SPECIAL STATUS FOR OFFICERS TO ENHANCE BORDER CRIME PATROLS

Under a new law-enforcement project, U.S. Coast Guard officers are
being made Canadian peace officers in a 100-kilometre stretch of the
St. Lawrence seaway and in part of British Columbia. Similar powers
are being given to RCMP officers in U.S. waters.

Project Shiprider gives some members of the USCG special privileges to
act as law enforcement officers here, but they will have to obey
strict guidelines and will be under the authority of the RCMP while in
Canada. A similar project took place in the Detroit-Windsor region in
2005.

The two forces are also partnering with several other agencies,
including provincial police, the Canadian Forces, U.S. state police
forces, and immigration and border patrol agencies to develop the
capability to pursue criminals on the ground and in the air, RCMP Cpl.
Luc Bessette said.

Cpl. Bessette said the goal was to try to thwart "organized crime in
border areas on both sides of the seaway. We want to see how criminals
will react and adapt (to our strategy) in consequence. We want to
become pro-active."

Cpl. Bessette said giving a foreign police force powers in Canada
wasn't unprecedented, as secret service agents are given those
privileges when the U.S. president visits.

"During international gatherings that bring together foreign
dignitaries here, certain countries request permission to bring in
armed guards, and we give them this status of special or peace agent,"
he said. "They act under the authority of the RCMP, and they obtain
the right to be armed in Canada, but in a very rigid context."

Project Shiprider brings together USCG and RCMP in integrated teams
sharing boats over a number of summer months and it may be extended.

In these aquatic zones, criminals thinking they are out of the reach
of a police force giving chase when they cross the border are in for a
surprise.

Those areas covered include a region south of Vancouver and the St.
Lawrence seaway from Valleyfield, Que., near Montreal, to Cardinal,
west of Cornwall.

That area was chosen because of the difficult geography of the area as
the border runs right through the middle of the St. Lawrence River.

"We've always had difficulty to intervene (there) because Canadian
officers would lose their powers when they arrive in the U.S. and vice
versa," Cpl. Bessette said.