N.B. POLICE INSIST THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH RIDING TAXIS TO DRUG BUSTS

Cabbie Says Cops Bullied Him

SAINT JOHN, N.B. (CP) - The Saint John police force sees nothing wrong with
involving cab drivers in drug busts.

An internal investigation by the force concluded it did not put a former
taxi driver in danger when it had him drive officers to a well-known drug
house last July.

The investigation also concluded it was not out of line for police to use a
private citizen and a taxi to help in the raid.

"While it's not a standard policy, it's a practice that has been done in
the past," deputy chief Bert Martin said. "To my knowledge, there was no
wrongdoing on the part of the officers."

Former cabbie Dana Crisp launched a formal complaint with police in April,
stating his life was put in jeopardy by the raid.

In a three-page complaint, Crisp detailed how he was dispatched to the rear
door of Saint John City Hall on July 18, 2000, where three officers were
waiting for him. The officers directed the driver to a Rockwood Park-area
residence.

Crisp contends officers bullied him into driving them to the front door of
the house, where he said he was recognized. Two months after the raid,
Crisp said someone climbed into his cab and told him people in the criminal
community were planning to have him shot.

He also contends he was chased from his cab by someone with a lead pipe,
and that his apartment was ransacked and his possessions thrown on to the
street.

Crisp has since quit driving a cab and left Saint John.