Quorum National and International News clippings & press releases

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19 July 2013

Canadian Association of Police Boards 157 Gilmour Street, Suite 302 Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0N8 Tel: 613|235|2272 Fax: 613|235|2275 www.capb.ca

BRITISH COLUMBIA ...... 4 Penticton RCMP gun amnesty yields 32 weapons ...... 4 Online domestic violence training expands for police ...... 5 Vancouver cop who lied to homicide investigators awaits police board decision ...... 6 Prince Rupert RCMP Welcome New Boss ...... 7 Investigation into Surrey's latest police shooting could take months ...... 9 Civilian oversight of police critical despite relatively few charges ...... 11 ALBERTA ...... 14 Chief stands by his decision ...... 14 Most confiscated firearms have been returned to High River owners ...... 16 SASKATCHEWAN ...... 17 Committee says tighten Saskatchewan law banning phone use while driving ...... 17 Court suggests Saskatchewan RCMP take ʻfresh lookʼ at forcible bra removal ...... 18 Saskatchewan supports recommendations to address Cyberbullying ...... 20 MANITOBA ...... 21 Winnipeg Police Service Receives $356,000 For Specialized Training, Equipment To Tackle Crime ...... 21 New, Upgraded Police Equipment For Three Communities Funded By Money Taken Out Of Criminal Activity ...... 22 ONTARIO ...... 24 Treaty Three Police management says the forceʼs future will be decided by the officers ...... 24 Opinion: To suspend without pay before guilty verdict is devastating punishment ...... 26 Ontario ombudsman warns about medical transfers, SIU, municipal accountability ...... 27 Police who lie: Illegal searches by Peel Police allow alleged gun offenders to walk free 29 Treaty Three Police fate not decided ...... 33 485 guns surrendered during Pixels for Pistols program ...... 35 Rangers sign unique agreement to support police searches ...... 35 OPP contract costs decried ...... 37 OPP update data system ...... 38 Town of Gananoque pays highest per-capita policing costs in province ...... 40 QUEBEC ...... 42 Post-Traumatic Stress Risk to Police Lower Than Previously Thought ...... 42 Video of Quebec police beating Innu man sparks anger ...... 43 Police brutality in Unamen Shipu: AFNQL is calling upon the Federal and Provincial Ministers of Public Safety ...... 44 NEW BRUNSWICK ...... 45 Saint John declares support for city officers ...... 45 Moncton RCMP under investigation after man dies in incident involving officers ...... 47 NOVA SCOTIA ...... 48 Offenders Get Back on Track by Helping Others ...... 48 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND ...... 49 NEWFOUNDLAND ...... 49 Police forces update cabinet on efforts against child exploitation, drugs ...... 49

2 Province among lowest in hate-crime numbers ...... 50 NATIONAL ...... 51 RCMP memo says CSEC, helped shape directive on torture ...... 51 Injured RCMP members say Ottawa should end clawback of suffering benefits ...... 53 Cop lingo losing its mystique? Police services debate 10-codes vs. plain English ...... 55 INTERNATIONAL NEWS ...... 58 Extrajudicial Killings Corrode Democracy in India ...... 58 Should Pittsburgh Police Officers Have to Live in the City? ...... 60 New Jersey Supreme Court Restricts Police Searches of Phone Data ...... 61 Honolulu police union defends pay differential ...... 64 Larger issues are aired at hearing on Pittsburgh police residency ...... 65 San Jose police officers lose wage arbitration ...... 67 South Miami police chief to go before ethics commission ...... 69 Lack of police blamed for delays in visiting vulnerable children ...... 70 Missouri law adds job security for police chiefs ...... 71 San Jose: Jury awards $1 million in police Taser case ...... 74 Police reforms to get priority in Maharashtra ...... 76 Utah group hopes to bridge gap between police and LGBT Community ...... 77 Senior cops take Victoria Police to Fair Work Australia over claims they deserve better cars than junior members ...... 79 Agreement Is Reached on Police Reforms in Puerto Rico ...... 80 New Crime Stats Show Lowest Total On Record ...... 81 Would Arresting More Whites End Racial Disparities in the Justice System? ...... 82 Locking up juveniles may plant seeds of more crime ...... 83 Senate Likely to Save COPS; House Panel Wants U.S. Prison Study ...... 86 Deputy AG: Drug Courts Can Reduce Crime ...... 87

3 BRITISH COLUMBIA

Penticton RCMP gun amnesty yields 32 weapons

By Kristi Patton - Penticton Western News Published: July 16, 2013 4:00 PM Updated: July 16, 2013 4:11 PM Penticton RCMP rounded up 32 firearms as part of this yearʼs province-wide gun amnesty.

“We didnʼt receive anything of significance, no rocket launchers or anything like that. I didnʼt even see any handguns” said Sgt. Rick Dellebuur.

The B.C. gun amnesty, endorsed by the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police and supported by the Ministry of Justice ran from June 1 to 30.

The amnesty gave people who possessed documented or undocumented weapons that have not been used in a criminal offence the opportunity to turn in guns and ammunition to their local RCMP without being charged.

“Most people came in with firearms that nobody in the family wanted anymore and there was no use for it,” said Dellebuur.

“We had maybe one newer shotgun and everything else looked older.”

Across the province RCMP had 1,429 firearms and 97 other unwanted weapons handed over to detachments this year.

Of that total there were 827 rifles, 302 handguns, 299 shotguns, one machine gun and several replica handguns, rifles, pellet guns, air pistols and rifles, starter pistols and various gun parts.

In addition to guns, over 16,000 rounds of ammunition were also turned in.

The last gun amnesty, held in 2006, saw 96,500 rounds and 3,200 guns turned over to Mounties, including a rocket launcher and a machine gun.

“This is a safe way for people to safely dispose of firearms,” said Dellebuur.

“There is a certain amount of risk when you have firearms in your residence that somebody might come in and steal

4 them, no matter how well you secure things.

“Some people have had these things for years and years and maybe they arenʼt stored properly.”

Kelowna RCMP picked up 41 long guns, two air guns and 14 hand guns. Included in that cache was a Second World War Sten sub machine gun that was not in working condition. As well, they took in weapons including a baseball bat studded with nails.

Online domestic violence training expands for police

Monday, July 15, 2013 8:00 AM

VICTORIA - Access to domestic violence training for police advanced today with the launch of a new online course developed to help police better protect vulnerable women and families.

The new course, the second in a three-phase training program, provides an in- depth look at how police assess domestic violence risk, with a focus on victim- safety planning. Topics include:

Understanding domestic violence risk factors. Conducting investigations in cases where cultural and language factors are in play. Understanding the highest risk protocol and other aspects of the Violence Against Women in Relationships (VAWIR) policy. Understanding the new Family Law Act protection orders. This course will also help to further improve and standardize practices around interagency co-operation, risk assessment, bail hearings and safety planning for families.

The new course is a follow-up for all police who have completed the first course in the series, which launched in 2009. To date, more than 8,600 front-line police officers and supervisors have completed the first course, which provided a general introduction to domestic violence investigations, with a focus on provincial policies such as the VAWIR policy.

Quotes:

Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton -

5 "Family violence is damaging to everyone involved, and we continue our aggressive and multifaceted approach to prevent it. Our comprehensive approach to domestic violence training for police is unique in Canada, and its expansion means front-line investigators anywhere in B.C. will be able to gain a more in-depth understanding of how to assess and manage the risk factors that stem from family violence."

Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux -

"B.C.'s Provincial Office of Domestic Violence has worked closely with the Ministry of Justice to engage with the Criminal Justice Branch and support steps towards justice reform. We continue to work collaboratively across government to address domestic violence by strengthening programs and services throughout the child and family-serving systems in B.C."

Quick Facts:

The new course will take three to five hours to complete. The training is accompanied by a wallet card that helps police focus their domestic violence investigation on identifying critical risk factors, plan and guide interviews, justify release or detention of the accused, and complete mandatory risk-assessment information for police reports, bail hearings and reports to Crown counsel. B-SAFER, a guide for assessing risk of spousal assault in criminal and civil justice settings, is considered an advanced risk assessment tool for B.C. police. An advanced B-SAFER training course (phase three of the training program) is also available for specialized investigators and supervisors, and has already been taken by approximately 200 officers for assessing risk in the highest-risk domestic violence cases. Learn More:

Learn more about the Provincial Office of Domestic Violence at: www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/podv

To find out more about domestic violence in B.C., and learn what to do if you have a friend or family member who is being abused, go to: www.domesticviolencebc.ca or www.victimlinkbc.ca

Vancouver cop who lied to homicide investigators awaits police board decision

THE CANADIAN PRESS JULY 18, 2013

6 VANCOUVER — An officer found guilty of deceit, neglect and corruption under the BC Police Act now awaits a decision by the Vancouver Police Board.

Vancouver police Sgt. Randy Fincham said in a statement issued Thursday the board is considering cutting off the officer's pay.

The officer has been with the force for 13 years.

He was placed on administrative leave and suspended with pay in 2011 after allegations surfaced that he lied during a homicide investigation into the 2001 death of an Oak Bay, B.C., man.

Oak Bay Chief Const. Mark Fisher said in a news release the officer is also alleged to have accessed restricted police databases without authorization and then revealed case details to a person involved in the investigation.

Fisher said the officer also allegedly failed to provide knowledge he had of the death to police.

Owen Padmore was found in his home with severe head injuries on Dec. 9, 2001. The 31-year-old died the next day.

Fisher said an autopsy revealed the head trauma was consistent with a fall, and Padmore's death was ruled accidental.

However, new information led the police to reopen the case in 2008, eventually interviewing the Vancouver officer in 2011.

Fisher said the officer provided information that had direct relevance to the arrest of a suspect, but the officer later recanted portions of his statements.

Three people were arrested in connection with Padmore's death, but all three were released and no one has ever been convicted.

The investigation remains open

Prince Rupert RCMP Welcome New Boss Wayne Maughan takes over as Inspector John Crawford 7/19/2013 CKTF There's a new man in charge of the Prince Rupert R-C-M-P detachment.

Inspector Wayne Maughan was born in London, Ontario, but raised in Alberta.

7 He's been a member of the R-C-M-P since 1975 -- and was recently promoted to Inspector.

Maughan says he plans to focus on youth, youth programs, and getting the Prince Rupert R-C-M-P more involved with youth.

He's also looking forward to developing strong relationships with the First Nationʼs community.

==== OFFICIAL RCMP RELEASE ====

Prince Rupert Welcomeʼs New Detachment Commander Prince Rupert 2013-07-18 14:19 PDT

Inspector Wayne Maughan was born in London, Ontario and was raised in Alberta. He joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1975, following his graduation from the police academy in Regina, Saskatchewan. His first posting was to General Duty in K Division at Edson Detachment.

In 1979 Wayne left the RCMP for private business and subsequent positions with the Alberta Government. After nine years Wayne rejoined the RCMP and was posted to Fort QuʼApplle Detachment in F Division where he spent the next six years. This posting was one of the more challenging posts Wayne had faced due to the high call volume and being known as one of the busiest detachments in the country. But Wayne persevered and in part due to his high solvency rate was given the opportunity to join the newly formed Custom and Excise Unit in Regina. In this new role Wayne investigated several high profile cases including one dubbed Project Fieldstone. This project centered on the illegal importation of precious gems and diamonds from Los Angeles to Canada. Here Wayne supervised a team of 5 investigators and as a result of their hard work and dedication resulted in a million dollar civil forfeiture and $400,000.00 of precious stones being seized.

Wayneʼs first promotion came in 1999 when he was posted as a Corporal to Fond Du Lac First Nations Policing Unit in Fond Du Lac, Saskatchewan as their new detachment commander. This was his very first fly in only post. While in this community Wayne implemented the Aboriginal Cadet Program which was the catalyst to developing long lasting and committed relationships with the Dene First Nations. To this day Wayne and their Chief still keep in contact on a regular basis and are good friends.

In 2001 Wayne returned back to Regina where he became the unit supervisor for National Security. During this tour Wayne had the challenging role of managing Project Shock which was developed after the tragic terrorist attacks on the World

8 Trade Centre in New York City. The primary focus of this project was to develop intelligence and investigate potential terrorist plots in the wake of 9-1-1.

Wayne later promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2005, then to Staff Sergeant in 2007.

In 2013 Wayne was commissioned to the rank of Inspector where he took on his current role as the Detachment Commander of the Prince Rupert RCMP. Wayneʼs interest in Prince Rupert stemmed from having never traveled to the West Coast of British Columbia, and hearing about the wonderful reputation about the friendliness of the community of Prince Rupert.

Since being in Prince Rupert Wayne has already begun to develop strong community ties, and applauds Prince Rupert for being so welcoming to him and his family. Itʼs a city with a small town feel, and itʼs easygoing, I like that. Said Inspector Maughan.

During his time in Prince Rupert Wayneʼs is hoping to focus on youth, youth programs, and getting the Prince Rupert RCMP more involved with youth. Wayne is also looking forward to developing strong relationships with the First Nationʼs community. On a more personal note, Wayne has been married for forty-two years and has three adult children. He has also been the proud recipient of the Queenʼs Golden Jubilee Medal, the Queenʼs Diamond Jubilee Medal and the RCMP Long Service Medal with bronze clasp (25 years), and has been a member of the RCMP for 29 years.

Investigation into Surrey's latest police shooting could take months

BY TOM ZYTARUK, SURREY NOW JULY 19, 2013

It could be several months before the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. concludes its investigation into Thursday night's shooting in Whalley, involving a Surrey Mountie.

Shortly after 10 p.m. the Surrey RCMP officer shot a man who was allegedly advancing on him with a knife. Kellie Kilpatrick, a spokeswoman for the IIO, said six investigators were called to the scene, at 125th Street and 110th Avenue, shortly after the shooting. A large area around the scene was cordoned off with yellow police tape as investigators conducted "a wide, thorough ground search" for clues.

9 Kilpatrick said the Mountie was in his car, having just wrapped up a complaint call about a fire, just before the shooting.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet said the police officer was at the scene of a suspected arson when the man approached him. "The suspect was ordered to drop the knife and continued to advance on the officer who discharged his firearm, striking the suspect," he said. "The male was immediately transported to hospital by ambulance and was reported in serious condition at the time."

The Mountie wasn't injured.

The IIO, set up in September 2012, aims to keep B.C. police officers accountable in cases involving in-custody deaths and serious injuries.

Its staff of 60 is poised to travel anywhere in the province, at a moment's notice, to investigate police involvement in such cases, whether on or off duty.

This latest shooting happened one day after the conclusion of a Coroners Court inquest into the 2011 police shooting death of Brendon Samuel Beddow in Crescent Beach. Beddow, 23, was killed on March 23, 2011 after police responded to a domestic disturbance at a house on McBride Avenue. Witnesses told the Now at the time that Beddow had a gun and confronted police, who then opened fire on him.

The inquest found his death to be a homicide. The immediate cause of death was his heart stopping after a gunshot to the chest.

The jury made 10 recommendations. To the British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police, it recommended that police arrive on such scenes within 15 minutes, and to recertify weapons training every year.

The jury also recommended that the RCMP improve its dispatch procedures, have all officers trained every three years in critical incident response and first aid, and to have video and recording devices installed in all police cars.

This last recommendation, incidentally, mirrored a recommendation made by a Coroners Court jury in June, following an inquest into the case of Adam Purdie.

Purdie, 28, was killed during a gunfight with the Surrey RCMP on March 2, 2011, at Highway 10 and King George Blvd. His death was determined to be a homicide. Purdie was shot 17 times, with one of his wounds being self-inflicted. His autopsy revealed he'd been using cocaine and morphine.

The jury in Purdie's case recommended that dashboard cameras be installed in all RCMP patrol cars.

Meantime, the jury in Beddow's case also recommended that the RCMP "respect the body once the body is pronounced death and that the restraints be removed

10 before transportation," and to have "some kind of" video or recording device on each Mountie "to help maintain the integrity and evidence" at crime scenes.

The jury also recommended that the BC Ambulance Service have advanced life support coverage based on population and geography, that Surrey firefighters have "smaller" fire rescue vehicles to ensure each community has proper coverage, and that Fraser Health Authority ensure that people admitted to hospital for drug abuse or suicide attempts "be offered" a week in hospital and, based on a doctor's recommendation, have access to rehab for 30 days and then have a social worker "follow up on the person every week as directed by a medical professional."

Civilian oversight of police critical despite relatively few charges

Richard Rosenthal leads B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office, which is charged with investigating police incidents involving death or serious harm. That includes life-threatening injury or a serious disfiguring or crippling injury.

BY VANCOUVER SUN JULY 20, 2013

Richard Rosenthal leads B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office, which is charged with investigating police incidents involving death or serious harm. That includes life-threatening injury or a serious disfiguring or crippling injury.

The office, commonly called the IIO, was created in hopes of restoring public confidence in the accountability of police forces in B.C. after the police killing of Robert Dziekanski and other fatal incidents.

Rosenthal's office has 49 employees and a $9.3-million annual budget. Since it started operations in September, the IIO has taken on 33 cases, 11 of which have been closed without charges being recommended to Crown prosecutors. Five cases have been referred to prosecutors, who declined to press charges in two of them and are still considering the others.

Rosenthal sat down with The Vancouver Sun recently to talk about his office's progress. Here is an edited version.

Q. How did you get into civilian oversight of the police?

A. I was the first person allowed inside (Los Angeles Police Department) internal affairs, the first outsider, and what I saw there, it wasn't working - they had systemic problems. (At the time, Rosenthal was a Los Angeles assistant district attorney involved in prosecuting corrupt cops.) They were putting all these

11 resources into these unnecessary investigations, such that whenever something significant happened, they never had the resources. And so the significant cases all failed.

They were so intent on defending themselves from allegations that they were ignoring misconduct, that they lost track of reason, logic and common sense, and the end result was there were many, many failures. I saw this incredible need in policing to be involved in ensuring that the police had the right tools to police themselves and ensure effective and constitutional policing.

Q. How does police culture differ from Canada to the U. S.?

A. The big difference that I've seen here is just the importance of privacy. What I was used to was in any officerinvolved shooting or in-custody death in Denver, the D.A. would write out a public report when charges were not being laid and the names would be named. Officers' names would be named, decedents' names would be named and it was done in each and every case. I came here anticipating that I would name names in my reports, but then ... when I looked at the privacy commissioners' recommendations and the way that it's been done in the past, what I decided was, 'All right, unless the name is already out there in public and readily available, then I will not name names.'

Q. Part of B.C.'s police culture has included discrimination against First Nations people. How is your office dealing with this?

A. Obviously, the issues between First Nations and the police here have been long-standing and sometimes dramatic.

It showed the importance to me that we had to reach out and establish relationships within First Nations communities so that they know what we're doing, they know why we're doing it and we're doing it in such a way as to be respectful of their needs and their customs and expectations. Thus far, the vast majority, if not frankly every First Nation representative I've met with, has been supportive of the creation of the office.

Q. Are First Nations people less likely to co-operate with you based on this legacy of oppression?

A. That hasn't been my experience, but of course we're a different agency. We're different in that we're civilian led, and none of my investigators have been in B.C. policing in the past five years, and one-third of the investigators have no police background at all. We've actually found that's helped in a number of cases where people are suspicious or distrustful of police, investigators have explained who they are and their backgrounds with them. Certainly there have been some people that have opened up and been more co-operative.

Q. What types of backgrounds do the civilian investigators have?

12 A. Two-thirds are former police, (there are) coroners, investigators (from) ICBC or WorkSafeBC, two investigative journalists. Maybe they haven't ever done any police investigations, they certainly have done investigations and know how to interview witnesses and how to compile evidence and fact-based investigations.

