Pubdate: Tue, 31 Jan 2012
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Douglas Quan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?216 (CN Police)

RCMP BACKS OFF ARIZONA TRAINING

Scathing Rights Report in U.S. Prompts Move

The RCMP has scrapped plans to send hundreds of officers to Arizona 
for training in recognizing and testing drug-impaired drivers after 
learning that the sheriff's office they had partnered with has been 
accused of engaging in "unconstitutional policing."

A scathing U.S. Department of Justice report recently concluded that 
the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Phoenix engages in racial 
profiling of Latinos, unlawfully stops and arrests Latinos and 
unlawfully retaliates against individuals who criticize the force.

An RCMP official stressed Monday that at no time were Maricopa County 
sheriff's officers going to be involved in teaching the Canadians and 
that the only role of the sheriff's office's was to provide access to 
people in custody at a remand centre who could be evaluated for 
drug-impairment.

Still, the seriousness of the allegations against the sheriff's 
office prompted the RCMP to cancel its training sessions in Arizona, 
said Insp. Allan Lucier.

"It was almost immediate after having read the report that this would 
not be a facility that we would associate ourselves with," he said. 
"That just didn't meet our test."

Officer Christopher Hegstrom, a spokesman for the sheriff's office - 
whose commander, Joe Arpaio, likes to call himself "America's 
toughest sheriff" and has received a lot of attention for his tough 
approach to illegal immigration - said Monday in a statement that the 
accusations against the force are unproven and overstated by a 
"sensationalistic press, and so far represent mere words uttered by 
administration officials in Washington, D.C., who refuse to provide 
any proof that the allegations may have any basis in fact.".

David Eby, executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties 
Association, which notified the RC-MP about the allegations against 
the sheriff's office last Wednesday, said the RCMP made the right 
call to abandon its training in Arizona. He urged the Mounties to 
find a "made-in-Canada" solution and said Canadian police agencies 
should think twice about sending officers south of the border for any 
type of training.

"The U.S. has a different policing context. . There's a different 
legal environment, different constitutional norms," he said.

In a Dec. 15 letter to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. 
Department of Justice's civil rights division said its investigation 
of the force uncovered a "chronic culture of disregard for basic 
legal and constitutional obligations."

Among the department's allegations:

- - Latino drivers are four to nine times more likely to be pulled over 
than non-Latino drivers in that county;

- - detention officers punish Lat-ino inmates who don't follow commands 
given in English and make them sign forms in English without 
translation assistance;

- - and the sheriff's office retaliates against individuals who 
criticize the force, including arresting them without cause.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom