Blue Line Magazine 1 APRIL 2006 Blue Line Magazine 2 APRIL 2006 April 2006 Publisher’s Commentary 5 Volume 18 Number 4 Deterrence and discretion can be fickle masters Blue Line Magazine 12A-4981 Hwy 7 East Ste 254 A silent passage 6 Markham, ON L3R 1N1 Keeping Canada’s sovereignty in the north Canada Ph: 905 640-3048 Fax: 905 640-7547 Regaining trust 10 Web: www.blueline.ca eMail: [email protected] Bringing hope to children of the killing fields — Publisher — Morley S. Lymburner Male sexual assault 12 eMail: [email protected] An investigator’s observations — General Manager — Mary Lymburner, M.Ed. Tested under fire 14 eMail: [email protected] Oakland County approves smart gun — Editor — Mark Reesor Policing in Egypt 16 eMail: [email protected] — News Editor — Learning community roots 20 Ryan Siegmund Cops get a history lesson on the beat eMail: [email protected] — Advertising — A moral compass 23 Imagine being one of 140 police officers Mary Lymburner We can learn leadership from ancient codes Dean Clarke policing 16,000 people scattered over 3.2 Bob Murray million kilometres – and 9,000 more in the Kathryn Lymburner BOOK REVIEW 26 Yukon – that’s roughly 40 per cent of Canada. eMail: [email protected] • The Colour of Justice After building your own house and fashioning • On Bullshit — Pre-press Production — the detachment furniture out of packing cases Del Wall and left over building supplies, you’re ready Halifax rookies show early promise 28 — Contributing Editors — to assume your duties, which include acting as Communication Skills Mark Giles a game warden, public administrator agent, tax CORRESPONDENCE 29 Police Management James Clark collector, licence issuer, locomotive and Tactical Firearms Dave Brown Technology Tom Rataj New guidelines for private security 30 veterinary inspector and registrar of vital Psychology Dorothy Cotton statistics. You also dispense government Case Law Mike Novakowski 2006 BLUE LINE TRADE SHOW 35 cheques, organize the fire brigade and look after Blue Line Magazine is published monthly, September to June, by the equipment, place and look after Blue Line Magazines Incorporated with a mailing address of: 12A - 4981 Hwy. 7 East, Ste. 254, Grafitti vandalism linked to urban decay 45 navigational aids, read water levels, transport Markham, Ontario, L3R 1N1. mail, record meteorological readings, survey Individual magazines are $5.00 each. Subscriptions are $25.00 per year or $40.00 for 2 years. (U.S. & Foreign - $50.00) Group and bulk Working Inside the Bomb 46 shipping... the list goes on. Little wonder that rates available upon request. Replica house teaches about drug labs RCMP Supt. Henry Larsen observed that any All material submitted for publication becomes the property of Blue Line Magazine unless other arrangements have been made with the publisher man who found things not to his liking should prior to publishing. CASE LAW 50 turn around and go home, since “the north is The authors, advisors and Publisher accept no liability whatsoever for any injuries to persons or property resulting from the application or • Reasonable grounds is based on belief no place for softies.” Larsen’s daughter Doreen adoption of any of the procedures, tactics or considerations presented in • Incidental search must relate to arrest this magazine. Readers are cautioned and advised that articles presented gives us a glimpse of what life was like policing herein are edited and supplied for your personal awareness and should not • Severed head admissable the Arctic. be used for further action until appropriate advice and guidance is received from a supervisor, Crown Attorney or other person in authority. • Reasonable grounds arrest non arbitrary RCMP firearms examiner Brian Established in 1988, Blue Line Magazine is an independent publication • Searching officers don’t need all the details designed to inform, entertain, educate and upgrade the skills of those McConaghy was moved by the plight of the involved in the law enforcement profession. It has no direct control from a • Accused entitled to seek counsel immediately Cambodian people and wanted to help. He set law enforcement agency and its opinions and articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any government, police, or law enforcement agency. a goal of returning with two suitcases full of ©2006 - All articles are protected by copyright. No part of this DISPATCHES 55 publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any medical supplies – that grew to nine tonnes of means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording supplies and led to him establishing a charity or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission. Ontario bravery awards 55 which has assisted thousands of people. Elvin Internet activity is monitored