Pubdate: Thu, 17 May 2012
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Douglas Quan

MPS MULL CROSS-BORDER WATERWAY POLICING

'Shiprider' Program Has Been Tested in Juan DE Fuca Strait, Elsewhere

Shared waterways along the Canada-u.s. border in the Juan de Fuca 
Strait and elsewhere soon could be patrolled by vessels staffed with 
armed Canadian and American officers who have the authority to freely 
cross into each other's territories in pursuit of suspected criminals 
or terrorists.

Legislative changes awaiting approval by Parliament would allow 
specially trained and designated officers to participate in 
"integrated cross-border operations."

Advocates say the initiative will give authorities a big boost in 
their efforts to go after drug and weapon smugglers and human 
traffickers, who know they can elude capture by making a "run for the border."

Some observers, however, are concerned about issues related to 
sovereignty and due process, especially when authorities are looking 
eventually to create a land-based version of the program.

"I'm not a pure nationalist who says we have to maintain our borders. 
But when working with different legal regimes, you have to be 
careful," said Emily Gilbert, director of the Canadian Studies 
Program at the University of Toronto.

The RCMP, U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies have conducted several 
pilot tests of the program, dubbed Shiprider, since 2005 along the 
Juan de Fuca Strait, the Windsor, Ont.Detroit border, on the St. 
Lawrence Seaway near Cornwall, Ont., and on Lake Ontario.

Police have credited Shiprider with multiple arrests and seizures of 
marijuana, cocaine and contraband cigarettes.

"In the past we weren't able to pursue criminals across the border, 
and they knew it," Mike Cabana, the RCMP deputy commissioner in 
charge of federal policing, told a Senate committee examining the 
proposal this week. "All they had to do was reach that international 
line to escape apprehension and prosecution."

It's not always so easy for police to call their counterparts on the 
other side of the border to pick up the chase because radio systems 
are not always in sync, said Chief Supt. Joe Oliver, director-general 
of the RCMP'S border integrity program, in an interview.

The Integrated CrossBorder Law Enforcement Operations Act now before 
Parliament entrenches a framework agreed upon by the Canadian and 
U.S. governments back in 2009.

According to the act, all operations that take place within Canadian 
borders will be performed under the direction of Canadian officers. 
U.S. officers will have to follow Canadian rules and procedures.

Canadian officers similarly will have to respect American rules and 
procedures on the U.S. side of the border.

Participating officers are required to complete an eight-day training 
course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Charleston, 
South Carolina, during which they are taught rules and procedures and 
use-of-force guidelines of each country.

So far, 140 Canadians and American officers have completed the training course.

If the legislation passes, two Shiprider teams could be deployed on a 
regular basis as soon as this summer.

Authorities say they also hope to test a land-based version of the 
Shiprider program this summer that could see cross-designated 
officers patrolling the border in shared road vehicles.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom