Pubdate: Thu, 14 Sep 2000
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2000, Canoe Limited Partnership.
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Author: Doug Beazley

LAWYERS WARY OF PROPOSAL

Suggestion Cops Be Allowed To Break Laws Met With Reservations

A federal proposal to give cops leeway to break the law - and even
commit violent acts - to bolster investigations is getting nervous
looks from the legal community.

A Justice Canada white paper being shopped around provincial
governments and police forces suggests cops be empowered to commit
crimes ranging from drug trafficking to violent assaults, if they
believe they need to in order to pursue an investigation.

"The question we want to ask here is, why?" said lawyer Stephen
Jenuth, head of the Alberta Civil Liberties Association. "There are
provisions in the law now to allow officers to do things like sell
drugs. Why is the government pursuing such sweeping powers all of a
sudden?"

The white paper deals mostly with undercover police operations and
drug stings. The paper says "intentional use of force" outside of the
law wouldn't be permitted except in special circumstances - such as a
situation where an undercover cop uses violence to prevent another
undercover cop from being exposed or to protect evidence.

"Say a cop wants to infiltrate a biker group and they ask him to, for
instance, go beat up Stephen Jenuth," said Jenuth. "He could make a
mistake and end up killing me, I guess."

Actually, the white paper says the liability shield would not cover
the commission of sexual offences or assaults leading to "grievous
bodily harm" or death.

And a senior lawyer with Justice Canada said the shield probably
wouldn't cover undercover cops committing assaults simply to prove
they're not cops.

"The officer would be expected to find another way," said Michael
Zigayer.

The special liability protection proposed by the paper would kick in
when the officer got clearance from a "senior law enforcement
official" designated by the Crown.

But in cases where communication with that senior officer isn't
possible, the cop could make a field decision to go ahead and do the
crime.

"It's a slippery slope, and one never knows what's at the bottom of
it," said local criminal lawyer Robbie Davidson.

"I can't see how this is justified."

Const. Grant Obst can. The head of the Canadian Police Association
said police need to be able to bend the rules occasionally in order to
fight organized crime.

"There are situations where we're better equipped to infiltrate
criminal organizations if we're able to ... compromise the law in
certain situations," he said.

And Zigayer said the white paper policy wouldn't protect a cop if a
subsequent criminal trial found he went too far.

"The officer would face prosecution for the crime, and the evidence he
gathered would be thrown out," he said.

An Alberta Justice spokesman, meanwhile, said the department has
"reservations" about the use-of-force provision. He wouldn't elaborate.

The lawyers, justice ministers and police will get their chance to
critique the paper Oct. 5 when the feds hold a special round table on
their proposals. 
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