IBC sponsors access to staged collision course for police officers

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN) are sponsoring free access for the remainder of 2012 for Canadian frontline police officers to a course on identifying staged collisions.
Staged collisions, in which accidents are orchestrated in order to collect hefty insurance payouts, are becoming increasingly common in Canada’s urban centres, an IBC release says. These activities, while putting public safety at risk, also contribute to skyrocketing insurance premiums.
IBC has partnered with York Regional Police to develop online training to educate frontline officers on how to identify and investigate staged collisions. Identifying Staged Collisions is a 45-minute online course that uses videos to illustrate common types of staged collision scenarios and provides information on the various signs, indicators and behaviours that may characterize a staged collision.
It also describes techniques to properly investigate suspected incidents that have links to service supplier fraud, from tow truck operators to medical clinics.
“More and more, our officers are called out to suspect collision scenes,” said Sergeant Tony Cummins of York Regional Police’s training and education bureau. “In cooperation with IBC experts, we’ve developed this course to address a growing problem in our region. But it also provides practical information that any responding officer, in any part of the country, can use to recognize and investigate a staged collision.”