Q. Is that the mix you want?

A. The ultimate goal is toward pure civilianization. It has taken Ontario 20 years to get where they are, and I think they're half and half in their full-time employees. They (also) have a cadre of (40) asneeded investigators.

See a longer version of this interview at vancouversun.com The one place where that's going to be a challenge in particular is forensics. In Canada, the only people who do that kind of work are police. In the U.S., a lot of them are civilian.

Q. Why don't you want oncall, part-time investigators spread out across the province that are able to react quickly?

A. B.C. is the size of California, Oregon, Washington and half of Idaho. I have a map up of B.C. in my office that I consistently stare at just to make sure I remember the challenges.

It's hard to supervise people who are out there on (their) own. I ended up deciding no, I need everyone under one roof in one place. Well, the consequence of that was it will take us longer to get to incidents that happen outside of the Lower Mainland. The benefit is I'm able to create a culture of accountability within my organization that is separate and apart from the policing culture. It was not an easy decision because I feel a responsibility to provide a high level of service to people in the North as well. Over time, we're going to look and see what our numbers are to see if we're ever ready to have separate satellite officers.

Q. Is the 'code of silence' still prevalent among police when their fellow officers are being investigated for misconduct?

A. It exists not just in police, it exists in kindergarten, academia, journalism, medicine, it exists all through society.

I used to joke with students when I'm teaching code of silence issues: 'How many of you have two kids? How many of you have told one kid to stop tattling on the other? Code of silence. Congratulations, you've just bought into it.' All I can say is from the point of view of the higher command, who I deal with, they have been nothing but cooperative and collaborative. I have not had a bad experience or a problematic discussion with any senior leadership in B.C., and I was watching carefully and I wanted to see whether they were just blowing smoke and saying, 'Oh yeah, we want an IIO,' or whether they were being sincere. Everything I've seen thus far is they were very sincere, they want it to work and will do whatever they can in assisting us in succeeding.

13 Q. So far, no charges have been laid by Crown after your investigations. Why is the province spending millions of dollars on your agency when only a very small percentage of cases will result in charges?

A. It's a challenge to explain, but (No.) 1, because that three per cent (of cases that result in charges) is so important that it be done right and, No. 2, because it's also important that the public have faith in the integrity of that 97 per cent. Don't just look at the percentages. Here are the cases that didn't (result in charges), look at 'em and if you think that one of these should have, then talk to me about it, but let's do it in an intelligent fashion with knowledge of the case.

To me, that's one of the reasons why this public reporting function is utterly essential to our success.

ALBERTA

Chief stands by his decision

MedicineHatNews

By Alex Mccuaig on July 12, 2013.

Medicine Hat police Chief Andy McGrogan continues to stand by his decision not to suspend three officers charged with aggravated assault.

The chief also confirmed Thursday the existence of a video displaying parts of the alleged incident involving the constables and said he has now received the investigative file into the allegations which he will review.

The three constables — David Hrycyk, 40, Robert Angstadt, 39, and Marc Seiller, 28 — were arrested on July 3 by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team in connection with an Aug. 25, 2012 incident at a city bar.

The News has now received the sworn information from the court. The document indicates a peace officer with ASIRT was the prosecutorial representative during the judicial interim release hearing for the constables held on July 3 when the conditions of release were set.

The hearing in front of a justice of the peace released the officers under conditions not to contact the complainant or 10 other individuals. It did not place weapon restrictions, a curfew or reporting conditions on the officers. Nor was a no-contact order between the co-accused put in place.

14 “I have three options,” said McGrogan regarding administrative actions against the officers. “I can suspend without pay, suspend with pay or I can assign them different duties.”

The chief said he has to look at the circumstances and whether there is a risk to the “safety of the community — thatʼs whatʼs being second-guessed. Is the community safe right now with these officers on the street or are they in danger,” said McGrogan.

The public is not in danger or at risk with these officers in their current duties, he added.

In that light, McGrogan said suspending officers who make more than $100,000 annually and who donʼt pose a risk to the public doesnʼt make sense, “when they could be still contributing to the safety of our community. Do I do that rather than have them sit at home?”

McGrogan said he had nothing to do with the setting of release conditions at the hearing which took place at the Redcliff RCMP detachment via teleconference with the Calgary bail office on July 3.

The chief also took issue with the reporting in Wednesdayʼs News of the Law Enforcement Review Board decision regarding a 2011 incident involving a city man alleging wrongful arrest and excessive force against MHPS.

The decision to send back the complaint to MHPS for reconsideration was a joint decision with the counsel for the complainant and was based on a recent Queenʼs Bench ruling on an unrelated matter, McGrogan stated.

McGrogan reiterated the officers in question have not received any formal or informal complaints against them since the incident last August.

He also acknowledged the officers do not have perfect records previous to the incident in question.

The chief said he will be reviewing the investigative file on the officers to see if more stringent sanctions against the constables are required pending the outcome of the criminal allegations.

“My No. 1 thing is the safety of our community. If thatʼs safety of our community against certain officers, Iʼll look after that,” said McGrogan.

“Iʼm not there yet.”

15 Most confiscated firearms have been returned to High River owners

BY TREVOR HOWELL, CALGARY HERALD JULY 20, 2013 7:56 AM

More than three-quarters of all firearms confiscated by the RCMP from empty homes in High River during a mandatory evacuation of the flooded-stricken town last month have been reunited with their owners.

Staff Sgt. Patricia Neely said 404 of the 539 seized firearms had been claimed by their owners by Friday morning.

“Everybody that has wanted to remove their firearms from RCMP possession has been able to do so,” said Neely.

Gun owners who donʼt have a possession acquisition licence are required to have a friend or family member store the firearm until a new licence is obtained, Neely said.

No charges have been laid against any gun owner, she said.

In late June, at the height of tensions between displaced residents and authorities, RCMP revealed that officers had been taking firearms left in plain sight from High River homes during door-to-door search-and-rescue operations to prevent the guns from being stolen or damaged.

The issue prompted comments from Albertaʼs solicitor general and the prime ministerʼs office, both of which said they expected the RCMP to “focus on more important tasks such as protecting private property.”

The provincial Emergency Management Act grants authorities additional powers during a state of emergency, including the authority to enter premises without a warrant and take property to “prevent, combat or alleviate the effects of an emergency or disaster.”

Mounties said they took the same action after the devastating fires in Slave Lake two years ago.

In the wake of the recent confiscation, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP launched a probe in July to examine whether officers broke any laws or breached force policies.

The seizures angered many town residents, some saying Mounties had, in fact, taken guns from secured storage units.

16 Neely said there has been no indication that has happened.

“A lot of people assumed that we had gone into secured areas without checking them, only to determine that we had not,” said Neely.

“We did have one gun owner come to claim his gun and we did not have it,” she said. “He called us back shortly later to say that he had located them where he left them — in his gun locker.”

In an odd twist, several owners have voluntarily handed in more than 180 guns to RCMP to be stored at the local detachment since the mandatory evacuation was lifted.

“These were guns that were left in the residences where the people have requested that we secure them for them,” said Neely.

SASKATCHEWAN Committee says tighten Saskatchewan law banning phone use while driving THE CANADIAN PRESS JULY 15, 2013

REGINA - A legislative committee in Saskatchewan says it will recommend tightening the law banning the use of hand-held cellphones while driving.

Legislation banning the use of hand-held cellphones while driving became law Jan. 1, 2010 in Saskatchewan.

But MLA Darryl Hickie, who heads up the traffic safety committee, says there's "a grey area" in the legislation when it comes to the word "use."

"The law clearly stipulates you can not use an electronic device or a hand-held device, but it's very moot on if you can actually hold the device and we're seeing court challenges to the definition of use versus hold," Hickie said Monday.

Hickie noted that one man successfully appealed a conviction by a Traffic Safety Court judge because of the word "use."

According to court documents, in April 2010, Saskatoon police officers said they saw a man driving while holding a cellphone up to his left ear.

17 Reginald Schafer argued he was moving his cellphone from his pants pocket to his shirt pocket, but denied that he was talking on it. Schafer was found guilty of using electronic communications equipment while driving and fined $230.

Schafer appealed.

In March 2011, the Court of Queen's Bench quashed the conviction and ordered a new trial. Justice Martel Popescul said in the decision that handling a cellphone while driving is not prohibited.

Popescul wrote: "If the Saskatchewan legislature had intended to prohibit the mere handling of a cellular phone while driving, it could have easily done so as did the legislatures of British Columbia and Ontario. In Ontario, 'holding or using' a cellular device is an offence."

Hickie says the committee wants to close that loophole.

"We're going to be recommending that you can no longer actually even hold the phone or electronic device."

The all-party committee is looking for ways to reduce traffic-related deaths in Saskatchewan. Officials have said 2012 was the deadliest year ever on provincial highways with 175 traffic deaths and Saskatchewan Government Insurance said the top two causes were distracted driving and drunk driving.

Hickie says the committee has heard from the public that authorities should be tougher on the hand-held device law.

The committee will make its recommendations at the end of August, but Hickie says they already agree on the idea of tweaking the cellphone driving legislation.

Hickie, a former police officer, says he's discouraged to still see people using hand-held cellphones while driving.

"People sometimes, I think, don't believe they're going to get caught or the law doesn't apply to them," he said.

"If they're not texting in their laps, it's in their hand at their ear while they're driving, one hand on the wheel. It's very frustrating. I can be at any intersection, anywhere in my travels and I will find one person texting or one person on the phone," he added.

Court suggests Saskatchewan RCMP take ʻfresh lookʼ at forcible bra removal JENNIFER GRAHAM

18 FORT QUʼAPPELLE, Sask. — The Canadian Press Published Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 10:10 AM EDT Last updated Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 10:16 AM EDT

A judge in Saskatchewan says an RCMP detachment needs to take a “fresh look” at its procedures after officers forcibly removed the bra of a woman arrested for impaired driving.

Wanda Deschambault was arrested last July after a truck hit a monument in Lebret, about 80 kilometres northeast of Regina.

A provincial court decision recently posted online says Deschambault was told that she would be placed alone in a cell, the door would be closed and she would be allowed to remove the bra herself.

But she refused, so one officer held her arms behind her back while another reached under her shirt to unclasp the bra.

Court heard that shortly after that, Deschambault wrapped her shirt around her neck and was twisting it.

The decision says one officer went into the cell and took her shirt from around her neck. The shirt and her skirt were then taken away, leaving Deschambault with only her underpants.

Judge Barbara Tomkins wrote that “Deschambault was left, nearly naked, distraught in the cell, and when she was observed later to place a mat over herself to cover her nakedness, another officer entered and removed the mat.”

Tomkins wrote that the woman was eventually given a paper suit, but the officers who testified didnʼt know when that occurred, so “we do not know how long Ms. Deschambault remained under observation in this undignified, degrading and humiliating state.”

Const. Marcus Crocker testified it isnʼt policy, but standing operating procedure for dealing with women prisoners at the Fort QuʼAppelle detachment is to remove their bras.

He testified a woman might use her bra to hurt herself, that wire in an underwire bra might be used as a weapon or a weapon or drugs could be hidden in the undergarment.

Tomkins pointed out that Deschambault was not distraught until the officers took her bra.

The judge also noted that a metal-detecting wand had already gone over Deschambault and nothing was found. As well, she was in a cell by herself so there was no opportunity to exchange contraband.

19

“I am not satisfied that there were reasonable grounds to require Ms. Deschambault to surrender her bra to the officers, and I am satisfied, therefore, that her Section 8 charter rights were infringed,” concluded Tomkins.

“The taking of the bra by force, for the same reasons, was unreasonable.”

Deschambault applied for a stay of the impaired driving and blood alcohol charges arguing that the search was unlawful. She argued that no one identified her as the driver and the charges couldnʼt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Tomkins agreed with the latter argument and acquitted the woman.

“I do hope that this incident ... will result in a decision to review this ʻstanding operating procedureʼ at the Fort QuʼAppelle detachment,” wrote Tomkins.

“It is time for a fresh look.”

The judge said she wasnʼt satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Deschambault “was in, or was driving, the truck that hit the monument.” No one identified her as the driver of any vehicle that day.

The judge also noted that police didnʼt analyze paint samples from the truckʼs bumper to see if they matched residue on the monument. Nor did they measure the height of the bumper and compare it to the height of the damage on the monument.

Saskatchewan supports recommendations to address Cyberbullying Published on July 19, 2013

The Government of Saskatchewan supports proposed reforms to the Criminal Code to address cyberbullying and non-consensual distribution of intimate images. A report released today by the federal government on behalf of federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice and public safety contains several recommendations to combat cyberbullying. “The issue of cyberbullying requires ongoing collaboration and we are committed to working with our counterparts across the country to support proposed criminal law reforms,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Gordon Wyant said. The report cites several recommendations that include updating sections to the Criminal Code that would enhance the criminal law response to cyberbullying by ensuring its existing provisions apply to any form of electronic communication, and would create a new offence of non-consensual distribution of intimate

20 images. Today's report also recommends enhanced tools that will enable police and courts to deal with electronic technology. In April, federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice directed officials to review potential criminal law reforms to address cyberbullying. Today's report reflects how the provinces and territories are working in collaboration with the federal government. “This is a complex issue that requires more than a criminal justice system response," Wyant said. "That's why we are also focusing on other ways jurisdictions are responding to bullying and cyberbullying so we can ensure a more comprehensive response.” In June, anti-bullying consultations were held in communities across Saskatchewan. The experiences shared during the consultations will help in the development of an anti-bullying strategy for the Government of Saskatchewan. Written submissions are being accepted until Oct. 31, 2013 at anti- [email protected]. Currently, Saskatchewan supports efforts to combat Internet based crime through efforts like the RCMP-operated Canadian Anti-fraud Centre and Cybertip.ca. The Province also provides funding to the Regina, Prince Albert and Saskatoon Police Services, in partnership with the RCMP for 11 dedicated officers to investigate cases of Internet child exploitation.

MANITOBA July 12, 2013

Winnipeg Police Service Receives $356,000 For Specialized Training, Equipment To Tackle Crime

Winnipeg police officers will be better able to serve the community, investigate incidents and support crime prevention with specialized equipment and training provided by a program that seizes criminal property and redirects funds back into law enforcement, Justice Minister Andrew Swan announced today.

"The criminal landscape continues to change and we are pleased to provide law enforcement with the resources they need to update equipment and skills," said Swan. "We're taking money out criminal activity and putting it to work fighting crime. Supporting the work of Winnipeg's officers benefits law-abiding citizens and helps us build a safer community."

The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) will receive over $356,000 to purchase two cargo vans to transport offenders and officers, surveillance equipment, an automated licence-plate reader, safety equipment for medical personnel and other specialized tools. The funds will also be used to provide officers with

21 specialized training in areas such as emergency planning, fraud and child sexual abuse investigations.

"Organized crime, at its true core, is about money," said Chief Devon Clunis, WPS. "Through this program, we're able to take back these ill-gotten gains so that this money cannot be used to fund future crimes. At the same time, we're using these funds to strengthen the efforts of police work, which goes a long way toward helping us creating a culture of safety for our community."

In total, over $1 million in grants will be distributed across the province this summer through the Criminal Property Forfeiture Unit. Since 2010, over $5 million in assets have been successfully forfeited to Manitoba, Swan said. The money recovered is deposited into the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund and used, in part, to support the work of police and victim services. More forfeiture proceedings are in process, with over 200 files currently being pursued involving numerous vehicles, houses, rural properties and cash, the minister said.

July 19, 2013

New, Upgraded Police Equipment For Three Communities Funded By Money Taken Out Of Criminal Activity

Police agencies serving the communities of Morden, Winkler and Altona will receive nearly $120,000 to purchase and upgrade equipment to tackle crime with funding from the province's criminal property forfeiture program, Justice Minister Andrew Swan announced today.

"No community is immune to the effects of crime. It's important to invest in specialized equipment across the province and expand the tools available to law enforcement agencies to uphold the law and keep residents safe," said Swan. "Criminal property forfeitures take money out of criminal activity and put it to good use for the community. This summer, we will distribute over $1 million in grants, funded with assets seized by the province."

The minister said nearly $60,000 will be used to outfit a new, dedicated vehicle for the K9 unit in Morden, which also provides its specialized services to neighbouring communities. This purchase will help to improve response times and increase the likelihood of a successful police operation, he said. The K9 unit was established in Morden in 2010 to help track suspects and locate illegal drugs.

"Time is of the essence when we need to use our K9 unit and this new, dedicated vehicle will mean our officers can respond without delay," said Brad Neduzak, chief of the Morden Police Service. "We are proud to be one of only three K9

22 units in southern Manitoba. This grant will allow us to continue to improve the level of service and safety we provide to the community."

The Altona Police Service has received over $44,700 to purchase a new digital fingerprinting system that will provide nearly instant results, Swan said. The previous method of checking fingerprints could take up to 120 days for routine, non-criminal matters. The system can also be accessed by law enforcement agencies in other communities including Winkler and Morden and the rural municipalities of Rhineland and Montcalm.

"The new fingerprinting system is quite expensive and our police agency would likely not have been able to purchase it without the support of this grant," said Perry Batchelor, chief of police, Altona Police Service. "This is an outstanding resource for the community and will allow us to provide better service to residents needing a criminal record check and also help to apprehend criminals by matching fingerprints more quickly."

The Winkler Police Agency will upgrade 10 FleetNet radios to allow the use of an encrypted radio channel with a grant of over $15,000, the minister said, adding this will improve officer safety and the overall success of police operations when executing search warrants because suspects and other members of the public will be unable to pick up police information on scanners.

"The grants provided to our police service have allowed us to purchase crime- fighting tools that otherwise would remain out of our reach," said Rick Hiebert, chief of the Winkler Police Service. "This year's funding will provide military- grade encryption for our police radios, which will make our communication undetectable by the criminal element. Last year, we purchased a $19,000 thermal imaging camera with this grant and officers have been able to use it to make successful arrests."

These grants are distributed through the province's criminal property forfeiture branch. Since the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act was put in place in 2010, over $5 million in assets has been successfully forfeited to Manitoba. The money recovered is deposited into the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund and used, in part, to support the work of police and victim services. More forfeiture proceedings are in process, with over 200 files currently being pursued involving numerous vehicles, houses, rural properties and cash.

For more information about criminal property forfeitures, visit: www.gov.mb.ca/justice/safe/cpf/index.html.

23 ONTARIO Treaty Three Police management says the forceʼs future will be decided by the officers

By Alan S. Hale, Kenora Daily MIner and News Thursday, July 11, 2013 9:33:20 EDT PM

After remaining silent publicly since the meeting of the regionʼs First Nations chiefs in Kenora on June 17, the Treaty Three Police Serviceʼs management has released a public statement saying the original conditions put to the union at that meeting must be met, and it is up to the officers and their union to decide if the police service survives or not.

“The decision to move forward and prevent the closure of our police service is clearly in our employeesʼ hands and we await their reply. We have faith in our employees in that they will make the right and timely decision so that we can move forward collectively,” says the statement from Police Chief Conrad DeLaronde.

There are three conditions the police service and the chiefs want officers to comply with:

It was repeated the officers must concede defeat in the police serviceʼs Canadian Industrial Relations Board challenge to their unionʼs ability to represent them. This would mean not only having to form a new union, but also losing their current collective agreement which gives them wage parity with the OPP.

Second, they must also drop their unfair labour practices complaint against the force for violating that collective agreement with imposed wage and benefit cuts.

And third, that a representative from their new union be sent to personally negotiate a new contract with Treaty Three Police management which will stay within funding they have from the government.

