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Police Body Camera Study Released A CHRONICLE OF NEWS FOR THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY | SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 – Vol. 21 No. 39 Police body camera study released Sep 15 2016 Officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service have reached a tentative agreement with their employer. Page 5 Sep 16 2016 WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg police of- ficer has been arrested on dozens of criminal charges following a year-long internal investigation. Page 6 Sep 18 2016 TORONTO - Forcing journalists to act as investigators for police would undermine the critical role news outlets play in a free soci- ety, a coalition of media organi- zations argue in documents filed with Ontario’s top court. Page 7 Sep 21 2016 EDMONTON - Police have charged a self-proclaimed Free- Sep 15 2016 man on the Land with carrying The vast majority of that money would out a “paper terrorism’’ campaign TORONTO - Toronto police are asking go to storing the videos, according to Insp. against a peace officer who is- for approval to outfit all frontline offic- Michael Barsky, the operational lead on the sued him a speeding ticket. ers with body-worn cameras, despite pilot project. reporting major issues after analyzing Both Mayor John Tory and Chief Mark Page 11 its year-long pilot project. Saunders said one of the main concerns was The request to the police board comes de- the amount of time officers spent dealing Sep 21 2016 spite the steep cost of the proposed program, with the videos after their shifts an average VANCOUVER - British Colum- which the report estimates would reach $85 of 39 minutes and up to two hours per shift bia is bombarding the province million over 10 years. for some officers. with thousands of overdose-re- versing naloxone kits as part of its all-out assault against a drug crisis that has already killed 488 people this year. Page 11 “This is clearly a major, major devotion stored in their country. However, Section 230 was found uncon- of police resources to just managing video Despite the negatives, Barsky said it pro- stitutional in 1990 by the Supreme Court. information and unless you spent a lot more vides police with the best possible evidence The revised definition of murder states the money on a lot more police officers this is that can be used in court. killing must be intended to be murder, which going to take away from policing in the com- Surveys conducted by Toronto police the Crown was unable to prove against Vader. munity,’’ Tory said. showed 95 per cent of the public and 85 per “The Supreme Court’s been very clear,’’ “So these are the kinds of things we’re cent of officers support the use of the cameras. said Sankoff. going to have to take a very careful look at, Tory said he was disappointed the board “You must have an intention to cause but I am in favour of having cameras subject didn’t receive the report until an hour before death to be guilty of murder. There’s no find- to resolving a lot of these issues.’’ the meeting, so it will be discussed more ing that Vader ever intended to cause death.’’ Some of those issues include serious bat- completely at a meeting next month. Thomas allowed a camera into his court tery problems that only allowed use of the Forces across the country are grappling for the verdict, a first for Alberta. Livestream cameras for three-to-five hours per shift and with body cameras. broadcasts of his judgment allowed Sankoff the majority of officers work 10-hour shifts, What happens in Toronto could deter- and other legal experts to monitor the argu- Barsky said. mine the situation in the rest of the province. ment in real time. There was also hope that the body cam- Ontario’s police forces — save for a Although Section 230 has not been in eras would have a positive effect on police small force in Amherstburg that has already force for 26 years, it’s never been repealed officers by decreasing use-of-force inci- outfitted all 16 of its frontline officers with and still remains in the Criminal Code. dents, but there was little effect, according cameras — are watching Toronto following Sankoff suggests Thomas simply erred. to the report. a directive from the Ontario Association of “It’s very easy to get things wrong, be- But it noted officers surveyed said they Chiefs of Police, which is supported by the cause, you know, you forget. (The section) is felt they lost their use of discretion, which Ministry of the Attorney General, Barsky sitting there.’’ led to an increase in arrests and a decrease previously told The Canadian Press. Sankoff said the error leaves the verdict in warnings. In Calgary, police had begun rolling out wide open to appeal — something Vader’s Saunders said technology has changed so cameras to its front line officers after pur- lawyer has already said he intends to do. quickly since they began looking into body chasing 1,100 cameras from a Utah-based “If they bring an appeal on this, I think cameras two years ago that many of these company. But they had to test 150 cameras it’s slam dunk.’’ problems could be resolved. after discovering a problem with the built-in Vader could still be convicted of man- “I think at the end of the day when we microphone. slaughter. take the time necessary to get the right prod- In Vancouver, police have opted out of The situation exemplifies a problem legal uct that will give us the best results, I think the body camera game for now, citing the scholars often identify to politicians, Sankoff it’s going to be a win not just for law enforce- high cost of storage as a significant barrier. said. Old, antiquated laws are rarely repealed ment but the public as well,’’ Saunders said. Montreal police are currently undergoing and sit there on the books. Police forces have two general options their own pilot project for two dozen officers “There are anywhere from 30 to 50 for data storage: a cloud-based server hosted to examine its potential use. crimes that, if you open up the Criminal by a third party, usually off site, or local stor- Code, are still there. Parliament never gets age essentially giant hard drives that police around to repealing those, even though we forces own and operate themselves. ask them to.’’ Toronto police used their own hard THURSDAY Sankoff said Section 230 has been drives, which is the single biggest cost in the SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 wrongly used in trials before, but only in in- program, Barsky said. structions to a jury. He said he’s not aware of The force, he said, opted for in-house it being used before in a judgment. Sep 15 2016 storage because it wanted complete control What happens next is unclear. over data for security reasons. There were EDMONTON - At least one legal schol- The Alberta Court of Appeal could sort also concerns that the U.S. Patriot Act allows ar says a judicial oversight may invali- out the matter. Sankoff said there’s also a pro- American authorities to access data that is date the verdict that found an Alberta vision where the Crown and defence lawyers man guilty of second-degree murder. could ask the judge to reconsider his verdict, Travis Vader was convicted Thursday a highly technical legal process that could in the deaths of seniors Lyle and Marie Mc- take months. Cann, a case that has bedevilled police, haunted the victim’s family and fascinated Sep 15 2016 the public since the McCann’s burned-out RV ISSN 1704-3913 CALGARY - Legal experts are urg- Copyright 2016 was found in 2010. ing greater diversity on the bench as Blue Line Magazine Inc. & The Canadian Press But Peter Sankoff, a University of Al- Permission to reprint may be obtained in advance from three Alberta judges face scrutiny for Access Copyright berta law professor who specializes in legal remarks they made during sexual as- Phone 1-800-893-5777 [email protected] issues around the criminal trial process, said sault trials. Published weekly by Blue Line Magazine, Inc. as an executive news Thursday that Alberta Queen’s Bench Justice The most high-profile case centres on briefing service to Canada’s top level law enforcement personnel. Denny Thomas used an invalid section of the Most information supplied in this publication is from newswire Judge Robin Camp, who asked a complain- services. As such Blue Line Magazine does not accept responsibility Criminal Code in his decision. ant why she didn’t keep her knees together for the accuracy of articles as supplied. ``I’m pretty confident that the ruling and referred her as ``the accused’’ during the All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, can’t stand,’’ he said. stored in an electronic database or transmitted in any form or by any 2014 trial, a mistake he repeated at a Canadi- means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without Sankoff points out that Thomas used Sec- an Judicial Council hearing last week before the prior permission of the publishers. One Year Subscriptions are tion 230 of the Criminal Code in his written $10500 (GST Included). Paid subscribers may make up to four (4) quickly correcting himself. copies of this publication for distribution within their organization. judgement convicting Vader. Thomas refers University of British Columbia law pro- explicitly to that section in finding Vader fessor Emma Cunliffe said the woman in GROUP PUBLISHER: Morley S. Lymburner guilty of second-degree murder.
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