CORNWALL COPS TO ERECT SIGNS OUTSIDE DRUG RAID HOMES

(CNS) Police in Cornwall, Ont., announced yesterday that officers
will begin putting signs outside of homes where drug search warrants
have been executed, a practice that occurs in some U.S. cities.

The large signs, reading "Drug Search Warrant," will be erected in
front of homes involved in drug searches regardless of whether
charges were laid or a conviction occurs.

Cornwall community police defended the practice, saying that it is a
way to keep residents informed about drug raids in their neighbourhoods.

But Graeme Norton of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said
there were "serious problems" with this new policy.

"This raises the potential that an individual may be made to appear
as a drug dealer in their community when they may not have done
anything wrong," he said. "To take this type of action when a person
may not have been charged or convicted ... Someone can have their
reputation seriously damaged in a serious fashion."

Norton said such a case can include police executing a search warrant
on a basement apartment where a tenant lived and then putting up a
sign outside the house which is owned by another party who was not
involved in the search.

He said such labels should be left to the Canadian criminal system.

"That type of action should not be taken outside of court," Norton
said. "People can't defend themselves against the allegations. I can
definitely imagine how this type of action can be magnified in a
small community."