“It would serve no purpose to sit down and negotiate a new agreement on a respectful basis with labour law challenges and unfair allegations outstanding on either partyʼs part,” reads DeLarondeʼs statement released Thursday.

Recognition by the officers, their supporters and the union that the problems at the Treaty Three Police are being caused by government under-funding is a positive sign, says DeLaronde, and there is a willingness on both sides to keep the police force open.

24 However, there has been some doubt on the part of the union over the managementʼs claim it is the wage parity with the OPP that is unaffordable in their current budget, and have made a more detailed and independent audit of the forceʼs finances to back up this claim a condition of their own for negotiations. The union has also said management never argued it couldnʼt pay for the wage increases at the arbitration hearings last fall.

According to DeLarondeʼs statement, the police service did warn the arbitrator parity would cause the force “financial duress” but it had also expected because the increases were imposed by a federal arbitrator, the federal government would provide a budget increase to cover it.

That didnʼt happen, and now the wages and benefits in the collective agreement are simply too expensive and something had to be done.

“To say the least, the reality set in and to keep from incurring further debt, or being irresponsible and not doing anything, a painful but necessary decision had to be made to have our officerʼs salary revert back to pre-arbiter rates effective June 10, 2013.”

Delaronde claims that paying for 100 per cent of the benefits for officers would have contributed $330,000 to this fiscal yearʼs deficit alone, and if the board hadnʼt imposed the wage and benefit cuts, the deficit would be $3.3 million.

The cuts are not about union busting or wanting to pay officers less than they deserve as some have suggested, says Delaronde, itʼs about doing what is necessary to save the police service.

“Neither the Treaty Three board of directors nor our management team have ever laid any blame on any of our officers, their union or any of our employees as being the cause of the debt,” he says.

“We do not disagree with the officers that our officers and civilian employees alike should be paid equivalent to the OPP.”

Grand Chief Warren White, the Assembly of First Nations and the Treaty Three Police board have been lobbying the government for an increase to the serviceʼs budget to no avail, although apparently the provincial government is apparently listening.

“The province of Ontario Ministry of Community Safety indicated a willingness to provide nominal increases to our funding but could only do so if the federal government would contribute their share. The federal government again states there would be no increases.”

25 Opinion: To suspend without pay before guilty verdict is devastating punishment

Windsor Star Jul 11, 2013 - 3:05 PM EDT Last Updated: Jul 11, 2013 - 11:19 PM EDT Re: Suspended cops cost city millions, by Dalson Chen and Allison Jones, The Canadian Press, July 10.

The notion that one person, a police chief, should have the power to play judge and jury is a dangerous one. To suspend someone without pay before a finding of guilt delivers a devastating and unwarranted punishment.

Ontario police chiefs want the power to suspend without pay any police personnel charged with a serious criminal offence.

Itʼs important to remember that police officers can often be targets for malicious complaints, they are often cleared of charges, and like everyone else, they deserve to be innocent until proven otherwise.

Giving one person, the chief, the power to suspend someone without pay before a finding of guilt is unfair and cruel. Leaving officers and their families under suspicion and without income is devastating.

There are no shortcuts to a fair hearing and income should not be stopped without that due process. Once there is a finding of guilt, there is a process in place under the Police Services Act that can lead to suspension without pay or termination.

If police chiefs are truly worried about saving money, they should be reassigning officers to other duties while they are under investigation, instead of suspending them and sending them home, unduly punishing them and leaving the service understaffed.

The Police Services Act recognizes that police officersʼ work puts them in jeopardy of malicious complaints and allows that, if needed, a chief can suspend with pay until an investigation is concluded.

But that tool is often overused by chiefs leading to a waste of money and undue strain on the service. The Police Association of Ontario advocates that in most circumstances,chiefs should use their power to reassign police personnel to other work and only use suspension with pay when it is in the best interest of the public and the service.

26 If the chiefs are worried about a waste of money, as they say, they already have the ability to stop the waste. But to suspend someone without pay is to sentence and to punish without a conviction.

Police officers are obligated to enforce the law and in so doing must be independent of fear of any retaliation from anyone, including the chief.

DAVE McFADDEN, President, Police Association of Ontario, Mississauga, Ont.

Ontario ombudsman warns about medical transfers, SIU, municipal accountability

Maria Babbage, The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, July 16, 2013 12:41PM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, July 16, 2013 6:09PM EDT TORONTO -- Ontario's ombudsman is warning the governing Liberals that unless they live up to their promise to protect patients by regulating non-emergency medical transfers soon, he'll be forced to re-open his investigation of the industry. About 400,000 people are transported every year in privately owned vehicles that look like ambulances, ombudsman Andre Marin said Tuesday. But nothing's been done to regulate the sector for two years. "This is a case where the wheels are literally falling off the bus," he said after releasing his annual report.

"Some of these vehicles, parts are flying off them. We have patients falling off gurneys. It's a question of time before there is a major catastrophe." Marin said he agreed not to publish his report in 2011 after Premier Kathleen Wynne -- then transportation minister -- and Health Minister Deb Matthews agreed that the industry needed to be regulated. The coroner's been asking for regulation since 1995, he said. He recently reminded Wynne of her promise, he said. But Transportation Minister Glen Murray wasn't even aware of the report. "Since 1995, the government has a history of panicking when the issue comes up -- when there's a crash and someone gets injured or someone gets killed," Marin said. "And then as soon as the media fades, the government's interests stalls in changing the legislation." The Liberals are taking their responsibility of protecting Ontarians too lightly, said NDP health critic France Gelinas. "They look, they feel, they come when you call the ambulance, but yet they're not," she said of the transport system. "They're set up to deceive people, and they do each and every day." Matthews said she's still committed to regulating the sector.

27 "My ministry has been working diligently on a policy framework that addresses the quality and safety issues identified in the report," she said in a statement. "We are consulting with industry, health care providers, consumers and their families, and updating the ombudsman on our progress." But there's other "unfinished business" the Liberals have yet to act on, such as replacing an outdated law that resulted in a "massive" violation of civil rights during the G20 protests in Toronto three years ago, Marin said. The Special Investigations Unit still doesn't have teeth to properly investigate police involved in cases of serious injury or death, he said. "If the resolution is not followed with action, it's as hollow as a broken promise," Marin said. Progress has been made on other fronts, such as dealing with operational stress injuries and suicide among Ontario Provincial Police officers, he said. As in past years, Marin yet again urged the government to give him oversight of hospitals, nursing homes, municipalities, universities and school boards, as other provinces do. Former premier Dalton McGuinty told him last year that it was just a matter of time, he said. Marin has had to turn away more than 2,500 complaints about those sectors last year, he said. It's become "an embarrassment." "Ontario is a have-not province when it comes to accountability," he added. "We were very good for talking the talk, but not walking the talk." When there were calls for his office to oversee hospitals, the government created 153 so-called "patient advocates," he said. "More power to them," Marin said. "If they decide a hospital needs Wal-Mart greeters, go ahead and get them." But that just muddies the water when it comes to accountability, he said. Many hospitals he saw had patient advocates whose first job was to "report on compliments," he said. "An ombudsman isn't there to report on compliments." His office received 19,726 complaints and inquiries in the past year, up six per cent from the year before, he said. Most of the tales of bureaucratic bumbling didn't make headlines, he said. They included government staff who wouldn't give a father his baby daughter's birth certificate without a signature from his wife, who died in childbirth. A whistleblower led to the discovery that the province's long-term care action line lost more than 250 calls, he said. The government has identified 13,866 potential duplicate licence records, or "ghost licences," that have allowed some suspended drivers to stay on the roads. "We have right now, as we speak, hundreds of people who are driving that are not supposed to be driving," he said. "Some of them are drunks that should be off the streets." Marin launched a new investigation Monday into whether the government is doing enough to protect children in unlicensed daycares, after a toddler died at a home daycare north of Toronto last week. Education officials have admitted that they failed to follow up on two of three complaints lodged against the daycare.

28 Two Ministry of Education employees have been suspended, said Lauren Ramey, a spokeswoman for Education Minister Liz Sandals. An internal investigation is ongoing.

Police who lie: Illegal searches by Peel Police allow alleged gun offenders to walk free

By: David Bruser News Reporter, Jesse McLean Investigative News reporter, The Star Published on Mon Jul 15 2013 Judges in Peel Region have let at least eight alleged gun offenders walk free after finding police made illegal searches and, in some cases, misled the court to cover up the misconduct.

A “disturbing pattern,” Justice Bruce Durno recently called it before tossing the case against Jahmarr Sterling-Debney, who was found with a .22-calibre pistol and faced a minimum of three years in prison if convicted.

The judge said Peel officers Stephen Porciello and Michael Bishop broke the law by arbitrarily detaining, searching and arresting the suspect on Derry Road in Mississauga, and then attempted to mislead the court about how they seized the manʼs gun.

“The public has an interest in having these serious charges prosecuted to a verdict,” Justice Durno said but added the officerʼs behaviour was the more serious threat to the reputation of the justice system. “It is essential that the court (dissociate) itself from the police misconduct at the roadside and in court.”

Durnoʼs ruling is yet another message from Ontario courts that police misconduct undermines public trust in the justice system and must be condemned.

A 2012 Star investigation revealed more than 100 cases of police dishonesty in courts across the country.

The articles, which also found Ontario had no formal method of reporting such incidents, prompted the attorney general to make a new policy requiring prosecutors in the province to do just that.

In Peel Region, though, the problem continues.

The Star found five recent cases where judges said Peel officers illegally searched suspectsʼ cars and uncovered guns. Eight accused gun offenders were acquitted as a result.

29 In these instances, officers followed hunches and found reliable evidence of crimes. Whether out of laziness, overzealousness or poor training, they violated laws put in place to protect citizens from abuse of police power.

In two of the cases, officers gave misleading evidence in court after the Attorney Generalʼs new policy came into effect in January.

All of the officers named in this story either refused to comment or did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Peel Police is looking into the issue after being notified by the Crown attorneyʼs office of recent court decisions denouncing officersʼ actions and testimonies, a police spokeswoman said.

“All of the cases you have identified have either been, or will be reviewed and the appropriate action taken.”

Following the misconduct of veteran Peel officer Sgt. Stephen Ceballo, a loaded handgun was excluded as evidence in two cases and the suspects walked. When reached at his home, Ceballo refused to comment.

In March 2013, Justice Casey Hill found Ceballo misled the court about the shoddy arrest of suspect Adrian Thompson, a repeat gun offender found with a loaded pistol, marijuana and cocaine in his vehicle.

After receiving a call about a man suspected to have a gun, Ceballo and three other officers approached Thompson in the parking lot of a Brick furniture store. They did not tell Thompson the reason he was being detained nor of his right to contact a lawyer. After they searched the SUV and found drugs and the gun and placed Thompson in cuffs, they did not immediately tell him the reason for his arrest.

In court, Ceballo was argumentative, “shifted dramatically” when describing his reason for searching the car, and frequently paused and struggled for answers. “The sergeantʼs evidence was transparently and deliberately misleading as he sought to dodge the inevitable press of questioning establishing his absence of grounds and unlawful authority,” Justice Hill said.

After the judgeʼs findings, Thompson, who had two prior gun convictions, walked free.

“The disturbing aspect of these warrantless search cases is that they represent only a small fraction of the number of unlawful searches which evidently occur on a regular basis in Peel,” said Thompsonʼs lawyer Peter Bawden in an interview. “The intent of the court with these decisions is to enforce the rights of everyone in Peel to be free from unreasonable police searches.”

30 At his home in Brampton, Thompson, 28, who now works part-time as a forklift operator, said he carried the Glock 17 handgun because “I have enemies” and because “I had drugs” to protect.

“Everything in the car was mine. The gun, the drugs. I admitted I put it there. There was no warrant. Peel cops, they donʼt like to follow protocol.”

The president of the Peel Regional Police Association said the cases should be viewed in the context of all gun offences before Peelʼs courts since 2010.

“There are five cases being talked about — how about all of the other ones where everything was fine? Is this a disturbing pattern or are these just one- offs?” said Wayne Omardeen.

While police officers can randomly stop vehicles to check vehicle safety or a driverʼs paperwork, they must otherwise have reasonable grounds to believe an offence is being committed to stop a car, detain a person or search a house. Mere suspicion of criminality is not enough.

A year before Thompsonʼs case was tossed, in April 2012, another judge in another gun case found Ceballo ordered the unlawful search of a suspectʼs car. After stopping the vehicle for running a red light, police discovered neither the driver nor passenger had a valid licence. Ceballo, in what he called a “teaching moment,” directed the younger constables that the car be seized, towed and searched.

But police had no basis to seize or search the car, Justice David Corbett ruled. “The supervising officer engaged in an investigative technique that should not be taught to junior officers,” the judge said, adding that excluding the gun as evidence was “the best way to discourage this sort of illegal search.”

The suspects were acquitted.

(Ceballoʼs investigative techniques also came under fire in a 2012 drug case. After the officer seized a package containing heroin, a judge ruled police did not have legal grounds to detain the driver or search his trunk. The judge said Ceballo “seemed as if he tailored his evidence to fit the facts.” The heroin was excluded as evidence.)

Other cases found by the Star include: Four men were acquitted of weapons charges in September 2010 after Justice John Sproat ruled their arrest and vehicle search was “unlawful,” and the weapons seized, including a loaded rifle, were excluded. The judge also criticized an officerʼs evidence about an informant who tipped police off about the car, calling it “highly misleading.”

In a December 2012 decision to allow as evidence a loaded gun Peel officers found hidden in a car, Justice Durno said the evidence “demonstrated an

31 apparent common, but incorrect, (belief) amongst Peel Region Police that an arrest provided grounds to search a vehicle without a warrant, which showed a disturbing ignorance of the law.”

In the case of Sterling-Debney, found with a loaded .22-calibre handgun in his car, Justice Bruce Durno found the officers “were going to stop and search the vehicle in any event based on nothing more than speculation or a hunch.” The accused testified that just before midnight on June 23, 2012, he left his girlfriendʼs apartment, walked through the apartment buildingʼs parking lot and opened the trunk to look for his girlfriendʼs sonʼs baseball hat.

Then, while using his cellphone to call a friend, Sterling-Debney turned on to Rexwood Road and drove toward Derry Road, where he was pulled over by the two officers. They searched the car and found a loaded gun in the trunk. Why the officers followed the Honda and how they made the arrest was disputed at trial was.

The officers testified that they stopped the car not because the driver was talking on a cellphone but because moments earlier they saw him put what they believed was a handgun in the trunk. They said their experience guided them to take the suspect and his weapon off the street.

Durno found a number of major problems with the two officersʼ testimony. Like when, during the preliminary inquiry stage of the case, Porciello testified that the suspect sat in the Honda for two-and-a-half minutes before pulling out of the lot. If the officers strongly believed he had a gun, this would have been the time to approach and make the arrest, the judge said.

“That that option was never discussed, if they honestly believed he had put a gun in the trunk, is incredible. It makes absolutely no sense to let the driver drive away in the car and potentially away from them or to choose an option that may have resulted in a high-speed pursuit.”

At trial, the officer tried to change his testimony about how long the Honda was in the lot before departing.

The judge also noted Porciello was “combative . . . , argumentative, defensive, evasive and unresponsive . . . belligerent and defiant . . . (and) appeared nervous and fidgety.

“It was not the adrenalin flowing that caused the nervousness. It was apprehension about his evidence, knowing some of the things he had committed to at the preliminary inquiry. When confronted with some of those comments, he tried to distance himself from them, not elaborate on them. . . . He was not a credible witness.”

Durno also noted the officer sometimes paused while struggling to come up with answers that would “assist his position.”

32

“That type of mental scrambling had the effect of attempting to mislead the court . . . . His manner of testifying and attitude . . . were most troubling.” Sterling-Debneyʼs lawyer, Jeff Hershberg, told the Star that the ruling shows a police forceʼs pattern of conduct in such cases will factor into judgesʼ rulings on future similar cases. “The public needs to know that one Peel judge after another is worried the Peel police have no respect for the Charter and the truth.”

Treaty Three Police fate not decided Thursday July 18, 2013

Rick Garrick — Wawatay News

The Treaty Three Police Service board executive has announced that it does not intend to close down the police service.

“It is not nor ever will be the desire of the board of directors, executive or our member-representative communities to close our police service,” said the executive in a July 10 press release. “In addition, we want to make it equally clear that our deficit was not attributed to financial mismanagement or irresponsible spending of funds, as clearly stated in a recent financial audit.”

The executive also said the board of directors and the police management team have not laid any blame on the officers, their union or any of the police employees for causing the deficit.

“We do not disagree with the officers that our officers and civilian employees alike should be paid equivalent to the Ontario Provincial Police,” said the executive in the press release. “However, under the First Nation policing model which funds Treaty Three Police Service, our service is funded quite differently than the way other police services are funded.”

While the federal government funds 52 per cent of the police serviceʼs budget and the provincial government funds the other 48 per cent, the executive said the finance line objects are not funded equally in comparison.

“For example, our police service is funded for 75 First Nation constables,” the executive said. “This funding is to cover sergeants, staff sergeants, deputies and the chief of police salaries and benefits at constable salary, where other main stream police services are funded per rank allocation.”

The executive said a federal arbitrator ordered the police service to pay OPP salary rates and benefits to the Treaty Three Police officers effective Jan. 1, 2013 even though the police service had made it clear in the arbitration process that a

33 decision other than a nominal increase in officerʼs salary would put the police service in financial duress.

“Given that this was a federal arbitratorʼs decision, that decision was provided to our federal and provincial negotiators and we believed that the increases in salary and benefits were going to be covered,” the executive said. “During this time it was also believed that the Police Officer Recruitment Fund (PORF) was going to be renewed.”

But the PORF ended on March 31 and the federal governmentʼs First Nation Policing Program was renewed, beginning on April 1, for five years with no increases to the Treaty Three Police budget.

“With a 2012/2013 fiscal year-end deficit of $640,000, and although our service initially paid the arbitratorʼs imposed OPP salary rates Jan. 1 to March 31, with the uncertainty of any new monies coming, we directed our Chief of Police to reduce the salary increase level to one half of the imposed arbitratorʼs decision,” the executive said.

The executive said NAN Grand Chief Harvey Yesno, Ontario Regional Chief Stan Beardy, National Chief Shawn Atleo and the board of directors all lobbied different levels of government for an increase in funding, but to no avail.

“To say the least, reality set in and to keep from incurring further debt, or being irresponsible and not doing anything, a painful but necessary decision had to be made to have our officerʼs salary revert back to pre-arbitratorʼs rates of pay effective June 10,” the executive said.

The executive said the employee benefits would also create a $330,000 debt.

“Taking into account the firm position of governments, with no funding increases, coupled with massive projected debt if our service continued to pay the arbitratorʼs imposed decision of OPP rates, our projected deficit would be in excess of $3.3 million at the end of the 2013/2014 fiscal year,” the executive said. “We made it clear to the local union executive that our budgets are fixed and we need them to understand our fiscal situation. Fixed funding will be provided to our police service over the next four years and we can get out of debt with our debt reduction plan in the next few years.”

Meanwhile, the executive has requested the union to drop its Canadian Industrial Relations Board challenge, grievances and unfair labour practices against the board of directors; maintain registration under provincial legislation to form a union provincially, while dropping the unfair labour challenges; and to have regional union representatives to personally negotiate with the police service management team to formalize a new collective agreement under provincial labour laws and stay within the funding levels provided by both levels of government.

34 485 guns surrendered during Pixels for Pistols program 07/12/2013 01:19 PM Erin Criger CityNews

. Toronto police announced they had received 485 guns and 22,000 rounds of ammunition during the Pixels for Pistols campaign, an initiative that allows gun owners to turn in their weapons and bullets in exchange for a free digital camera.

