organization development, human capital management and project management through engagements with the federal and several provincial public services. Willy recently concluded a multi-year engagement with the RCMP to design and implement a comprehensive performance-improvement program that improved its service delivery, facilitated transformation and strengthened accountability.

Penny Cookson, (Director), CA-IFA, CFE has focused on investigative and forensic accounting since 1991. Her many assignments included six years working with a team of lawyers, auditors and law enforcement specialists who acted as Independent Monitors of the Los Angeles and Detroit Police Departments. Penny managed the team that reviewed audits of areas such as arrests, uses of force, complaints, search warrants, motor vehicle and pedestrian stops and conditions of confinement to determine if they met the US DOJ best policing practices.

Jeffery Filliter, BA, CFE has spent more than 35 years as an investigator with the RCMP, Scotiabank, and in private practice. Jeff specializes in domestic and international fraud and white-collar crime, risk assessment and mitigation, due diligence, and asset tracing and recovery. He has significant experience in the development, design, and implementation of corporate policy and procedures, departmental strategic planning, metrics and statistical reporting, threat risk assessment, management and mitigation, loss prevention, and standards and best practices policies.

Ken Froese, CA-IFA, FCFI is one of Canada’s most senior forensic and investigative accountants. Ken has provided IFA services to police forces, governments, public and private companies and individuals across a broad range of industries. He is especially suited to financial investigations and assignments requiring an ability to creatively address complex litigation matters. Ken is the author and an instructor for two ICAO courses: “Understanding Fraud Risk Factors” and “Fraud Happens! What to Do When You Suspect Fraud.”

Our overall approach to assessing a law enforcement service is to seek answers to three primary questions:

1. Is the service doing the right thing? Our work is focused on understanding whether:

2. Is the service doing things right? In seeking an answer to this question we look for evidence in the service’s organization, leadership, management systems and structures. Our work is focused on understanding whether:

3. How can the service improve? We continually look for ways to improve performance and return greater value to the community. Our work is focused on:

Throughout our involvement with you, our focus is on understanding your requirements. As this occurs, we work with you to identify options that solve your concerns.

A key component of our approach is to conduct selected interviews with key individuals, including:

It is important to note: that we manage these events to ensure they do not become “gripe” sessions. Rather, we direct the interviews so they focus on constructive points that are pertinent to the issues we are mandated to explore.

Identifying problems and offering solutions are critical components in all our engagements. But the ultimate value to our clients comes from implementing the steps required to solve the problems.

Some clients choose to control the implementation process entirely on their own. Others, however, turn to LEAP to assist with that often-challenging task.

Sample Engagements
LEAP’s principals have extensive experience in a variety of engagements for law enforcement.

In 2009, Brian Verheul and Willy Pullen conducted an Organizational Review & Evaluation of the Charlottetown Police Service. The Mayor and Council accepted the Final Report without revision and the recommendations were unanimously endorsed for implementation.
RCMP: 1Brian Verheul conducted a Management Review of the RCMP's Toronto Integrated Market Enforcement Team. He was also Project Advisor on Project Outlook (a review of organizational options form the RCMP’s O Division), and the Audit Principal on a National Contracting Audit.
Brian also facilitated a performance improvement initiative in the GTA Commercial Crime Section that evaluated the functional and organizational competencies required for the effective delivery of a Commercial Crime Program. This was followed by the development of measures including training to improve the overall performance of the Section.
RCMP: Willy Pullen stewarded and facilitated Performance Reviews and Assessments of Policing Districts 4 and 7 in RCMP J Division (New Brunswick), all operational and operational support units in RCMP A Division (Ottawa), GTA Commercial Crime Section, Grande Prairie Alberta Detachment, and Quesnel and Campbell River Detachments in BC. Willy also developed and implemented a comprehensive performance improvement methodology for the RCMP and personally applied the process in more then 100 police detachments across Canada. Through numerous summative and formative evaluations, using methodology developed by Willy, it has been demonstrated conclusively that the process is an effective technique in improving operational policing capacity, enhancing front line service and adding value to the public.
Los Angeles Police Department & Detroit Police Department: Penny Cookson worked with the LAPD, the LAPD Inspector General (OIG) and the Detroit PD to ensure they established internal audit teams consisting of sworn and civilian auditors that developed an annual audit plan and regularly conducted police performance audits of areas such as arrests, uses of force, complaints, search warrants, motor vehicle and pedestrian stops, confidential informants, and conditions of confinement. Today, the LAPD’s police performance auditors are recognized leaders in this field. Additionally, Penny Cookson worked with the LAPD and OIG to establish a system for tracking audit recommendations and reporting audit results to the Police Commission.

Through our experience in law enforcement assessment and performance, we have developed an awareness and sensitivity to the potential impact that reviews and audits can have on a workforce.

Above all else we are committed to improving not just the efficiency of your organization but also the intangibles such as morale and employee engagement. Our sole objective is to help your law enforcement service become the very best it can be.

We respect all the stakeholders involved in the process. We listen more than we talk, and the recommendations we present will be practical and realistic based on each client’s specific needs and circumstances.

Every engagement we embark on is customized. We do not use or apply any cut-and-paste approaches.

We work to meet your expectations through collaboration, consultation, and timely, cost-effective and expert advice based on disciplined thinking and rigorous analyses.

Our aim throughout is to create additional value for your organization that can be claimed and used immediately in the service of your community and to the benefit of your personnel.