POLICE GET TICKET ON STRIP SEARCHES

Two young metro women whose complaint about a Halifax Regional Police strip
search during a rave drug raid was thrown out by the Nova Scotia Police
Commission may have found support at a much higher level -- the Supreme
Court of Canada.

The dance club staffers, who were never charged, were searched under a
general warrant, apparently based on poor information, and, despite much
public indignation about the way they were treated, the commission found it
justified. It seems the police should be having second thoughts.

In the Supreme Court ruling, a much clearer justification for a police
strip search in a restaurant was struck down because of a lack of clear
rules on an "intrusive search" (interfering) "with individual freedom and
dignity." And this involved a handcuffed Toronto cocaine dealer who had
been observed trafficking and did indeed have drugs found in a strip
search. The court's 5-4 decision, which struck down a conviction, said
strip searches should be done at a police station.

In that case, however welcome to civil liberty advocates, the objection was
not to strip searches, but to the unreasonable application of police
powers. This should open a door for a court appeal by the Halifax pair, if
they wish to pursue it. In any case, the Supreme Court has given fair
warning to police departments to set up procedures that are both reasonable
and don't lead to real suspects going free when guilt appears so evident.