police
Kelowna shares Moncton's policing concerns
By Brent Mazerolle, Times & TranscriptCity council is upset it has little say in its contract to have RCMP police the city, and wonders why it's not even at the table when provincial and federal bureaucrats work out this critical issue. It even has some councillors looking at a municipal police force instead for their mid-sized city and regional centre. Meanwhile, they're worrying about the need for a bigger police station in the next couple years as the number of RCMP officers in the city keeps growing.
The surprise in all this? We're talking about Kelowna, B.C., not Moncton.
It's a tale of two cities, or perhaps more accurately, it's a tale of two ends of the country sharing similar concerns.
Former officers hit in corruption probe must face trial, top court rules
Kirk Makin, Globe and MailFive former Toronto drug squad officers caught up in a massive allegation of police corruption must face trial as a result of a Supreme Court of Canada decision this morning.
In a 3-0 ruling, a panel of Supreme Court judges denied the officers leave to appeal an earlier Ontario Court of Appeal decision that had rejected a lower-court ruling that their constitutional right be speedily tried had been violated.
The officers - John Schertzer, Steven Correia, Joseph Miched, Ned Maodus and Raymond Pollard - are charged with falsifying notes, robbing and beating drug dealers, and conducting illegal searches between 1997 and 2002.
Former Alberta Chief Justice: Balance in justice system a tough call
By Andrew Hanon, Calgary SunAl Wachowich had a few things to get off his chest.
“We get this criticism all the time, that we’re not hard enough,” the recently retired Alberta chief justice told the federal justice committee during a recent hearing in Edmonton.
The committee has been hearing testimony about organized crime. Wachowich was the first member of the judiciary to testify.
He’s heard the accusation innumerable times over his lengthy career: That judges coddle criminals and are too quick to hand out alternative punishments over jail time.
Wachowich told the all-party committee that Canada has one of the highest incarceration rates in the industrialized world, at 130 prisoners per 100,000 population.
Read more »Raided medical marijuana club to hold protest
By Alex Keshen, National Post
The Queen Street East ‘‘compassion club’’ raided and picked clean by police last week reopened yesterday, but it was selling only politics, not marijuana.
Neev Tapiero, owner of Cannabis As Living Medicine (CALM), said its current goal is to spread the word about a protest this Sunday outside police headquarters over the government’s medical marijuana regulations.
‘‘Health Canada’s poorly run program ... results in thousands of people’s rights being denied,’’ he said.
Read more »Man kicked by cop was seeking police help when arrested
Tyler Archer needed help.
Around midnight Saturday, he'd turned the wrong corner and ended up in a fight with people he didn't know on Store Street. His shirt was pulled over his head. He was dealt several hard blows to the head.
"I got out of there and got onto the grass because my face was badly injured," said the 19-year-old Claremont grad, who plays defence for the Junior Shamrocks.
"My friend told the cops I'd been attacked. I wanted to get help, but once they started coming at me, I understood they weren't trying to help me."
More than 200,000 people have seen the Youtube video of Archer being kicked by an unidentified Victoria police officer.
Read more »Police, doctors warn of the growing use of 'doda'
By Angela Mulholland, CTV.ca NewsPolice, politicians and doctors are warning that a relatively new street drug called doda is becoming more common across Canada, and not enough is being done to stop its trade.
Just this week, Peel Police seized $2.5 million worth of doda during raids in Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto.
Last fall, an RCMP drug unit raided a large manufacturer in Surrey, B.C., the "first large-scale seizure" of doda in the province.
And last month, officers in Calgary seized 13 kilograms of crushed doda powder, issuing at the same time a "wake-up call" that use of the drug is likely to continue to spread.
BCCLA complaint wants police free speech policy defined
An allegation that a Victoria Police Department police officer has been ordered not to discuss harm reduction at an upcoming drug policy conference has caused the BCCLA to file a policy complaint with the Victoria Police Board. The complaint asks the Board to define an off-duty speech policy for officers in line with Charter free speech values.“Police officers from Vancouver speak regularly on drug policy, often contradicting official VPD policy,” said Jason Gratl, Vice-President of the BCCLA. “We’re not sure why Victoria’s policy would be different. Both departments are governed by the same Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
St. John's prison guard in drug bust
CBC NewsA correctional officer in St. John's has been arrested and charged with smuggling drugs into Her Majesty's Penitentiary.
Edward Taylor, 30, of St. John's, was arrested as a result of a police search of the prison Monday evening. Taylor appeared briefly in a provincial courtroom in the city Tuesday afternoon.
A release from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said police seized a quantity of narcotics, marijuana and other contraband during the search that was related to an ongoing investigation dubbed Operation Safeguard.
Top court bucks tough-on-crime trend
KIRK MAKIN, Globe and MailJUSTICE REPORTER
In a decision that bucks the trend toward tough-on-crime sentences, the Supreme Court of Canada has spoken in favour of reducing prison terms for defendants who were abused by police.
The 9-0 ruling in the case of an Alberta man who was beaten by police after a car chase also created a noteworthy crack in the previously impenetrable wall of mandatory minimum sentences.
The court said that a mandatory minimum can be ignored in a case that shows a "particularly egregious form of misconduct by state agents in relation to the offence and to the offender."
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