Edmonton police to set up full-time terrorism unit

Faced with an ever-increasing number of terrorism-related investigations, Edmonton police plan to set up a full-time unit to deal with such "high-risk" files, says police chief Rod Knecht.

The department plans to establish the unit this year and ask city council for more money in the next budget to help combat the growing problem.

"We've seen it ramp up over the past 24 months," Knecht said of the terrorism-related cases. "We're getting more intelligence, more files to investigate."

"These are high-risk files, and we as a police service have to respond to those files."

Terror-related investigations have "zero tolerance for risk," the chief said, meaning there is no room for even a single mistake.

Such investigations are often led by Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams, or INSETs, made up of members of the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canada Border Services Agency, and local police.

The teams investigate and gather intelligence about groups or individuals suspected of posing threats to national security. There are INSET teams in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Knecht said the INSET team in Edmonton is busier than ever.

"The INSET unit is, I would say, close to capacity at this particular time," he said.

Since January, CBC News has uncovered several cases of Edmonton youth believed to have travelled overseas to fight for ISIS and the arrest of a Beaumont teen accused of trying to leave Canada to join the Islamic State and commit murder.

• Terror-related charges laid against Edmonton-area teen
• 3 ISIS recruits from Edmonton believed killed
• Edmonton man Omar Aden believed to have joined ISIS

On Feb. 22, a video by the Somali based group Al-Shabaab urged followers to attack shopping centres in the West, including Edmonton's West Edmonton Mall.

Investigations complex, says chief

Investigations related to terrorist threats, looking for people who may pose risks here or may become radicalized and travel overseas, are complex and time-consuming.

They can take weeks or months and often require the use of surveillance teams.

The department currently has two full-time officers seconded to the local INSET unit, and another two on temporary assignment there. Those temporary postings may become permanent, Knecht said.

INSET units across the country deal with what Knecht called "high-priority" cases that involve "urgent targets," while numerous other cases fall to local police forces.

"Right now, we've have a number of resources," he said. "We have intelligence personnel, we've got a couple of investigators and we've got some outreach people. But they're not specifically for counterterrorism."

For that reason, the department wants a full-time unit to investigate only terrorism-related cases.

That single, amalgamated unit, with more officers and resources, would complement the work done by INSET, Knecht said.

The risk of terrorism attacks or radicalization exists across the county, in every town and city, he said.

"Are we different than any other big city? No, we're not."

Police in Montreal and other cities are setting up similar units for similar reasons, said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a security expert who once worked for CSIS.

"The challenge is that investigating terrorists versus normal criminal activities is very different," he said. "You're going to need now … certain elements of police to be able to think as intelligence officers."

Officers in these special units not only have to locate, track and investigate individuals, but to understand their networks as well, he said.

Juneau-Katsuya said since last year, law enforcement resources across the country have been stretched as police deal with more terror-related investigations.

"We know that since last year, we've stretched our resources to the max. To the point where the threat now is assessed to be overwhelming the response that we are capable to give."