“It makes the City of Toronto a safer place,” Chief Bill Blair said at police headquarters on Friday.

“It also gives the public an opportunity to receive something of value for turning in their firearm.”

The program, sponsored by Henryʼs Camera and Olympus, was launched on June 3 and was scheduled to end after two weeks. Instead, police extended the deadline to July 5.

For police, itʼs a chance to get guns off the streets. For gun owners, itʼs a chance surrender their weapons without facing criminal firearm possession charges — with some exceptions.

Police warn that the amnesty only provides limited immunity to certain possession offences and it does not include amnesty on any other offences that may be connected to a particular firearm or individual. Firearms suspected as crime guns will be investigated thoroughly, police said.

“The firearms that you see before you today, these are not firearms we have taken from criminals,” Blair said.

“We are still very active in taking criminal guns off the street…but the guns we receive in this program are from decent, law-abiding Canadians who chose to turn their firearms in for disposal to keep their houses and communities safe.”

Pixels for Pistols was first held in Toronto in 2008. Camera store and program sponsor Henryʼs has since launched similar campaigns in Halifax and Winnipeg.

Rangers sign unique agreement to support police searches Sunday July 14, 2013 by Peter Moon/Canadian Ranger

35

The Canadian Forces have signed a unique memorandum of understanding with the Ontario Provincial Police to have Canadian Rangers provide formal support in ground search and rescue operations in northern Ontario.

It is the first of its kind in Canada, where provincial police services are the lead agency for ground search and rescue. The OPP are the lead in Ontario, the Quebec provincial police in Quebec, and the RCMP in the rest of Canada.

“Itʼs quite a significant document,” said Capt. Mark Rittwage, officer commanding the Canadian Ranger Company at 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group. “The OPP are responsible for ground search and rescue throughout Ontario and they donʼt have much of a presence in the top half of the province, where we have 600 Rangers in 23 First Nations. The OPP have developed a tremendous trust in what the Rangers can do.

“They have formally asked us to assist them and itʼs a win-win situation. We have Rangers who come south and go on a two-week OPP search and rescue course, held here at (Canadian Forces Base) Borden, and get qualified by the OPP to their standard.”

“The Rangers are Rangers because of their expert knowledge of their local areas. We provide them with military training that makes them inter-operable with the rest of the Army. And that has proven significant, because now the OPP see the Rangers as part of the Army and as a trained body of troops who are well led and can conduct ground searches with great competence,” Rittwage added.

The agreement formalizes an informal understanding that developed over the past decade between the Rangers and the OPP. It saw Rangers participating with greater frequency in ground search and rescue situations across the Far North of Ontario. Depending on the weather and the time needed to assemble an emergency response team it could take anywhere from a few hours to a day or more for OPP officers to fly into a remote community. By then, local Rangers were already fully engaged in a search and had often concluded it. If the search was ongoing when the OPP arrived its officers took over the search and the Rangers assisted them with their specialized local knowledge and on-the-land skills.

“It has worked out well for us and we are happy to formalize it,” said Sgt. Jamie Stirling, provincial search and rescue coordinator for the OPP. “The Rangers are a great asset for us. Having them train with us is working very well, too. Not only are the Rangers learning from us and seeing the value in organizing a systematic search the way we do it but we are picking up skills from the Rangers that have been passed on to them through the generations.”

Ten Rangers have completed the OPPʼs two week training course and more will be taking it, Capt. Rittwage said. The intent is to have a minimum of two OPP- qualified Rangers in each Ranger patrol across northern Ontario. There are also

36 plans for additional Rangers to take the OPPʼs two-week search manager course so that each patrol can have a qualified search manager.

In the past, full-time army instructors, who have also taken OPP training, were invariably dispatched to supervise Rangers in searches, Capt. Rittwage said. “We no longer have to do that,” he said. “The Ranger patrol commanders are now so well trained and experienced that they are more than capable of running their own ground search and rescue operations in northern Ontario.”

During the past winter Rangers were credited by the OPP with saving the lives of several lost people in challenging weather conditions that prevented OPP officers from flying into the communities to join the searches.

OPP contract costs decried

By Ronald Zajac, Recorder and Times Monday, July 15, 2013 11:34:13 EDT PM

PRESCOTT - Town politicians want one more chance to convince the Ontario Provincial Police to give them a better deal on their policing contract before deciding to eliminate a sergeant's position.

Councillors agreed Monday to put off a decision on a contract option until after they hold another meeting with OPP officials, but Mayor Brett Todd is not optimistic the OPP will prove any more flexible than it has so far.

“The negotiating process with the OPP is: 'Here are the numbers. You pay them or not,'” Todd said

“That's not negotiation,” said Councillor Jennifer Wyman, a point that met with no contradiction at the council table.

The Prescott Police Services Board recently recommended a renewed OPP contract without the community safety sergeant position, which became vacant after Sgt. Paul Bisson retired at the end of May.

The move, the less expensive of two options before council, is expected to save the town about $150,000 for 2013, making the budget $1,850,864 instead of $2,008,326.

The mayor said that appears to be the extent of the manoeuvring room town council has when dealing with provincial police.

“The only real way we can lower the cost is: do we want the community sergeant, do we not want the community sergeant?”

37 Putting the policing budget over the $2 million mark is “kind of like the bridge too far,” added Todd.

The figures are for the first year of what Todd said is a new five-year contract with the OPP. The town is also facing an 8.55 per cent rise in policing costs for 2014.

Councillor Michael Dimopoulos wondered if the town had any flexibility with its complement of 11 officers. Todd replied the OPP adheres strictly to a formula for its staffing complement, and anything below that number is considered a safety risk.

The only other alternative to the OPP's options, added the mayor, would be a so- called “Section Five” model in which the town would lose its police services board.

Councillor Lee McConnell took issue with the $475-per-capita cost in the OPP formula, when, McConnell noted, the OPP itself said its provincial average is $160 per capita.

The town is therefore paying $1.3 million more than it would be for policing were it to follow the average, added McConnell.

Were the town to be charged the average, he said, it would be able to do all it plans to in this year's budget and give residents at 26-per-cent tax cut.

The province should be intervening on the side of municipalities, said Todd. Instead, added the mayor, the Liberal government earlier this year rejected an attempt at arbitration reform, something municipal leaders have been calling for to reduce policing costs.

“The province has all but abandoned its responsibility on this,” said Todd.

Town officials will now try to set a date for another meeting with Sgt. Paul Legault, of the OPP's municipal policing bureau.

The meeting is important because the public needs to know about this process, said Councillor Robert Lawn.

“I think we owe it to the community because they're going to be paying for this,” he said.

OPP update data system By Pete Fisher, Northumberland Today Monday, July 15, 2013 3:08:23 EDT PM

38 NORTHUMBERLAND - Provincial police have the latest technology in communications.

OPP Constable Jeff LaPorte said Northumberland County OPP have started to update the data terminals in their cruisers.

The Mobile for Public Safety System augments the computer system the police cruisers have had for a number of years.

With the original set-up police could do reports in the cruisers and run licence plates, but the addition of the MPS links the cruiser directly to dispatch in Smiths Falls.

“If there are calls for service coming in and the dispatcher is busy they can hit a button, send a call right to my screen and any critical information will appear on my screen,” LaPorte said.

“As well, when Iʼm en route to a call she can look at her screen and it will show her exactly where our cruisers are and at that point it just makes it easier for the closest vehicle to respond.”

Police see the calls on the screen even before they are dispatched, and are also able to see other police vehicles and their location.

“We can even speak by typing to the call taker (dispatcher)," LaPorte said. "So if weʼre getting a call of an impaired driver and weʼre waiting at a certain location, we can actually type messages back and forth to the call taker who is on the phone with the complainant.”

A 'traffic stop' button that's part of the new system is something that also benefits officers.

“I pulled over a vehicle recently in Bewdley and hit 'traffic stop' as I was pulling it over and immediately the dispatcher came on the air and announced where I was," LaPorte said. "She could see the licence plate I had punched in; she saw the registered owner so for officer safety itʼs paramount.”

Currently the new system is in approximately 500 cruisers across the province, with eight of those being in Northumberland County.

LaPorte said the Global Positioning System on the cruisers is something that is helpful on rural roads.

While traveling on a snowmobile trail, he came across a cube van and wondered if it could be involved in daytime break-and-enters. After activating his emergency lights and 'traffic stop' button he punched in the numbers and letters of the licence plate.

39 “It turned out to be two people who were lost delivering some counter tops, but the moment I hit 'traffic stop' and the plate, I didnʼt get my door open and dispatch had called out and announced my location which is not even on some of the maps, so she knew exactly where I was.”

LaPorte has been using the system for approximately two weeks and said itʼs “invaluable.”

“Iʼm grabbing calls off the screen before they are even dispatched. Iʼll see a call pop on the screen and can hit a button and asked to be dispatched to it.”

Town of Gananoque pays highest per-capita policing costs in province

By Wayne Lowrie Tuesday, July 16, 2013 10:22:16 EDT AM Gananoque Reporter

The Town of Gananoque pays the highest per-capita policing costs in Ontario and some of the highest in Canada, outside of the Far North or areas with aboriginal reserves, a Gananoque Reporter analysis of Statistics Canada data indicates.

Gananoque pays $535 per capita to operate its 15-officer town police service, about double the cost of some Ontario communities of the same size, according to the 2012 StatsCan data that are based on 2011 figures. Such Ontario communities as Napanee ($210 per capita), Alymer ($268), Brighton ($152), Carleton Place ($236), Elliot Lake ($256), Goderich ($218), Kincardine ($204), Russell ($150) Trent Hills ($214) and Stone Mills ($93) pay less.

Across Canada, Gananoque appears to rank third highest in police costs, again excluding northern communities or areas with native reserves, according to the StatsCan report. Only Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia at $789 per capita and Mount Tremblant, a skiing community in Quebec north of Montreal, at $609 pay more than Gananoque, according to the figures.

Statistics Canada cautions against using its figures to directly compare police costs because of how the data are reported by the municipalities. In Gananoqueʼs case, for example, the force operates with a $3-million budget but it brings in revenues of about $215,000 a year for doing background checks, which wouldnʼt be included in the calculations. As well, the 2011 figures would not take into account the 8.55-per-cent increase in OPP salaries, due in 2014.

40 Generally, the statistics indicate that communities policed by the Ontario Provincial Police pay less than municipalities with their own forces. Communities around Gananoque mirror this trend. Brockville, which is debating disbanding its local force in favour of the OPP, pays $345 per capita while the Smiths Falls police service costs $409. Cornwall, with its own force, pays $374 per capita, while Perth, which still had a local force when the statistics were gathered, paid $430.

In contrast, OPP-policed Napanee pays $210, South Frontenac, $119; Peterborough County, $148; North Grenville, $183, Merrickville, $156; and Rideau Lakes, $143.

Two local communities appear to buck the OPP-is-cheaper trend. Kingstonʼs municipal force costs $259 per capita, while Prescott, which switched to the OPP a decade ago, pays $410 per capita.

Gananoque Mayor Erika Demchuk said the statistics showing the high cost of Gananoque polices donʼt surprise her at all.

“Does it bother me? Yes, it bothers me very much that we are the highest,” she said.

Demchuk said the police costs are so high that the town makes a point of breaking out the police costs separately on property tax bills. For example, a house assessed at $185,000 would pay $1,180 for municipal services and $929 a year for police, she said.

The mayor was a strong proponent of disbanding the local force and bringing in the OPP when council considered the issue last November. But in a 4-3 vote, council decided to stay with the town police for now. An accounting of the costs of disbanding the force, completed last month, estimated the town would have to pay a one-time $1 million to switch to the OPP. The OPP estimated that Gananoque would pay $700,000 less a year if it did the policing.

With the OPP option off the table for now, Demchuk said there is little the town can do to control police costs, except to lobby the provincial government to put a lid on arbitration and labour settlements, which “are out of control.”

The contract settlement that makes the OPP the highest-paid force in Ontario in 2014 will set the new target for other police unions, said Demchuk, noting that the Gananoque police union goes into negotiations next year.

“The province needs to get control of the cost of policing so that we can get control of it,” she said.

Gananoqueʼs former police chief, Kai Liu, was fond of saying that the town had some of the lowest police costs around when you took into account the funding from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund. The provincial government used to

41 earmark a portion of its OMPF grant for police, but those rules have changed, Demchuk said. The mayor said the provincial grants are no longer tied to specific services. Besides, the government has served notion that it will steadily reduce OMPF money over the next four of five years, she said.

Gananoqueʼs new chief, Garry Hull, has vowed to stay out of the political wars over police costs, and he refused comment.

QUEBEC Post-Traumatic Stress Risk to Police Lower Than Previously Thought Although police officers are at a high risk of experiencing traumatic events in their work, they are no more likely than the general population to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Jul. 18, 2013Sandy Smith EHS Today

Police officers who experience a traumatic event, such as firing their weapons, do not experience higher levels of post-traumatic stress syndrome than the general public.

New research from the Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Aanté et en Sécurité du Travail (IRSST) on the risk and protective factors of post-traumatic stress reactions in Quebec police officers found that despite the nature of their work, they experience no higher levels of post-traumatic stress disorder than the general population.

The study, “Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorders in Police Officers – Prospective Study,” also confirms that symptoms associated with the development of PTSD in police officers can be attenuated or prevented with specific and adapted intervention. These symptoms include dissociative reactions, emotional and physical reactions, a state of acute stress, depressive symptoms and emotional coping responses to stress. “Providing police officers with interventional support shortly after and in the weeks following a traumatic event improves the chances of preventing PTSD,” explained André Marchand, lead author of the study, a researcher at the Fernand-Seguin Research Centre of Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital and associate professor at Université de Montréal. “The strategies for adapting to trauma, such as developing a stress-resistant personality and obtaining social support, can be improved through prevention components of police officer training programs.”

The descriptive analysis results show that police offers have different adaptation methods and strategies at their disposal in order to deal with a critical work- related event The police officers who experienced a traumatic event said that

42 talking to their colleagues, obtaining peer support and taking part in leisure activities were particularly helpful.

“The police offers involved in this study even advise their colleagues who experience this kind of event to consult a psychologist and are themselves open to the idea of receiving psychological support if need be,” said Mélissa Martin, co- author and psychologist at the Trauma Study Centre at Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital.

Researchers hope that the study, the first of its kind in Quebec, will be used as a reference for further research using a sample of Quebec police officers. The knowledge gained will help screen for and prevent PTSD. Recommendations based on the research will help police departments create strategies to both develop mechanisms that protect police officers from traumatic events and decrease risk factors. This study could also have a significant impact on other people with a high risk of experiencing work-related traumatic events, such as firefighters, paramedics, first responders and health care workers.

Eighty-three policemen (63 men and 20 women) from the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and other police forces who had experienced a traumatic event volunteered for the prospective study and were evaluated at four intervals. Among the participants, 64 percent had to draw their guns, 11 percent fired their guns, while 28 percent of them used another weapon. A feeling of powerlessness in relation to the traumatic event was reported by 80 percent of the police officers, and 59 percent of them felt a reaction of intense fear. More than half of the police officers said they experienced anger, 17 percent felt guilt and 2 percent felt shame when the traumatic event occurred.

Video of Quebec police beating Innu man sparks anger 'We are a peace-loving people,' says Innu Council Chief Raymond Bellefleur CBC News Posted: Jul 18, 2013 9:34 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 18, 2013 11:05 PM ET A video of a man being beaten by two Quebec police officers has promoted anger in the First Nations community of Unamen Shipu.

Shot through a car window, the video shows two officers wearing Quebec provincial police uniforms struggle with a man lying on the ground, as they hit him repeatedly.

“Itʼs unacceptable,” said Raymond Bellefleur, the Innu Council Chief of Unamen Shipu, which is in eastern Quebec on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River.

43 “In my community, we are a peace-loving people,” he said. “Our elders are frightened, and our youths and women are terrified by police brutality. That has to stop now.”

Relatives have identified the man on the ground as 24-year-old Norbert Mestenapeo.

They say he was left with 12 stitches across his forehead.

Police said the incident began after officers were called to the scene about a dispute on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec said the police force has a copy of the video and they will be looking into the officersʼ behaviour.

First Nations communities like Unamen Shipu have been patrolled by the provincial police force since 2008, when it took over from local police services.

In the wake of the incident, the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador has called for the return of its local police force.

“If this issue of police violence is not looked after or resolved, some of our chiefs have certainly indicated they're looking at the possibility of shutting the door to the SQ,” said AFN regional chief Ghislain Picard.

Picard is calling on the federal and provincial governments to follow up on the incident and discuss the restoration of aboriginal policing.

Police brutality in Unamen Shipu: AFNQL is calling upon the Federal and Provincial Ministers of Public Safety WENDAKE, QC, July 17, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - "In my community we are a peace-loving people, and as Chief of Unamen Shipu, I do not accept that my population be treated in this manner. Our elders are frightened, and our youths and women are terrified by police brutality. That has to stop now. Our policing services must be restored very quickly." Chief Raymond Bellefleur is outraged and denounces the police brutality to which his community is falling victim, as seen in the video on the news and on the social networks.

"In the Algonquin community of Lac Simon, our police force is constantly threatened by decisions of the two governments. Our people, especially our women, don't want our police force to come to an end and they are afraid of police brutality. As Chief of my community, I will pursue my efforts to make sure my community is safe and served by police officers who understand our reality",

44 stated Chief Salomé McKenzie; she too, is outraged by what happened in Unamen Shipu.

"Police brutality is always condemnable, never justifiable. If we can create conditions that are instrumental in promoting better relations between First Nation citizens and the police, why persist in not doing so? Today, I am calling upon Federal Minister of Public Safety, Steven Blaney, and Provincial Minister, Stéphane Bergeron, to engage promptly in restoring the First Nation policing services in all the communities which had to shut down as a result of recent decisions taken by their respective ministries", stated Chief Ghislain Picard.

Several First Nation police forces, including the one in Unamen Shipu, recently had to shut down. In such circumstances, Sûreté du Québec has to take over. The failure of the Federal and Provincial Ministries of Public Safety to harmonize their policies and to collaborate has often been denounced by many chiefs and by the AFNQL as a leading cause of the closure or the major problems faced by the policing services of our communities.

"We met just recently with Minister Stéphane Bergeron. His Ministry has given a firm and binding commitment towards the restoration of our First Nation police forces, which are better able to serve our populations. Up until now, the federal department has said nothing of the sort, and has not been easily accessible. I rely on the new Federal Minister of Public Safety, Steven Blaney, who fully understands the First Nations of our territories, to engage himself in the restoration of our policing services, and rapidly", concluded Chief Ghislain Picard.

NEW BRUNSWICK Saint John declares support for city officers Motion to 'support the troops' follows failed bid for regional policing model CBC News Posted: Jul 16, 2013 1:27 PM AT Last Updated: Jul 16, 2013 2:01 PM AT Saint John police got a vote of confidence from city council Monday night, after a recent push for regional policing was said to have been difficult for the local force.

Following a failed bid to get nearby communities interested into the idea of a unified police force in the greater Saint John area, Coun. Shirley McAlary made the motion that asked councillors to profess their support for the 166 officers who look over the city.

"They just need this reassurance and confidence from us," said McAlary.

45 "I felt it was necessary to put this motion forward so people would know we do have faith in the force."

McAlary's motion received unanimous support, however, Coun. Bill Farren questioned the need for a public stance on supporting the officers.

"Our guys are big boys, they don't need to be defended," said Farren.

"Every time someone sneezes, I don't think we have to run out and protect, especially these guys in blue, they've got a good reputation, a good rapport … they can do a good job themselves."