and use or re-posting of material on the Internet is restricted. ODDITORIALS 56 Klassen has more on McConaghy’s work. In other stories this month, Mark Giles, NEWS CLIPS 58 back from a recent visit to Egypt, discovered This publication is a private venture and receives no that, while Egyptian police could learn from subsidy or grant from any level of government. — Affiliations — DEEP BLUE 59 us, we could also learn a few things from them. International Association of Law Enforcement Planners Dark humour makes it lighter Mike Belliveau cautions investigators not to Canadian Advertising Rates & Data allow myths and fallacies to colour their International Police Association TECHNOLOGY 60 perceptions when investigating male sexual The Police Leadership Forum Periodical Publishers Exchange Colour laser printers storm the market assault cases; Les Browne reports on a new The Canadian Press Newswire Smart Gun which recently received the blessing Harvey Research COMING EVENTS 61 of the Oakland County Sheriff Department. Printed in Canada by Tri-Tech Printing Finally – don’t forget to register online to ISSN #0847 8538 BACK OF THE BOOK 62 attend the Blue Line Trade Show (April 25 & Canada Post - Publications Mail The Mounties of Mississippi 26); free registration ends April 18 at noon. P. S. A. No. 40051073 Blue Line Magazine 3 APRIL 2006 Blue Line Magazine 4 APRIL 2006 Deterrence and discretion can be fickle masters struck and killed. In many other cases the red light violation was dismissed for lack of evi- by Morley Lymburner dence; a careless driving charge was not even considered. A fail to signal lane change offence In addition to evidence, police officers had been laid in one case but the judge found should consider community impact and deter- the evidence did not match the violation. rence value when deciding whether to lay I asked the prosecutor whether this charges. It requires the wisdom of Solomon to minimalist philosophy was still current policy determine what to do in many circumstances. and he said it was for traffic deaths unless evi- An example I often use is a nuisance speed- dence clearly showed a much greater negligence ing complaint zone I once handled. The road factor. I argued that laying such minor charges was long and straight, with open fields on one in cases where someone was killed didn’t re- side and small secondary industry and ware- flect a deterrence but he remained unconvinced. houses on the other. Wide boulevards and a Armed with the backing of a few citizens sidewalk separated cars from non-existent pe- who had lost loved ones, I drafted a report to destrians. If not for political sensitivities the my chief, pointing out the inadequacy of this speed limit would have been 80 KPH but it was policy and how driver and public deterrence posted as 50 because some residents were con- was not being considered in determining cerned about speeding by high school students. charges. The chief quickly agreed with my as- Some action had to be taken so I set up my sessment and a new policy was put in place. radar and almost immediately clocked some- to review old dope sheet files in the traffic Discretion can be a fickle master. I am sure one doing 85 km/h. I could only see a distant branch and discovered just about all were High- there are many who would not take the actions car in my mirror, about a kilometre away, so I way Traffic Act violations. I asked about this I did but when used improperly, discretion can cleared the set. Much to my amazement, it im- and was told a prosecutor had once suggested reap a harvest of grief. If not used with good mediately registered 115 km/h. I cleared it one that only charges reflecting the violation which judgement or appropriate consideration, much more time and this time it showed 122 km/h. occurred, not the outcome, should be laid. of it can be legislated away. My philosophy is At this point I could clearly see the violator In one case a man in his mid-twenties was that if you have to struggle over it, then stick was a late model car, filled with youths, com- fined $50 and lost his licence for 30 days after to the laws and protocols in place. You should ing toward me. pleading guilty to the sole offence of disobey- never have to justify a charge laid as much as I stepped out of my unmarked car and sig- ing a red light, even though a pedestrian was one not laid. nalled the vehicle to stop while it was still a safe distance away. I was relieved to see it im- mediately nose dive and fish-tail to a screech- ing halt in the middle of the road. Concerned about what may be running through the driv- ers head, I was again relieved to see the car creep up behind my car and stop. Twelve golf-ball sized, unblinking eyes belonging to six scared teenagers stared at me as I approached.