COPS HANDCUFFED BY SUPREME COURT

Top Court Collars Use Of Drug-Sniffing Dogs In Random Police Searches

Random police-dog searches that lead to drug charges won't pass the
legal sniff test, the country's top court has declared in a split
judgment that reaffirms privacy rights.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruling means that police canine teams
can't sweep high schools or public places for drugs without a prior,
justifiable suspicion of a crime.

"This is a good day for civil liberties," said Frank Addario,
president of the Criminal Lawyers' Association, of yesterday ruling.

"The judgment is a reasonable compromise between law enforcement
aspirations to search indiscriminately, and the right to privacy. Now
they need reasonable suspicion -- not a trumped-up profile or a
pretext search based on speculation."

In a ruling on two separate cases, the high court said that randomly
using drug-sniffing dogs amounts to unreasonable search and a breach
of privacy rights.

The judgment does not affect airports, where a specific set of federal
laws apply.

The majority ruling stresses that "reasonable suspicion" of a probable
drug crime must exist prior to such dog-sniff searches in schools,
malls, sports stadiums and other public spaces.

In two 6-3 decisions, the high court set aside the conviction of a man
charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking --
he was also found with heroin -- and upheld the acquittal of a student
who was 17 when charged with possession of pot for trafficking purposes.

Yesterday's rulings conclude that both a spot high-school search in
Sarnia, Ont., and one at a Calgary bus terminal were "unreasonably
undertaken because there was no proper justification."

RCMP Sergeant Sylvie Tremblay says the force will review its use of
140 canine teams across Canada to ensure it complies with the judgment.