Saint John Mayor Mel Norton's motion to look at options for regional policing didn't even find a seconder among the members of the Fundy Regional Service Commission at its meeting last week.

Leaders in communities such as Grand Bay-Westfield, Rothesay, and Quispamsis were not on board, over fears that any policing arrangement with the city of Saint John would lead to higher taxes.

The three town mayors also said they were satisfied with their current policing arrangement.

Norton determined to push regional co-operation During the discussion at Monday evening's council meeting, Norton said he remains firm on the need for regional services, and insisted that was not a slight to the city's own police force.

"We have an excellent police service … they are absolutely first class," he said.

"That is a completely different conversation from the one we were having at the Regional Service Commission … It's my view that the city of Saint John is an economic driver of this entire province and we're going to act like the driver we are.

'You want to talk about progress — the greatest cities in our country, in North America, the world, are the cities that are doing it on a regional basis' —Saint John Mayor Mel Norton "We're going to take a perspective that's 30,000 feet, not three feet, " said Norton.

"You want to talk about progress — the greatest cities in our country, in North America, the world, are the cities that are doing it on a regional basis. We look down the road and see Moncton, and it's doing wonderful. And we look further down the road and see Halifax and it's doing fantastic.

"And we wonder, why is it Saint John has the highest unemployment rate of any urbanized centre in the country? We can do better if we look at things from a regional perspective."

46

The Fundy Regional Service Commission covers 14 communities from Musquash to St Martins.

Norton said the lack of support for regional policing is a setback, but he isn't ready to give up on the idea to work closer with outlying communities.

"There's all kinds of opportunities, you can do all kinds of things on a regional basis and we can do more," he said.

"It's incumbent on us, as the leaders of this region, to find every opportunity we can."

Saint John has its own police force, while the Rothesay Regional Police Force covers Rothesay and Quispamsis. Grand Bay-Westfield has contracted its policing service from the Mounties since 1998.

Moncton RCMP under investigation after man dies in incident involving officers

Geordon Omand, Canadian Press | 13/07/13 2:57 PM ET MONCTON, N.B. — An outside police force will investigate after shots were fired and a man died in an incident involving RCMP in Moncton, N.B., Saturday morning.

“Our officers discharged weapons. A man is dead,” said RCMP Const. Damien Theriault.

“As for the circumstances, the Fredericton police are investigating to establish exactly what happened.”

Police say the officers involved in the incident have been taken off regular policing duties, as per policy.

Codiac Regional RCMP responded to a complaint shortly before 6 a.m. of an armed man in his 30s attempting to break into a vehicle near the Moncton Coliseum.

Officers arrived at the scene and began a search for the suspect, who had by that time fled.

Around 7 a.m., shots were fired in the Whitney Avenue – Jordan Avenue area of Moncton.

47 The victim was later pronounced dead.

Theriault said he could not confirm how the man was killed because the matter remains under investigation.

“These are extremely rare,” he said. “Iʼve been in Codiac since 2006 and I have no memory of any such incidents.”

NOVA SCOTIA

Offenders Get Back on Track by Helping Others Department of Justice July 18, 2013 9:01 AM Offenders will have more opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others, helping them get their own lives back.

Justice Minister Ross Landry announced today, July 18, that Working on Our Futures (WOOF), a program where offenders help get dogs ready for families wanting to adopt, is being extended for another year. Work will also start on Re- Cycle, a new bicycle recycling program that helps give bikes to low-income children.

"We want to make our communities as safe as possible. To do this, we must provide offenders with an opportunity to become contributing members of society," said Mr. Landry. "Programs like WOOF and Re-Cycle enable offenders to help kids and families and give offenders real skills. They help offenders integrate back into their communities, and in some cases, become more employable.

"Now that Nova Scotians have helped with the hard work of balancing the budget, we are able to consider new, innovative programs like this that benefit families, kids and communities."

Last December, the province partnered with the Nova Scotia SPCA to pilot the WOOF program at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility. Since then, the program has trained 11 correctional officers and one captain, worked with 12 offenders, and prepared over 70 puppies for adoption.

"Initial evaluation of the program has been very positive," said Capt. John Landry, Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility. "The staff at the facility report improved offender behaviour and reduced tension in the day rooms where the program is held which is a win-win for the offenders, the staff and the puppies."

48 "This program is a great example of government and not-for-profit working together to find progressive solutions for our communities," said Sandra Flemming, provincial animal care director. "Training our puppies to become adoptable relieves pressure on our SPCA shelters and ensures the dogs find good homes."

Following the success of the WOOF program, Re-Cycle will be developed and will run out of the Cape Breton Correctional Facility.

The correctional facility will work with police agencies across the province to collect lost, stolen or unclaimed bicycles, and the public will be able to donate unwanted bicycles, which the offenders will then repair.

"We are very pleased to work with government on this innovative program," said Sgt. Tom Ripley, Cape Breton Regional Police and executive director of the Association for Safer Cape Breton Communities. "To be able to play a role in getting bicycles into the hands of children is something organizations across the island will be very happy about."

The province will work with community groups to assist with the collection and distribution of the bicycles, and training will begin for staff and offenders on bicycle repair.

"We have worked closely with the police over the years to reach a common goal - to serve our community and ensure those in need are provided for," said Shaun Butler, program manager of Cape Breton-Victoria District Office Child Welfare. "Providing bicycles to children who otherwise could not afford one is a perfect example of how we can do just that."

Re-Cycle is modeled after programs in Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia and will require a one-time start-up cost of $40,000 to cover retrofitting a work station, purchasing of tools and equipment and staff training.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

NEWFOUNDLAND Police forces update cabinet on efforts against child exploitation, drugs

The Telegraph Published on July 18, 2013

49 During cabinet meetings this week in Bonavista, Premier Kathy Dunderdale and provincial ministers were given up update by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) regarding the accomplishments of the new Joint Task Force on Child Exploitation and Drugs.

Dunderdale said in a news release the establishment of the joint task force earlier this year sends a strong message to offenders that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador "will not tolerate illicit drug trafficking, nor will they tolerate the harm or abuse of children, who are some of our most vulnerable citizens.” The premier said the task force has already made significant progress, focusing on targeted, short term investigations which stress province-wide collaboration. "It is extremely encouraging to see solid advancements being made by the task force in protecting the families and children of our province and I look forward to seeing further results from their combined efforts,” Dunderdale said. In their presentation to cabinet, the two police forces outlined progress made in June by their combined police forces in addressing internet child exploitation. The task force was involved in Operation Snapshot II, which was conducted through a partnership between the RNC, the RCMP, the Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and policing agencies from across the Atlantic region. It targeted those involved in child sexual abuse image networks within Atlantic Canada and resulted in the arrest of 22 men on various child pornography charges. Nine of these men were arrested in Newfoundland and Labrador. “In recent years, improved access to technology has provided criminals with escalating opportunities to organize and network,” said Justice Minister Darin King. “To confront organized networks and target those who exploit children, we must approach policing from a collaborative perspective.” The province's 2013 budget included an investment of $1 million to establish a new Task Force on Child Exploitation and Drugs. Once fully established, the unit will consist of crime analysts, investigators, computer forensic specialists and other specialized members of both the RNC and the RCMP. In the meantime, the province says police officers have been working diligently to identify emerging threats and issues that challenge the safety and security of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Province among lowest in hate-crime numbers Published on July 18, 2013 Rebekah Ward The Telegraph Newfoundland and Labrador boasts the lowest instance of police-reported hate crimes among Canadian provinces, according to an report issued by Statistics Canada last week. The authors presented data from 2011. “Statisticians would say that maybe thereʼs some kind of bias in the data,” said Dennis Kimberley, professor of social work at Memorial University.

50 “But the reality is that cultures and communities do differ. They differ on levels of violence, including hate crimes.” Kimberley has worked with police, the justice system and social services on the clinical, policy and training levels since 1979. “Just because weʼre talking about a difference in hate crimes doesnʼt mean that we treat all ethnic groups, or people of a different sexual orientation, that we treat them fairly and equally. “That would be a big logical leap. But the whole notion that how we do treat them doesnʼt reflect hate crimes as much as it does in other parts of Canada, I think thatʼs probably true, as opposed to just a statistical anomaly,” Kimberley said. Kimberleyʼs experience has offered him a few ideas about potential rationale behind the statistics. “While Newfoundland doesnʼt have a clean record, there (are) good reasons to believe that the difference is reflective of community attitudes in Newfoundland of live and let live,” Kimberley said. Human Rights Commissioner Remzi Cej was also hesitant to jump to conclusions. “Hate crimes are often perpetuated against members of vulnerable communities — religious and ethnic groups, sexual minorities, and so on,” Cej said. “It takes major courage to report a crime after victimization, as it is likely that in smaller centres, people fear the public exposure that can come from reporting a hate crime.” But Cej said Newfoundlandʼs institutions may have affected the statistic. “We must remember the important proactive initiatives Newfoundland has taken in preventing hate crimes from occurring in our province,” Cej said. Cej was referring to the initiatives taken by organizations such as the Gay- Straight Alliances, interfaith alliances and Welcoming Communities. Though lower levels of hate crimes occurred in this province versus others, the numbers still contributed to the national statistic of 1,132 police-reported hate crimes in 2011. This number marked a five per cent decrease from 2010, but it remained higher than reports for 2008 and earlier. “Can we do more? Of course we can,” Cej said. “It only takes one person for a hate crime. “We need to continue to work in different sectors of society to ensure that we donʼt experience hate in our communities.”

NATIONAL RCMP memo says CSEC, helped shape directive on torture Communications Security Establishment Canada helped develop directive on info possibly gained through torture, RCMP document says By: Jim Bronskill The Canadian Press, Published on Tue Jul 16 2013

51 OTTAWA — Canadaʼs highly secretive electronic eavesdropping agency helped develop a federal directive that lets government agencies use and share information that was likely extracted through torture, a newly obtained document says.

Communications Security Establishment Canada, known as CSEC, and its parent department, National Defence, were among several federal agencies that contributed to the information-sharing policy, says an RCMP memo disclosed to The Canadian Press.

The memo, prepared in November 2011, notes the federal framework — spearheaded by the Public Safety Department — was intended to “establish a consistent approach across departments and agencies” when the exchange of national-security related information puts someone at serious risk of being tortured. The federal policy has drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates and opposition MPs, who say it effectively condones torture, contrary to international law and Canadaʼs United Nations commitments.

Ottawa-based CSEC monitors foreign communications — from email and phone calls to faxes and satellite transmissions — for intelligence of interest to Canada. Its staff of more than 2,000 includes experts in codebreaking, rare languages and data analysis.

The agency, with an annual budget of about $400 million, is a key component of the intelligence-sharing network known as the Five Eyes — Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

The National Security Agency, CSECʼs American counterpart, is at the centre of a storm of leaks from former contractor Edward Snowden that document the U.S. agencyʼs vast reach into cyberspace.

The RCMP says Public Safety began work on the federal information-sharing framework in January 2009 “in consultation with representatives” from the Mounties, CSEC, Defence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canada Border Services Agency, Justice, Foreign Affairs and the Privy Council Office. The four-page framework document, previously released under the access to information law, says when there is a “substantial risk” that sending information to — or soliciting information from — a foreign agency would result in torture, the matter should be referred to the responsible deputy minister or agency head. In deciding what to do, the agency head will consider factors including:

The threat to Canadaʼs national security and the nature and imminence of the threat;

The status of Canadaʼs relationship with — and the human rights record of — the foreign agency;

52

The rationale for believing that sharing the information would lead to torture;

The proposed measures to lessen the risk, and the likelihood they will be successful — for instance, the agencyʼs track record in complying with past assurances;

The views of Foreign Affairs and other agencies. I n 2011 former public safety minister Vic Toews issued directives to the RCMP, CSIS and the federal border agency that closely followed the wording of the government wide framework.

Seven years ago a federal commission of inquiry into the case of Ottawa telecommunications engineer Maher Arar recommended that information never be provided to a foreign country where there is a credible risk that it will cause or contribute to the use of torture.

Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, was detained in New York in September 2002 and deported soon after by U.S. authorities — ending up in a grim Damascus prison cell. Under torture, he gave false confessions to Syrian military intelligence officers about involvement with al-Qaida.

The inquiry, led by Justice Dennis OʼConnor, concluded that flawed information the RCMP passed to the U.S. very likely led to the Ottawa engineerʼs year-long nightmare. That led the Mounties to overhaul their information-sharing procedures.

The newly released RCMP memo says the federal directive on information- sharing would “supplement” those changes.

Critics, however, say the federal directive flies in the face of OʼConnorʼs recommendations.

Injured RCMP members say Ottawa should end clawback of suffering benefits ALISON AULD / THE CANADIAN PRESS JULY 14, 2013

HALIFAX - David White turns off the phone in a small meeting room and makes sure cellphones are silenced to help quiet the piercing sounds that have afflicted him since he was an RCMP officer in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

53 It's a ritual he has to go through routinely to deal with the constant ringing and acute sound sensitivity in his ears since his hearing was damaged in two service- related accidents in the mid-1990s and 2001.

The incidents led to his involuntary release from the RCMP in 2002, for which he was given a pain and suffering pension from Veterans Affairs and long-term disability for several hearing impairments linked to his 30 years of service.

But White and other injured RCMP members say most of that money is clawed back under a system similar to one that a judge deemed harsh and unfair in a class-action lawsuit by military veterans, but which still applies to the police veterans.

White, now 61, is hoping to end the disputed practice through a proposed class- action suit against the federal government, which has so far not sat down to try to come up with a settlement in the almost identical case.

And as months drag on, he says aging and injured RCMP veterans are dying before they see any money returned to them.

"It's disappointing," White said at his lawyer's office in downtown Halifax.

"Some of our veterans are suffering and the clawback being stopped is definitely going to help them. They're getting older and it would be nice to have it resolved before too long."

Dan Wallace, White's lawyer, plans to meet with federal attorneys Monday in the hopes of crafting a deal for injured RCMP veterans who have seen their awards heavily skimmed off since 1975.

Wallace, who also handled the protracted military veterans' case, said several meetings with Justice Department lawyers have been cancelled over the last year and a settlement has not been proposed for a class that could number around 800 people.

He says it's not clear why Ottawa has allowed the case to drag on after a Federal Court judge ruled in May 2012 that Canadian Forces veterans should not have their awards clawed back because the money is not income.

"People need the money and people are dying, so it would be nice for them to see the day when it ends," Wallace said.

"It's really a question of dignity for a lot of these folks, so we hope the government will do the right thing."

The need to move it along became clear in 2009 with the death of Gerard Buote, the man who initiated the case a year earlier. Soon after, White took over as the lead plaintiff.

54

Wallace says if the meeting fails to produce proposals to settle the matter and end the clawback, the group will head to court in the fall to have the case certified as a class action. He says he's heard from about 200 people so far who want to join.

Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesman with the Treasury Board, said in an email that he wouldn't comment on the case because it is before the courts.

Both the Royal Canadian Legion and the Veterans Ombudsman have urged Ottawa to end the practice, calling it unfair and unnecessary in the wake of the Federal Court decision.

White was diagnosed with tinnitus, which causes a steady ringing in his ears, hearing loss and hyperacusis, which effectively makes every sound — like the turning of a page or water dripping — extremely loud.

White wears several devices, including hearing aids, earplugs and a machine, to deaden the sound but says nothing can take away the steady thrum in his ears.

"I deal with this every day," he says. "I was medically discharged from the RCMP, I was unable to work, I can't go to large sporting events or anything where there's noise. But the income that I'm supposed to get from a disability pension is considered wage loss ... and I lose it and that doesn't make sense to me."

White was assessed by Veterans Affairs at being 42 per cent disabled and has $1,297 deducted each month in what's deemed a wage loss replacement. He estimates that he's lost $100,000 since he was released from the force.

Wallace says he will ask for a return of all money that was clawed back, with interest.

About 8,000 wounded military veterans were awarded a $887.8-million dollar settlement after former army sergeant Dennis Manuge launched a class-action suit against Ottawa in 2007.

Cop lingo losing its mystique? Police services debate 10-codes vs. plain English

BY DOUGLAS QUAN, POSTMEDIA NEWS JULY 14, 2013

Learning to speak in code has been a staple of police training in North America for decades.

55

But a growing number of law enforcement officials are calling for its elimination, saying itʼd be a heckuva lot easier if cops just spoke in plain English to one another.

“The usefulness of 10-codes no longer applies to modern policing, and Iʼm of the belief that police agencies should drop them,” Sylvie Corriveau, civilian officer in charge of support services for the RCMPʼs operational communications centres, wrote recently in a column for the forceʼs official magazine, the Gazette.

Proponents of scrapping the coded language say when officers from different agencies respond to a major emergency, such as a riot or natural disaster, they can have trouble understanding one another over the radio because 10-codes are not universal.

This reportedly was a major problem among first responders in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In 2006, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency recommended that 10-codes be phased out and the Department of Homeland Security subsequently published a manual called the Plain Language Guide.

While there may have been concerns in the past about scanner enthusiasts listening in on sensitive calls, encrypted radio technology now blocks transmissions from being picked up by outsiders, those pushing for the changes say.

Further, they say, the special cop lingo has lost a lot of its mystique as translations for 10-codes can easily be found online.

Corriveau warned in her column that as RCMP members travel from one province to another, the lack of standardized 10-codes “may eventually jeopardize their safety and that of the public.”

“The RCMP and other police agencies should evaluate the pros and cons of dropping 10-codes,” she said. “Agencies could maintain between five and 10 radio codes, such as 10-4, which has the same meaning worldwide. More than 10 would defeat the purpose.”

The RCMP and most major Canadian police forces have so far been reluctant to embrace such a dramatic change.

The Hamilton Police Service is one of the few. It ditched most of its 10-codes at the beginning of the year.

Sgt. Treena Ley said in an interview she saw first-hand how problematic 10- codes could be during the G8/G20 protests in Toronto in 2010. Officers from different jurisdictions struggled at times to understand each otherʼs calls.

56

“It blew my mind,” she said. “We were misinterpreting each other.”

At her agency, for instance, a 10-13 indicates an officer is taking a lunch break. In other police agencies in Ontario, it can be a request for road and weather conditions.

At the Peel Regional Police, where she used to work, an officer in distress would call in a 10-78. In Hamilton, itʼs a 10-33.

While police agencies have a tendency to resist change, the transition away from 10-codes went pretty smoothly in Hamilton, Ley said, likely because members of her force tend to skew younger these days.

Even though 10-codes were intended to be an efficient way to convey information, they donʼt always provide enough information to the responding officer, said Insp. Jeff Cove of the Lethbridge Police Service, which reverted to plain-language calls in 2007.

For instance, his agency used to have a 10-code for a disturbance, but that could mean everything from a shouting match to a fistfight outside a bar, Cove said.

“Clarity is imperative,” Cove said. Now, “we communicate better on the radio, people know where theyʼre going, what theyʼre getting involved in.”

The elimination of all but four 10-codes within the Lethbridge force means they donʼt have to spend hours training and testing new officers, Cove added. (The four 10-codes theyʼve kept are typically used when they donʼt want the suspect standing within earshot to hear the conversation, such as “officer is in immediate danger” or “officer needs assistance”).

A Calgary police spokeswoman said officials are planning to have discussions soon about the future use of 10-codes.

But a national RCMP spokesman defended them, saying they are a “basic, fundamental way to communicate” between officers and dispatchers.

“Their consistent use supports precise information sharing via police radios with brevity, accuracy and expediency,” said Sgt. Greg Cox via email.

Cox added the force will roll out new national standards for its 10-codes later this month to improve “clarity” and inter-provincial “consistency.”

The Vancouver Police Department prefers a “hybrid” approach, using a mix of plain language and 10-codes, said spokesman Const. Brian Montague.

If an officer is responding to a call and wants to get a quick snapshot of the personʼs history, a dispatcher can relay that efficiently with the use of 10-codes,

57 he said. For instance, someone with a history of violence and robbery would be said to have a 10-81 and 10-82.

“Thereʼs benefits to both,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Extrajudicial Killings Corrode Democracy in India By MEENAKSHI GANGULY July 15, 2013, 3:10 am The New York Times

India is grappling with an important question: at which point can a potential threat be reason enough to compromise on the right to life? Indiaʼs premier federal investigation agency, Central Bureau of Investigation has recently charged seven police officers in the western state of Gujarat for the killing of four individuals, including a 19-year-old woman named Ishrat Jahan. The police claimed they were shot in an armed exchange in June 2004 and that all four were terrorists conspiring to target Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat.

There now appears to be little doubt that the police account is make-believe. The armed exchange did not take place at all. According to the C.B. I., all four were picked up separately, killed in custody, and weapons arranged to make it look like there was shooting on both sides. Yet some pundits are actually debating whether the killings were justified. What if all four, or even one or two of them, were indeed terrorists? Isnʼt it better, they say, that they were killed before they committed a terrible crime?

It is disappointing that India is having this debate. In any society in which human rights and the rule of law are respected in practice and not just on paper, the clear and unequivocal answer must be no. Under both Indian and international law, police officers who conspire and then execute individuals have engaged in premeditated murder. Itʼs that simple.

Some have argued precedent. After all, it is fairly well known that some of the most “successful” security operations in India have resulted from large-scale extrajudicial executions. Hundreds were killed in Mumbai in the late 1990s as the police took on the organized crime syndicates. In the northern state of Punjab, a violent separatist movement that claimed thousands of lives was finally quelled with a heavy security response, including premeditated killings.

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What is too easily forgotten is that serious human rights violations occurred during these operations. A Mumbai court recently convicted 13 police officers for the killing of a suspected gangster in a faked armed encounter. In 1995, Jaswant Singh Khalra, an officer at a bank in Amritsar in Punjab, who became an activist, used government crematoria records to expose more than 6,000 secret cremations by the police in just one of then-13 districts of the state. Mr. Khalra was killed in October 1995 and, 10 years later, a judge finally convicted six Punjab police officers for their role in his murder. In 1996, the Supreme Court of India ordered the countryʼs National Human Rights Commission to investigate the human rights violations raised by the Punjab mass cremations case. It also entrusted the C.B.I. to look into the culpability of police officials. That investigation remains incomplete.

Last week, Surjit Singh, a police official from Tarn Taran in Punjab, said that he had been involved in the killing of 83 people in faked encounters on orders from his superiors. He did not know if they were actual suspects or just randomly picked up because they fit a profile.

The role of the police is to identify suspects, gather evidence against them, and make arrests. Security agencies, by the very nature of their law enforcement role, treat everyone as suspects. The police should not be allowed to act as judge and executioner. This is why an independent judiciary examines the evidence and pronounces a verdict. And why there is an appeals process to challenge all convictions.

When security forces are given a free hand, there are bound to be abuses. In Mumbai, the celebrated “encounter specialists” soon became mired in corruption allegations. In Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, a father explained to me how he bribed the police to get his son out of detention after he was warned that the young man would be shot and wrongfully identified as a Pakistani militant.

The recent successes in holding perpetrators accountable are because of relentless efforts by activists and victim families. But most give up, because the army and law enforcement agencies usually are protected by laws and policies that provide a widespread culture of impunity. That is why so many have been demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which has become a much despised symbol of that lack of accountability. While police officers are from time to time prosecuted, it is almost impossible to bring perpetrators to justice if they belong to the army.

The army has cited the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to block an independent investigation and prosecution in the northeastern state of Manipur in the case of Manorama Devi, who was suspected of being a member of Manipurʼs banned insurgent group Peopleʼs Liberation Army. Ms. Devi was taken into custody in July 2004 and found dead in a paddy field the next morning. According to the army, Ms. Devi was shot because she tried to escape. Her family members

59 said that when she was taken into custody, Ms. Devi was handcuffed and wearing the traditional Manipuri sarong, which would have made it difficult for her to outrun several soldiers.

Like Mr. Khalra, a renowned human rights lawyer and activist Jalil Andrabi was killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 1996. The courts repeatedly asked the army to produce Maj. Avtar Singh, the man accused, who was also a suspect in a number of fake encounters. The army refused. His name surfaced again in California when his wife reported him for domestic violence. On June 9, 2012, Mr. Singh killed his wife, three children and then shot himself. He had never been prosecuted for human rights violations as a soldier, and despite the serious allegations against him, was allowed to emigrate.

Fake encounters are a symptom of the failure to hold security forces accountable for their crimes, but they are also a consequence of other problems. An overloaded justice system makes each trial a very long, drawn-out process. Witnesses are often threatened, yet there is no effective system of witness protection. Repeated and lengthy hearings mean that many witnesses no longer want to testify. Without proper training and equipment to secure evidence, the police rely on torture to secure confessions. The police often admit privately that they engage in fake encounters because they are frustrated that criminals captured after much effort simply walk away.

All too often in India, the government does nothing about abuses until there is broad public outrage. We have seen this with the response to sexual violence. But just as people are feeling squeamish about their private communications stored and available for scrutiny, so, too, they should be worrying about security forces that kill at will, simply because they can, in the guise of national security.

Meenakshi Ganguly is South Asia director at Human Rights Watch

Should Pittsburgh Police Officers Have to Live in the City?

Public Safety 2:42 PM

WED JULY 17, 2013 By KEVIN GAVIN The question of whether Pittsburgh police officers should be required to live in the city goes before arbitrators in September.

But City Councilman Ricky Burgess believes that all voters in the city should have a say in the matter, not just the three members of the arbitration panel.

60 “I think that the arbitration, whatever the results are, will probably be appealed and come before a judge,” said Burgess, who is sponsoring legislation to put the issue on the November ballot.

A public hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday in Council Chambers. If the measure is passed and voters approve the ballot question, the residency requirement would become part of Pittsburghʼs home rule charter.

That requirement is already part of the city code, but it still might not matter because the legislature last year passed an amendment ending that stipulation. The Fraternal Order of Police then challenged the residency requirement, and the dispute has gone to arbitration.

Requests for comments from FOP Lodge #1 president Sgt. Mike LaPorte were unanswered at the time of publication.

Burgess said allowing officers to live outside the city sends a message of rejection.

“Part of the conversation is that they donʼt want to live in the city, they donʼt want their kids to go to the same schools or live in the same neighborhoods or shop the same stores or necessarily go to the same churches," Burgess said. "And I think that rejection is unfortunate, and I think it continues this disconnect and I think it threatens public safety.”

He said if police officers are allowed to live outside the city, it wonʼt stop there.

“I think if the police win this right, it will just be a matter of time when you see other unions filing for the same right and saying since the police have it, they have the right to have it too," Burgess said. "I just think you do not want police or anybody to be an occupying force. You want people who work for the city to be invested, completely invested in the city of Pittsburgh."

Burgess expects whatever the decision of the arbitrators that an appeal will be filed with Allegheny County Court and having citizensʼ voices on record could help his argument … if they vote in favor of the residency requirement.

New Jersey Supreme Court Restricts Police Searches of Phone Data By KATE ZERNIKE Published: July 18, 2013 The New York Times Staking out new ground in the noisy debate about technology and privacy in law enforcement, the New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that the

61 police will now have to get a search warrant before obtaining tracking information from cellphone providers.

The ruling puts the state at the forefront of efforts to define the boundaries around a law enforcement practice that a national survey last year showed was routine, and typically done without court oversight or public awareness. With lower courts divided on the use of cellphone tracking data, legal experts say, the issue is likely to end up before the United States Supreme Court.

The New Jersey decision also underscores the extent of the battles over government intrusion into personal data in a quickly advancing digital age, from small town police departments to the National Security Agencyʼs surveillance of e-mail and cellphone conversations.

Several states and Congress are considering legislation to require that warrants based on probable cause be obtained before investigators can get cellphone data. Montana recently became the first state to pass such a measure into law. The California Legislature approved a similar bill in 2012, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying it did not “strike the right balance” between the needs of law enforcement and the rights of citizens.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled in May that the police could seize a cellphone without a warrant, but needed a warrant to search it. And a case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., is weighing whether investigators acted legally when they got a court order, but not a warrant, to obtain 221 days of cellphone location data for suspects in an armed robbery case in Maryland.

“This type of issue will play out in many jurisdictions for the simple reason that cellphones are so prevalent in daily life,” said Peter G. Verniero, a former New Jersey attorney general and State Supreme Court justice. “The decision affects just about everybody.”

“Law enforcement is trying to keep up with technology, as well they should,” he added. “Itʼs very legitimate for law enforcement to use technology, but this court decision is a strong reminder that constitutional standards still apply. The courts have to adapt, and law enforcement has to adapt.”

The ruling involved a case that began with a string of burglaries in homes in Middletown, N.J. A court ordered the tracing of a cellphone that had been stolen from one home, which led to a man in a bar in nearby Asbury Park, who said his cousin had sold him the phone, and had been involved in burglaries. The police then used data they got from T-Mobile to locate the suspect, Thomas W. Earls, at three points on a subsequent evening, tracking him to a motel room where he was found with a television and suitcases full of stolen goods.

62 In a unanimous decision, the State Supreme Court said that when people entered cellphone contracts, “they can reasonably expect that their personal information will remain private.”

The justices recognized that this departed somewhat from federal case law. But they relied in part on a United States Supreme Court decision last year that the police could not attach a Global Positioning System to a suspectʼs car without a warrant. A cellphone, the New Jersey justices said, was like a GPS device.

“Using a cellphone to determine the location of its owner can be far more revealing than acquiring toll billing, bank, or Internet subscriber records,” said the opinion, written by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner. “Details about the location of a cellphone can provide an intimate picture of oneʼs daily life and reveal not just where people go — which doctors, religious services and stores they visit — but also the people and groups they choose to affiliate with. That information cuts across a broad range of personal ties with family, friends, political groups, health care providers and others.”

Besides establishing a firmer legal bar for the police to obtain cellphone data, the Supreme Court also remanded the case to the appeals court to determine whether the evidence collected using the cellphone records could be admitted in court under an “emergency aid exception” to the requirement for a warrant.

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union reviewed records from more than 200 local police departments, large and small, and found that they were aggressively using cellphone tracking data, so much so that some cellphone companies were marketing a catalog of “surveillance fees” to police departments, to track suspects or even to download text messages sent to a phone that had been turned off. Departments were using the information for emergency and nonemergency cases.

Some departments had manuals advising officers not to reveal the practice to the public. Others defended its use. The police in Grand Rapids, Mich., for example, had used a cellphone locator to find a stabbing victim who was in a basement hiding from his attacker.

The law has been slow to keep up. The Florida decision in May rejected the reasoning of a lower court that had based its approval of cellphone tracking on a 1973 United States Supreme Court case that allowed heroin found in a suspectʼs cigarette pack to be introduced as evidence. “Attempting to correlate a crumpled package of cigarettes to the cellphones of today is like comparing a one-cell organism to a human being,” the decision said.

Nationally, court decisions about cellphone tracking have considered whether it comports with the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. But the justices in New Jersey based their decision on the State Constitution, which affords greater privacy protection. The state court

63 has previously ruled in favor of electronic privacy. In 2008, it said that police had to obtain a subpoena from a grand jury to obtain Internet provider records.

“The inescapable logic of this decision should be influential beyond New Jersey because it makes complete sense as to an individualʼs reasonable expectation of privacy,” said Rubin Sinins, who filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and the New Jersey Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Honolulu police union defends pay differential

Charlotteobserver.com The Associated Press Posted: Thursday, Jul. 18, 2013 HONOLULU The president of the union representing Hawaii's police officers defended a pay differential increase that will bring the total price of a binding arbitration agreement to about $200 million.

Officers are given a standard of conduct differential for being expected to carry a firearm 24 hours a day. That differential will increase from $1 an hour to $4 an hour over four years as part of a new contract agreement issued this month. The agreement also gives officers a 16.8 percent raise over four years.

State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers President Tenari Maafala told city council budget committee members Wednesday the differential is provided because officers must confront danger even when they're off-duty, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (http://ow.ly/n66XO ).

In response to questions from Councilman Ron Menor, who said he's fielded calls complaining about aspects of the package, Maafala shared a personal experience to highlight how officers are compelled to act at any moment.

Maafala recounted shooting and killing a man who was firing a gun in 1998. Maafala was off-duty and visiting his parents at Mayor Wright Homes.

Neighbors who knew Maafala was around went to him for help.

"So am I obligated to get out there? Of course I am," he said. "Had I slept through it, the most scariest thing is people might have died."

Menor said he was satisfied with Maafala's response. The council committee voted unanimously to approve the resolution.

64 The city says the differential pay will add $43 million, bringing the contract package to about $200 million.

Larger issues are aired at hearing on Pittsburgh police residency July 19, 2013 12:03 am By Timothy McNulty / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Anger at Pittsburgh police fueled a packed Pittsburgh City Council hearing on police residency requirements Thursday, with testimony hitting testy police relations with black residents as much as it did debates on where police should live.

"We are being policed as if we are in a war zone," testified Valerie Lauw, the president of the citizen council in Northview Heights, a public housing development. "We know there are no black police coming to Northview to do anything. There are white people coming as officers to harass and arrest."

The Fraternal Order of Police is in contract arbitration seeking to lift requirements that officers -- like other taxpayer-supported city employees -- live within the city limits. Wording in a state law saying Pittsburgh officers "shall" live in the city was amended in October to say they "may" reside in the city limits, opening up the contract challenge to the police union.

In an attempt to outflank the contract move, council is considering a November ballot question adding the requirements to the city's home rule charter. If approved the charter change may be subject to legal battles, but in the meantime it had the full support of a largely black, full-house crowd that traveled to Grant Street to speak out on a baking summer afternoon.

Not a single person at the hourlong hearing spoke out against the residency requirement, with most complaining about police behavior in their neighborhoods and others saying officers pulling up stakes would only make bad community relations worse. More than 60 African-American schoolchildren from an East End summer camp added to the chorus, many of them stepping to the microphone to say they have been harassed by members of a largely white police force. Angel Renee Williamson-Wheat, 15, of Lincoln-Lemington said her mother just retired from the force and witnessed how she had a positive impact on the neighborhood.

"I know for a fact that having my mother there as a police officer, she was able to help police in the area help keep kids safe," said the rising sophomore at Pittsburgh Allderdice High School. "We're the ones who are the future and you need us to be safe so we can continue to build up the city. If you're just letting us die because the police don't want to live in the city, what are we going to do?"

65 Kristy Frisco, 35, of Brighton Heights also grew up a child of a retired officer and is married to a city firefighter.

"When it is your neighborhood, your neighbors, your city you are serving, the commitment to your career inevitably becomes more than a job, it becomes a way of life," she said.

The icily air-conditioned atmosphere within council chambers was permeated by two recent events: a Florida jury's acquittal Saturday of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the February 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, and the since-withdrawn Pittsburgh police arrest three weeks ago of a black teacher outside a meeting on community-police relations in Homewood. There were no police present, other than one black officer quietly serving as council's sergeant-of-arms.

Activist Rashad Byrdsong of Homewood called for the federal government to once again place police behavior under the watch of a consent decree, as it was in the 1990s.

"I don't think there's anyone in the city now who can control the police, from the mayor on down to the chiefs," he said.

Tim Stevens, the president of the Black Political Empowerment Project, cited police statistics from 2001-09 showing only 23 of 349 police recruits from the period were African-American. That pool of minority applicants would only get smaller if police could live in the suburbs, he argued.

"Even with the current requirement that Pittsburgh police officers be required to live in the city of Pittsburgh, we've had very appalling statistics," Mr. Stevens said. City council is largely barred from getting involved in contract disputes, and state Act 111 oversees police contracts, so it is unclear if the residency referendum could be enforced if approved by voters. FOP Lodge 1 president Mike LaPorte said Thursday his union is focusing only on the contract arbitration -- officers last testified June 28 and the city is scheduled to make its rebuttal before three arbitrators in late September.

Police argue the city residency requirement is anti-competitive: The force loses recruits and veterans to suburbs affording better pay, where their children don't have to attend city schools. Sgt. LaPorte makes $67,000 after two decades on the job, he said, while a first-year Monroeville officer can earn $102,000. Despite the state law changes, Councilman Ricky Burgess, the referendum sponsor, said he was confident the ballot question would be overwhelmingly approved if placed on the Nov. 5 ballot, and doubted a judge would overturn the will of voters. He also argued that police living outside the city would only make relations with the black community worse.

Police "only want to see us on those eight hours they're on duty," Mr. Burgess said. "They want to spend the rest of their time away from us, away from our kids.

66 How in the world is that going to bring a closer relationship between the police and the rest of us?"

Only four of the current eight council members attended the hearing: Mr. Burgess, Darlene Harris, Theresa Kail-Smith and Natalia Rudiak. Bruce Kraus, Daniel Lavelle, Corey O'Connor and Bill Peduto were absent.

San Jose police officers lose wage arbitration

By John Woolfolk [email protected] Posted: 07/12/2013 07:19:24 AM PDT Updated: 07/12/2013 07:19:30 AM PDT

SAN JOSE -- An arbitrator's decision made final Thursday denied San Jose police officers any pay hikes, raising the specter of even more officers fleeing the already lean force. Despite the arbitrator's decision, which cited limits voters approved in 2010, the cops and city could still negotiate a deal for raises. City officials said that while they could not yet afford to give the cops the full 10 percent raise they demanded, they remain eager to discuss more modest pay hikes and pleaded with the officers' union to return to the bargaining table. But the union refused to do so, a stance Deputy City Manager Alex Gurza, the city's lead negotiator, found baffling. "We simply are perplexed," Gurza said. "We certainly believe some raise is better than no raise. If it didn't meet their needs, a counterproposal would certainly be welcome. To not negotiate is very troubling. We want to negotiate pay raises for police officers." With officers already bolting the department for higher pay elsewhere, both sides had agreed raises were in order. But the agreement stopped there. The officers insisted the city fully restore within a year or two the 10-percent pay cuts they had accepted in 2011 to limit layoffs amid huge budget shortfalls. City officials offered raises up to 9 percent over two years. But the union's leader said much of that came with "strings" they couldn't abide. Just 2.5 percent of the offer was for the current budget year. An additional 2.5 percent next year would depend on savings from retirement cuts the cops are fighting in court. An additional 4 percent next year would not count toward pensions. "If they gave us a very simple wage offer we'd take it to our members," said San Jose Police Officers' Association President Jim Unland. "We haven't seen an offer that looks that clean. All of their offers continue to come with attachments and strings." Relations between the city and its officers have been strained to the breaking point as soaring costs for retirement benefits, greatly enriched over the last decade, have eaten into the city budget and spurred cuts to pay and perks. Officers and other unionized workers bitterly protested ballot measures Mayor

67 Chuck Reed sponsored over the past two years to reduce arbitration awards and pension benefits. The police union is among several suing to block the pension measure that would either reduce or make them pay more for their retirement benefit. But the arbitration award raised fears that an already worrisome officer exodus will become a stampede, leaving the police department dangerously short- handed. "We're worried," Unland said. "There were a lot of officers who were on the fence and watching this decision closely. If it came in at 10 percent, they would find a way to stay. Most of these officers don't want to go. But if it came in at zero, they're going out." Officers noted that the city's police force has shrunk from nearly 1,400 officers to fewer than 1,100, thanks to budget cuts, retirements and resignations. About 150 officers have left in the past two and a half years, while crime rates have risen throughout the region. Unland said the officers see no point in discussing raises with the City Council out on summer recess. The council gives guidance to city negotiators and ultimately approves contracts. Unland said he doesn't believe his union can get a better deal until the council returns and perhaps tells management to drop the objectionable "strings." Gurza disagreed and said the city is willing to have a mediator work with them to help reach an agreement. It is unclear in light of the arbitration decision, which is binding but can be superseded by a negotiated contract, whether the council could award raises to the officers without the union's agreement. While the officers were unable to reach a deal with the city on pay, San Jose's largest union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, reached a tentative one-year agreement that will give its workers a 2-percent raise. Those workers had not only been forced to swallow the 10- percent pay cuts to help close massive deficits a couple years ago, but also an additional 2-percent they had received in the final year of an expiring contract while others took cuts. Workers were voting on the contract this week and it would go to the council for approval next month. Union leader Yolanda Cruz said employees were eager to begin restoring both pay and relations with city leaders. The top annual base salary for a San Jose officer is about $98,000 a year, including a uniform allowance. But city officials say benefit costs effectively double that figure to almost $194,000, up 21 percent from four years ago. They note that the police budget has grown 9 percent while staffing has fallen 13 percent since 2009. City retirement costs that more than tripled over a decade drove Reed to push ballot measures to curb them. Measure V in 2010 limited arbitration awards for officers and firefighters. Measure B in 2012 sought to reduce pension benefits going forward for new and current employees, and goes to a court hearing later this month. Voters approved both overwhelmingly. Among Measure V's provisions was that an arbitrator cannot increase total employee compensation, including benefits, at a rate that exceeds average city revenue growth over the last five years. The city argued that revenue grew just 1.24 percent over the last five years, but because police pension costs rose 4

68 percent, no raise could be awarded in arbitration. Retired Judge John Flaherty, who was the deciding vote on the arbitration panel that included Unland and Gurza, agreed he could not award raises in arbitration, and urged a negotiated settlement. "If this award does become final," Flaherty warned in the decision, "neither the city nor the SJPOA will have achieved their goal of providing wage increases to police officers."

South Miami

South Miami police chief to go before ethics commission

BY DANIEL DUCASSI AND MARIA PEREZ [email protected]

South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez De Castro will appear in front of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust on Thursday facing charges that he steered city business to his wife's companies, Airways Auto Tag LLC and Beck and Lo's Insurance Agency, Inc. The ethics-commission advocate will likely present a settlement agreement. It is unknown if De Castro and/or the commission will accept it.

De Castro is accused of violating the city's ethics code, which bars city employees from doing business with immediate family members who have a financial interest with the city. Willful violation constitutes malfeasance and results in forfeiture of office. He is also charged with violating the county's ethics code, which prohibits exploiting one's official position.

"There is substantial evidence to show that De Castro was, in fact, well aware that his department did business with his wife's company," according to the probable-cause memorandum, written by the ethics commission's advocate, Michael Murawski. He refused to comment on the case.

His memo states the city did business with Airways Auto Tag in February, June, and October 2011.

A fourth charge alleges that De Castro was soliciting business for his wife's insurance company using his city email address.

The issues were first reported in March 2012 by a local blogger known as The Straw Buyer. Murawski later filed the complaint.

Murawski's memo presents an interview with Lt. Dan Salerno (now retired from

69 the police department) who asked De Castro in 2011 whether his wife could help obtain titles for vehicles forfeited to police after being used in felonies. Salerno said the chief answered "yes" and gave Salerno his wife's phone number.

"Salerno was taken aback when he was advised that De Castro claimed to have no knowledge of Airways' business transactions with the city," the memo said.

Interoffice memos requesting checks payable to Airways do not have De Castro's signature on them but were addressed to De Castro.

De Castro has denied knowledge of the city doing business with his wife and denied giving any order to do so, according to the memo. The memo states De Castro admitted he gave Salerno his wife's phone number but that Salerno wanted to ask for help in filling out the forms - not give her city business.

However, the memo also states Salerno said his understanding was that De Castro gave him his wife's number to have her tag agency handle the matter - not merely to offer help - and that Salerno worked with Ileana Martinez De Castro every time he went to Airways.

For her part, Ileana Martinez De Castro said that she does not discuss her business with her husband or anyone, according to the memo.

After evolving over months of negotiations, the settlement agreement likely to be offered to De Castro would have him plead no contest to the first three counts, while the fourth count would be dropped. He would also have to pay $2,000 in "investigative costs" and receive a letter of instruction. The agreement, as well as the draft order from the commission, specifically states that the commission makes no determination as to whether or not the violation was willful or knowing.

South Miami Mayor Phil Stoddard, who wants to see the chief fired, said he thinks the chief would be getting off easy if the commission accepts the settlement and that the agreement does not serve the public interest.

"The police chief is the highest law enforcement officer in the city," Stoddard said. "If he is accused of breaking the law and the investigations have it clear, why are they betraying the public trust?"

Lack of police blamed for delays in visiting vulnerable children

70 3:01pm Friday 12th July 2013 Surrey Comet.uk Vulnerable children in Kingston are potentially being left in danger due to "a lack of police availability", according to an Ofsted inspection of “inadequate” Kingston Council.

Vital visits by social workers and police to see if a child is suffering physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect are being delayed.

Kingston Council has contacted Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to resolve the problem.

Council leader Liz Green said the constant change in police leadership – with three borough commanders in a year - had a "destabilising" effect.

She said: "We've had however many borough commanders in the last year, and we've been very strong in saying that this is not acceptable.

"It would have a destabilising effect on any organisation.

"When the new borough commander joins, it is certainly one of the things I will talking to him about.

"We have tried our best to resolve this but it is one of the things we are being criticised for when it is one of the other statutory authorities that is letting it down.”

Police officers, not social workers, have the power to take children out of harm, as a result of the ʻsection 47 enquiryʼ joint visits.

Missouri law adds job security for police chiefs July 13 BY GLENN E. RICE The Kansas City Star

If a new requirement for Missouri municipalities to establish procedures to remove police chiefs had been in place three years ago, it might have saved Troy Simsʼ job in Orrick.

During spring 2009, he was embroiled in a political and legal wrestling match with Marilyn Butler, then the newly elected mayor of Orrick, a rural community of less than 900 residents east of Kansas City in Ray County.

71

Sims alleged that Butler retaliated against him for issuing a nuisance ticket to her husband in 2007 and later ticketing her son-in-law for DUI. Butler accused Sims of wrongdoings that included improperly getting rid of police evidence, according to various petitions filed in the case.

Though Butler and Sims denied the separate allegations, the squabble eventually led to Sims resigning as police chief after reaching an out-of-court settlement with city leaders.

A new state law, which takes effect Aug. 28, makes it harder for municipalities to fire police chiefs unless there is misconduct, insubordination, violation of a written policy or a felony committed.

It also reduces the likelihood that chiefs will face the same challenges that Sims did to keep their jobs, said Kevin Baldwin, the city attorney for Orrick.

“It will definitely allow chiefs across the state, including our own, if he feels he is being singled out or mistreated in any way, that it will allow him to have a fair hearing,” Baldwin said. “The situation with Mr. Sims was deeply unfortunate and regretful, and we believe that he was a good officer, a good chief, and we wish him well in the future.”

The new law says police chiefs must be given written notice at least 10 business days before a governing boardʼs meeting seeking a termination. And it requires two-thirds approval by that board to dismiss a chief.

Supporters say the law is simply good government and relieves police chiefs of feeling that their job security rests on the political whims of a mayor and a council.

“Ensuring a level of independence for police chiefs was important,” said state Sen. Eric Schmitt, a St. Louis County Republican who co-sponsored the bill. “You do not want to see the chief law enforcement official — probably the head of the largest department for some municipalities — caught up in the middle of some of these political spats that sometimes rear their ugly heads.”

Opponents argued that police chiefs should be treated like any municipal department head.

“At the very core, we were concerned that it removed control by local authorities to make decisions,” said Dan Ross, executive director of the Missouri Municipal League, who urged Gov. Jay Nixon to veto the measure to no avail.

Elected municipal leaders ought to have the ability to fire a police chief for poor conduct or managerial and philosophical differences, Ross said.

“This removes local control and it takes one member of the municipalityʼs management team and gives them a special deal, if you will,” he said.

72

But unlike a parks or public works director, police chiefs must be licensed and take an oath to uphold the law, said Sheldon Lineback, executive director of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association.

As such, police chiefs are held to a higher standard and should be afforded a form of due process if their job is at risk, Lineback said.

“We are not seeking to keep bad police chiefs,” he said. “We are just saying: Follow the process for removal.

“We give due process to criminals. Why wouldnʼt we give the same due process for police chiefs?”

In Orrick, investigators with the Missouri State Highway Patrol cleared Sims of any wrongdoing after Butler accused him of giving a .22-caliber rifle to a city employee. Butler also claimed that Sims threw evidence into a trash container outside the police department.

Eventually, the city gave Sims a cash settlement and a letter of recommendation in exchange for his voluntary resignation. Because of the settlement, Sims could not comment for this article.

The new law could face legal challenges, said Dan Wichmer, city attorney for Springfield and a past president of the Missouri Municipal Attorneys Association.

“For a charter city, how do you reconcile the legislation in saying this is how you handle one employee when there is a provision in every charter that this is how you deal with all employees?” Wichmer asked.

About six years ago, Bob Boydston, who was police chief of Pleasant Valley, found himself in a political squabble with then-Mayor Renee Flippin over a personnel issue.

Boydston said Flippin improperly engaged in discriminatory and retaliatory conduct that led to Boydstonʼs eventual termination.

Boydston, who was elected Clay County sheriff in 1992, 1996 and 2008, later sued the city and filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. In 2009, the cityʼs insurance provider agreed to pay Boydston $35,000 to settle the matter.

The new law would guard against “capricious and political terminations,” he said. “It just seems counterintuitive to me that there is such a procedure to hire police chiefs and not one to terminate their services.”

73 San Jose: Jury awards $1 million in police Taser case

By Tracey Kaplan [email protected]

Posted: 07/12/2013 03:27:51 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- A federal jury Friday found that a former San Jose police officer used "unreasonable" force by repeatedly jolting a naked, unarmed truck driver who was high on PCP with a Taser -- and awarded $1 million to his family for his wrongful death.

Steve Salinas, 47, died six years ago during the confrontation with four police officers at the Vagabond Motel on North First Street. The jury exonerated three of those officers, who acknowledged urging former Officer Barry Chickayasu to zap Salinas but said they had no idea he had fired the device 10 times in 93 seconds.

The unanimous jury verdict in the federal civil case, which came after about a day and a half of deliberations, is significant for several reasons.

It is the first time San Jose has lost a lawsuit involving a Taser-related death since the police began using the stun guns in 2004 in hopes of cutting down injuries and reducing the need for officers to fire their guns. At least five people have died in the past nine years after being shocked with a Taser. Relatives in three of those cases settled their lawsuits against the city for relatively small amounts ranging from $10,000 to $200,000.

The city, which is self-insured, will pay the $1 million award in this case out of the general fund; Chickayasu, who did not show up for his own trial and left the department after being disciplined for an unrelated matter, is not financially liable. The family had sought $12 million.

The Salinas case also is a milestone because even though there have been other seven-figure awards in favor of survivors around the country recently, most Taser-related claims fail because other factors are successfully blamed for the deaths -- including PCP and other drugs.

The jury of five men and three women in this case concluded the Taser was one cause of Salinas' death, not the sole cause. The medical examiner had listed PCP as the cause in his report; however, he testified at trial under questioning by the family's attorney that the Taser was also a cause.

The jury left the courthouse in downtown San Jose without talking to anyone

74 about the verdict. But the decision was hailed by Salinas' four now-grown children and community activists, who said they hoped it will result in less aggressive use of the Taser.

"It's a historic win for civil rights in San Jose," said Raj Jayadev, director of Silicon Valley DeBug, a community organization for young adults. He is also a member of Coalition for Justice and Accountability, an alliance of civil rights groups that formed after the controversial 2009 police shooting of Daniel Pham, a knife-wielding mentally ill man. "It will make officers think twice before they cross the line."

"I'm just grateful the jury seen the truth," said Noreen Salinas, 35, one of Salinas' four children. "It's justice for my father."

The verdict against the officer also was noteworthy because San Jose juries tend to place great trust in the police, presuming they are doing their best to avoid excessive force under rapidly developing, potentially dangerous situations.

But in this case, that trust may have been undermined during the Salinas civil trial because Chickayasu declined to attend -- a glaring absence that the family's attorney, Dale Galipo, pointed out to the jury.

"You have an empty chair and you have a plaintiff's attorney pointing at an empty chair," City Attorney Rick Doyle said, suggesting that the jury may have gotten the impression that Chickayasu believed his own behavior was indefensible.

The jury also was told but did not appear to put any stock in the fact that one of the other former officers, Jason Woodall, was convicted of felony grand theft for timecard fraud about two years after the encounter with Salinas and resigned from the department. The other two officers who were not held liable were Rod Smith, who is still with the department, and retired Sgt. Mike McLaren.

The city argued that Chickayasu had to stun Salinas repeatedly so the other cops could handcuff him.

Salinas weighed 260 pounds and had so much PCP in his system he was grunting unintelligibly in Room 119, argued Clifford Greenberg, the city's lead attorney. People who take PCP, or angel dust -- especially in extremely large doses like Salinas -- typically feel little if any pain and can become violent.

However, Galipo stressed that Salinas was naked, did not have a weapon and was not combative. The lawyer also claimed that the four officers, who collectively outweighed Salinas by about more than 600 pounds, violated

75 their own department's Taser policy.

Under the guidelines, officers are to avoid multiple Taser "applications," if possible. Officers are also warned that prolonged use of a Taser can lead to death, and that drug users are at higher risk of adverse medical reactions.

Doyle said the city hasn't decided whether to appeal the verdict. Questions remain about the cause of Salinas' death, he contended, which Greenberg will raise in post-trial conferences with Galipo and Judge Edward J. Davila. Doyle also said he plans to review the case with the police brass, as is customary whenever there's a verdict against the department.

"Believe me, the police will look at this seriously to see if there is anything they need to do differently," Doyle said.

Taser International had been named in the lawsuit, but the company successfully argued that it wasn't liable for Salinas' death because it adequately warned police of the risks of using the device.

Police reforms to get priority in Maharashtra State plans to constitute a board to decide on transfers Sanjay Jog | Mumbai July 16, 2013 Last Updated at 00:31 IST Business Standard

The Maharashtra government will soon constitute a police establishment board at the state level for postings and transfers of officers of and above the rank of the superintendent.

Besides, the home minister and secretaries will lose powers for transferring deputy superintendent, assistant commissioner, police inspector and assistant police inspector. Once established, board will have a mandate to function as a competent transferring authority.

Further, the government will form police complaint authorities in each district as well as the state level. The state and district complaints authorities will be delegated powers to look into the complaints against police officers of the rank of superintendents, deputy commissioners and above.

The state police complaints authority will have a retired high court judge, a retired police official, a bureaucrat and a person of eminence from the civil society. The district police complaints authority will be chaired by the retired district court judge.

76 “The government has issued three separate government resolutions today in this regard," additional chief secretary of home department Amitabh Rajan told Business Standard.

The police establishment board will be headed by the additional chief secretary (home) and co-chaired by the director general of police. Its members include director-general of the anti-corruption bureau and the Mumbai commissioner of police. The additional director-general of police (establishment) will be its member secretary. The board will function as a forum of appeal for disposing of representations from officers of and above the rank of superintendent of police regarding their promotions, transfers, disciplinary proceedings, etc. The board will enjoy powers to recommend disciplinary proceedings and other service matter.

Utah group hopes to bridge gap between police and LGBT Community

Public Safety Pride Alliance sees room for growth in changing world.

By MICHAEL MCFALL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE July 2, 2013

He told Salt Lake City Police Detective Kevin Stayner he had been robbed in Liberty Park.

Stayner had a feeling the man had actually been jumped, targeted for being gay. Though he couldnʼt get him to say so, the openly gay detective was sensitive to the victimʼs sexual orientation.

“Iʼm not having any judgment toward him,” Stayner said. In the end, Stayner felt the man was more forthcoming with him than he would have been with someone else.

Itʼs progress. Officers know there is wariness among the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to talk to police, fearing theyʼll be mistreated or outed. For instance, a 2010 survey by the Utah Pride Center showed only 34 percent of respondents believe they are protected against discrimination based on sexual orientation when reporting a domestic-violence dispute.

But a loose-knit group of civilians and police, both LGBT and straight, is trying to change that.

The Public Safety Pride Alliance, affiliated with the Utah Pride Center, has worked for more than a decade to improve understanding

77 between officers and the LGBT community. The alliance helps LGBT people understand police procedures and offers police, fire and medical responders insight on how best to handle LGBT victims and witnesses.

A year ago, three gay men were attacked in a matter of two weeks in northern Utah.

On Aug. 26, a group of men broke into a gay manʼs Salt Lake City apartment and beat up his boyfriend. The same day, four men assaulted a gay man as he left a club a few blocks away. The suspects beat him and stomped the side of his head, shattering his cheekbone and breaking his jaw.

Then, on Sept. 8, a gay man was on the job at an American Fork hair salon when he said several people beat him up and yelled anti-gay slurs at him.

Violent hate crimes galvanize people and bring the alliance into the spotlight, but as public attention moves on, so can event turnout and awareness. The alliance wants to get the word out that it is here and available, said West Valley City Police Sgt. Julie Jorgensen, a member of the alliance.

The alliance convenes on the second Tuesday of every month at the Utah Pride Center, where it invites people to field questions and concerns.

When any crime against a member of the LGBT community occurs, it hurts an investigation when no one tells the police or talks to them.

The alliance hopes that its training classes, town halls, literature and outreach at community events helps reach both sides of the equation.

Brandie Balken, executive director of Equality Utah, said sheʼs “absolutely” seen improvement.

“Itʼs starting to get a little better,”Jorgensen said.

Thereʼs still room for growth on the law enforcement side as well.

More than 12 Salt Lake and Davis County agencies have some representative in the alliance. A Weber County agency used to, but that officer retired and was never replaced. The alliance wants to expand but has had trouble reaching out to some rural agencies.

A while back, the alliance was organizing a hate-crimes class but had to cancel because only one person, a civilian, signed up, Jorgensen said.

78

The alliance helped launch a successful Salt Lake City program, Healthy Self-Expressions, that steered people caught having sex in public places toward counseling, not jail. If the violators did not repeat the offense for a year — the vast majority did not — the charges were dropped.

“The idea behind this was to help [build] congruence between the two lives that theyʼre leading,” said Kyle Jones, a now-retired member of SLCPD who was inspired to help found the alliance after his son came out to him.

The alliance tried to pitch the program to other communities with similar public sex issues, he said, but they werenʼt responsive.

But the alliance will continue extending its hand. The group is scheduled to meet with other agencies later this year to offer education, training and encourage them to get involved, as well as how to start their own programs.

The younger LGBT generation can be hard to reach as well, Jorgensen said. The alliance tries to bridge that gap with a push during the Utah Pride Festival and by providing security at Queer Prom.

On the flip side, the newer generation of officers is among the most welcoming of LGBT co-workers, Jones said.

Openly gay officers would not have been met with the same acceptance 20 years ago, but many LGBT officers now serve openly at several Utah agencies, Jones said. They simply donʼt care. When Strayner came out, it was a nonissue.

“They donʼt care what your sexual [orientation] is,” Jones said, “just the quality of your character and quality of your work.”

Senior cops take Victoria Police to Fair Work Australia over claims they deserve better cars than junior members JAMES CAMPBELL HERALD SUN JULY 16, 2013 12:01AM

The high-ranking police, with the backing of the Police Association, also object to being given LPG and hybrid cars, which are for their private use, as a cost-cutting measure.

79

Instead, they are demanding they be given less fuel-efficient petrol driven Commodores or Falcons.

Last month the Police Association wrote to Chief Commissioner Ken Lay saying that during negotiation of a 2011 enterprise bargaining agreement "verbal undertakings" had been given "that there would be a distinction between the range of cars available to commanders to those available to superintendents and that commanders would be entitled to the use of a higher-quality vehicle".

The Police Association had since been informed that all new replacement vehicles for private use must be either a Toyota Hybrid sedan or a Holden 6 cylinder LPG vehicle, the letter stated. The move to LPG and hybrid vehicles would save Victoria Police tens of thousands of dollars a year through lower fuel bills.

But the Herald Sun understands the top cops are not happy with the amount of space in the boot of the LPG models after the installation of the gas tank and special communications equipment which police need fitted.

Last week the PA lodged a dispute in Fair Work Australia complaining that "Victoria Police have advised Commanders and Superintendents that ... the range of vehicles will be severely restricted and that the range of vehicles that can be accessed by Commander and Superintendent will be the same".

Police Association secretary Greg Davies said the dispute was about Victoria Police keeping its word.

"The force entered into an agreement to provide specific types of cars and not even half-way through that agreement, they're changing the make of vehicle," he said.

"If they want to make savings that's all well and good but don't go changing horses in mid-stream."

Victoria Police spokeswoman Leonie Johnson said: "Victoria Police has received a dispute notification lodged with Fair Work Australia.

"We will not be providing comment at this time."

Agreement Is Reached on Police Reforms in Puerto Rico By LIZETTE ALVAREZ Published: July 17, 2013 The New York Times

80 The government of Puerto Rico and the Justice Departmentʼs Civil Rights division on Wednesday formalized a sweeping agreement meant to overcome a history of discrimination, violence and corruption in the commonwealthʼs Police Department. The agreement is the result of a long investigation by the Justice Department and a consent decree announced in December to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit. Its implementation was delayed to give the new governor, Alejandro García Padilla, time to review it and it is subject to approval by Judge Gustavo Gelpi of Federal District Court. Among other things, it will require the Police Department to implement new policies on the use of force and specialized tactical units, domestic violence, interactions with transgender people, crowd control, police training and promotions.

18 July 2013, 14:01 New Crime Stats Show Lowest Total On Record

Sky News The estimated number of crimes fell to 8.6 million in England and Wales in the year up to March 2013, the lowest figure since records began in 1981.

It was a 9% decrease compared with last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Overall crime is now running at half the level it peaked at in 1995.

Recorded crime was also down, with police reporting 3.7 million offences in the year ending March 2013, a decrease of 7% compared with the previous year.

But in these times of financial hardship for many, fraud is up by 27%, with over a quarter of a million offences recorded.

Theft from the person - pickpocketing and snatch crime, such as stealing someone's mobile phone - is up by 9%.

The number of rapes recorded by police has risen by 2% in the past year, with the increase thought to be linked to the knock-on effect of the high-profile Jimmy Savile investigation, the ONS said.

The figures - showing drops in many categories, and coming at a time of economic crisis and decreasing number of police officers - were welcomed by the Government.

David Cameron said the figures were "good news".

81 "We should congratulate the police. As a government we've asked them to do more with less resources and they performed, I think, magnificently.

"I think also all the work that's gone into crime prevention has made a difference, too.

"This is good news. Britain is getting safer, as well as stronger," the PM said during a visit to Hammersmith police station in west London.

Home Secretary Theresa May praised the police forces but also her own government, which she said had "played its part by slashing red tape and scrapping targets to enable the police to focus on crime fighting".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "It's one of the great triumphs of recent years that we've seen crime come down."

The stats also showed that firearm offences have dropped by 15% in year ending March 2013, continuing to fall since a peak registered in 2005/2006.

Offences that involved a knife or sharp instrument decreased by 15% compared with the previous year.

The number of police officers in England and Wales has dropped for the fourth consecutive year - by 3.4% or 4,516 - taking the total to its lowest level since 2002, the Home Office said.

Sky News Deputy Political Editor Joey Jones said the figures were "extremely encouraging" from the point of view of the Government.

"From David Cameron's point of view, he'll be wanting to press home that sort of political advantage," explained Jones.

"As long as those statistics keep coming along those lines, it clearly makes things that much more comfortable from the Government's point of view."

Javed Khan, the chief executive of the charity Victim Support, said: "The progress that has been made is encouraging, but we should also be clear that there is no room for complacency."

"There remain some clear areas for concern, not least the increase in offences of theft from the person."

Would Arresting More Whites End Racial Disparities in the Justice System? July 19, 2013 04:27:00 am

82 The Crime Report

"Profound" racial and ethnic disparities continue to mar America's criminal justice system, according to a report by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). The report, Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System, summarized a three-day discussion in New York last fall that included prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, scholars, community leaders, and the formerly incarcerated.

In one of the more provocative comments quoted by the report, Rick Jones of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem suggested: "The surest path to [criminal justice] reform would be to arrest more white people." Other attending the conference "agreed with the truth, if not the practicality, of this position," pointing out that those whites affected by such a policy would likely be poor and unemployed---rather than middle-class people whose criminalization would in theory spark more attention.

Nevertheless, Irwin Shaw, Attorney-in-Charge of the Legal Aid Society, New York County, said racial bias was often "implicit" in areas ranging from court procedure to sentencing, even among white liberals who want to eliminate flaws in the system. Jonathan Rapping, founder and director of the Southern Public Defender Training Center (now Gideonʼs Promise), added: "I am just as guilty of saying, ʻWhatʼs going on here?ʼ when I see the rare white defendant in a court-issued jumpsuit.” Other reform ideas included stopping the misuse of cash bail, arrests for marijuana possession and incarceration for non-violence offenses.

Locking up juveniles may plant seeds of more crime Incarcerating the young is often counterproductive, new research shows July 17, 2013|Mary Schmich Chicago Tribune

In a new research paper, economist Joe Doyle examines what happened to 35,000 adolescents charged with crimes in Chicago in the 1990s. “If youʼre sentenced to juvenile incarceration,” he says, “youʼre twice as likely to go into adult prison by 25.”

Joe Doyle was still a grad student at the University of Chicago in the late 1990s when he went to watch the proceedings in Cook County's juvenile court.

He sat there while inexperienced lawyers argued over the fate of young offenders, mostly young black men. He witnessed judges who had to instruct those inexperienced lawyers on procedure at the same time that they, the judges, had to render life-altering decisions.

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To incarcerate or not to incarcerate?

Sitting in the busy court, watching judges face that question, Doyle wondered what would happen to those kids in 10 years.

Would being locked up hurt or help?

Now an economics professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Doyle recently released research that suggests a partial answer to the question.

His paper has an eye-boggling, academic title: "Juvenile Incarceration, Human Capital, and Future Crime: Evidence From Randomly-Assigned Judges."

When I called him Tuesday, I asked him to put his findings about offenders into layperson's terms.

"If you're sentenced to juvenile incarceration," he said, "you're twice as likely to go into adult prison by 25."

The average person might think, well, yeah, what's the news there?

Bad dude at 15, worse dude at 25. Pass the sports section.

Doyle's research suggests it's not that simple, that juvenile incarceration can actually increase crime, a belief that has many proponents but which has been hard to quantify.

Juvenile incarceration. Juvy. The school-to-prison pipeline.

Whatever terms you use for the problem, the United States locks up young people at a far higher rate than any other country in the world.

And whatever terms you use, Doyle's research puts some numbers to the claim that that is counterproductive.

Doyle and his co-author, Anna Aizer of Brown University, collected data from 35,000 adolescents who committed crimes in Chicago in the 1990s. They studied which offenders were incarcerated and which weren't. They then compared which ones wound up in prison as adults.

They did their best to compare teenagers who were legitimately comparable, those of the same age, same race, same crime and same neighborhood.

"Apples to apples," Doyle said.

Their complex study — filled with terms like "variables," "regression" and "confounding factors" — comes down to a few basic conclusions.

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One conclusion: The judge makes a difference.

Some judges are relatively lenient. Some are strict. So one offender goes home with an ankle monitor and a curfew while a similar offender gets locked up with a bunch of other troublemakers, removed from family, church, routine and school.

Another conclusion: If you get locked up, your odds of dropping out of school increase.

"You're supposed to be going to school while you're there," Doyle says of the juvenile facility, "but kids aren't there very long, so it's not like teachers are investing in new education plans for them."

In Doyle's study, all the offenders were unlikely to finish high school, but the incarcerated ones were at even higher risk.

Of the incarcerated teenagers, only 2 percent went back to school when they were let out.

Two percent.

That's a lot of 15- and 16-year-olds roaming around with nothing to do and nowhere to go and no adult to watch them.

And the most significant conclusion from the research: By locking up so many juveniles — removing them from their communities, increasing the odds that they drop out of school — we may be seeding more crime.

I asked Doyle if he thought incarceration was helpful for any young people.

"I'm just not sure," he said. "There are the ones all the judges would agree need to be incarcerated, and it's possible those kids are scared straight and go on to better lives."

On the other hand, he said, plenty of research suggests that at 14 or 15, teenagers aren't deterred by stricter penalties.

In the past decade, some states, Illinois among them, have reversed the juvenile incarceration trend that exploded in the 1980s and '90s.

Doyle's research may give the trend even more momentum. He likes that.

But he is not a social worker. He's an economist.

Leave it to others to make eloquent arguments about the injustice of locking up so many young people, who happen to be disproportionately young people with dark skin.

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Doyle's research helps make the dry-eyed case that juvenile incarceration, pure and simple, costs too much. The cost of prisons. The loss of individuals' earning power and learning power.

We all pay, and it's a debt that swells far into the future.

Senate Likely to Save COPS; House Panel Wants U.S. Prison Study July 17, 2013 08:28:39 am By Ted Gest The Crime Report

Repeating a scenario from a year ago, the U.S. Senate seems likely to save the nearly two-decade-old federal Community Oriented Policing Services program (COPS).

After the Republican-led House subcommittee that funds the Justice Department last week voted to zero out COPS for the federal spending year that starts October 1, its Democrat-led Senate counterpart voted $394 million for hiring local police officers and related activities. The Senate plan would hire about 1,400 police officers nationwide but the final figure is subject to negotiation with the House.

The Senate panel's bill also included $385 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, $417 million for Violence Against Women Act activities and $279 million for juvenile justice and mentoring grants. Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said the proposal "is first and foremost a public safety bill that funds Federal, State, and local law enforcement who protect us from criminals, scammers, terrorists, predators, and hackers."

Senators were generous to the FBI, giving the agency an increase of $368 million to $8.4 billion for FBI salaries and expenses, $368 million above the fiscal year 2013 enacted level. Senators said the increase would provide for 1,500 more terrorism, cyber intrusion, and violent crime investigations.

The Senate committee would spend $150 million through the COPS Office to allow communities to hire school safety personnel, conduct school safety assessments, and fill gaps in school safety plans--essentially the plan that President Barack Obama sought after last December's Newtown school shootings. The House panel would provide $75 million; the final figure is likely to be a compromise between the two numbers.

86 The other big internal Justice Department agency, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, also would get an increase from the Senate panel, of $159 million, to raise its annual spending total to $6.9 billion.

Notably, the House appropriations subcommittee, headed by Rep. Frank Wolf (R- Va.), issued a plan this week to spend $1 million on a nine-member, bipartisan "Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections" to spend a year studying "challenges in the federal corrections system."

Under the proposal, which would have to be approved by the Senate, the task force would "develop practical, data-driven policy options to increase public safety, improve offender accountability, reduce recidivism, and control growth of spending on corrections." The federal prison population has been growing in recent years as many states have reduced their inmate counts.

The Wolf plan would have the new task force study "lessons learned" from "successful state-level justice reinvestment initiatives; and evaluate current and potential criminal justice policies, including the cost-effectiveness of spending on corrections."

The task force would be named for Charles "Chuck" Colson, former counsel to President Richard Nixon, who later founded the Prison Fellowship and Justice Fellowship to "champion prisoner rights and fight injustices within the criminal justice system," the House subcommittee said.

Congress watchers stressed that neither the House nor Senate committee spending plans for the Justice Department unveiled in the last week are the final word on federal spending. In fact, the strong likelihood is that once again most of the federal bureaucracy would be funded by a so-called "continuing resolution" in which Congress bundles appropriations for most or all departments into one massive bill.

Still, the House and Senate spending levels agreed on by committees that study departmental budgets provide guidance to the congressional leaders who craft the eventual omnibus spending bill.

Ted Gest is president of Criminal Justice Journalists, and Washington Bureau Chief of The Crime Report. He welcomes comments from readers.

Deputy AG: Drug Courts Can Reduce Crime Drug courts reduce both drug use and criminal offending, Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole told the National Association of Drug Court Professionals today. Cole said research shows that programs that "target individuals who are drug-dependent and at high risk for recidivism have been proven to be especially effective and yield the greatest return on investment." Cole said governments at

87 all levels now spend nearly $83 billion each year on corrections, and drug courts are one way to control this cost. Last year, $18 million in federal funds were made to 60 adult drug courts, and funds have been awarded to support 10 new mentor adult court programs, Cole said. There is $41 million available for adult drug court programs this year. "If the treatment is done right, it can return both economic and societal benefits well beyond the actual cost of providing it," he said.

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Delivers Remarks at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference ~ Monday, July 15, 2013

It is an honor to be among this dedicated and diverse group of professionals, policymakers, community leaders, and concerned citizens. Thank you for the important work you do every day to promote safety for the public, as well as stability, accountability, and recovery for drug-involved offenders.

What you do is inspiring, but it is not easy. Itʼs complicated and I know that sometimes it can feel like a thankless job.

But the Department of Justice has witnessed your impressive results first-hand, and is proud to be your partner and to support so many drug court programs across America. We recognize that our partnership together is integral to the Departmentʼs efforts to enhance public safety, but by improving outcomes for offenders, we make that enhancement of public safety lasting. And drug courts, as well as mental health courts, DUI/DWI courts, reentry courts, Veterans courts, and tribal health to wellness courts all play a vital role in this process.

Letʼs talk about why your work matters so much. Some 2.2 million inmates are being held in our nationʼs prisons and jails. The federal prison population totals nearly 219,000 – nearly doubling since 1997. Almost half of all federal inmates are incarcerated for drug crimes. About 17 percent of the 1.4 million inmates in state prisons are incarcerated for drug crimes.

But the incarceration numbers donʼt even tell the full story. After prison, we see that recidivism rates remain high. Re-arrest rates after three years are about 67 percent for state prisoners and 40 percent for federal offenders.

Make no mistake -- these numbers are not just meaningless data points. First of all letʼs not forget that these numbers relate to actual individual people and beyond that they translate into real budgetary costs. We estimate that federal, state, and local governments now spend nearly $83 billion each year on corrections.

While incarceration is a necessary part of the strategy for ensuring public safety, we know it is not the only answer in every case -- especially for the low-level drug offender. If any of us hope to change the behavior of our criminal population –

88 and make our communities safer – we must make the investment to treat individuals with substance use disorders and others in need of help as a part of the criminal justice system. And I call it an investment for a reason. We must recognize substance use disorders as a disease, and that a holistic solution provides a better outcome overall for the defendant, the criminal justice system, and society. If the treatment is done right, it can return both economic and societal benefits well beyond the actual cost of providing it.

The truth is that drug courts may not be suitable for everyone who has committed a drug crime. But for those cases where it is a good fit, they can make the difference between a continuing cycle of crime and a changed, drug-free life. Research funded by our National Institute of Justice shows that local drug courts do reduce drug use and criminal offending. In particular, programs that target individuals who are drug-dependent and at high risk for recidivism have been proven to be especially effective and yield the greatest return on investment.

The challenge, of course, is making the most of these successful models by grounding them in the evidence and understanding that drug courts work best if they follow research-based principles.

A drug court is most effective when it has a clear and focused screening process and relies on a validated risk assessment instrument. A drug court has better chances for success when it uses a system of graduated and immediate sanctions and incentives, when the process is understandable and meaningful to participants, and when the process is delivered in a way that can be perceived as fair and equitable. And it works best when those running the program establish a continuum of care that supports relapse prevention, community integration, and aftercare services. These are critical strategies, founded on science, that can help maximize the drug court approach, and need to be built into our programs.

Our ongoing challenge at the Department of Justice is to expand these programs on a larger scale while maintaining the evidence basis of their usefulness and success. Last year, our Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded 60 adult drug court grants totaling $18 million, and we recently awarded funding to support 10 new mentor adult court programs. We have an additional $41 million available for adult drug court programs this year.

Our Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is supporting juvenile and family drug courts. Under the Adult Drug Court Research to Practice, or R2P, Initiative, weʼre helping to make sure the latest information about addiction science and treatment gets out to practitioners and policymakers.

Based on the successes at the state and local levels, we have taken steps to institute drug courts at the federal level. To be clear, the federal criminal justice docket differs from state dockets in that proportionately fewer federal defendants are eligible for diversion from prosecution. We have seen that most federal drug offenders have been involved in serious trafficking crimes. But for the individuals in the federal system for whom alternative sanctions may be appropriate, we

89 looked to your experiences and success stories for ideas on how to achieve more meaningful results for individual defendants and society.

Following your lead, we recognized the value in making alternatives to federal prosecution through pre-trial diversion programs more available. So we changed our own policies – codified in the U.S. Attorneysʼ Manual – to do just that. In 2011, we removed an outdated policy provision that precluded drug addicted individuals from entering pre-trial diversion programs. The change was clearly necessary, since drug addicted individuals are among those who most need diversion.

To better understand and evaluate alternative sanctions to drug crimes, U.S. Attorneysʼ Offices participate in various programs with judges, probation agencies, and defendersʼ offices. As but one example, in the Central District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorneyʼs office is active in the Pretrial Alternatives to Detention Initiative. Under this program, defendants with substance use disorders who are charged with felony drug offenses but are deemed minimally culpable may be offered diversion, have their charges reduced or dismissed, or receive a sentence that does not involve incarceration once they complete the program. Ninety percent of participants have completed the program, and over $4.7 million in imprisonment expenditures have been avoided.

Our U.S. Attorneys also work hand-in-hand with local authorities and community and faith-based groups to close down open-air drug markets. Our Bureau of Prisons runs Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Programs that provide cognitive behavioral treatment to federal inmates with a diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence. And our Office of Justice Programs supports treatment services at the pre- and post-release stages through its Second Chance Act programs and the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program.

I am proud of the progress we are making. But I know we cannot be content. Drug courts hold a key to a smarter criminal justice system, one that can be an agent of positive individual and societal change.

Our collective answer – at the state and federal levels -- must involve effective prevention, rehabilitation and reentry efforts. It is in our mutual interest to give these individuals tools to overcome addiction and become productive, law- abiding citizens. As the Attorney General remarked earlier this year, “Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long for no good law enforcement reason. . . . We need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, to rehabilitate, and to deter – and not simply to warehouse and forget.”

Today, I challenge you to take the time to think bigger, think broader, think about how you can help us at the federal level apply your successful principles and best practices to change the lives of drug-involved offenders and improve the criminal justice system further. You, better than anyone else, understand that potential. You are leaders in creating safer communities, and I look forward to building on our partnership.

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Thank you for your outstanding service.

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