INVASION OF PRIVACY?

Drug Search Warrant Signs Denounced By Critics

The provincial privacy commission has launched an investigation into a
new Cornwall policing initiative that allows officers to erect signs
at homes searched for drugs.

The first sign went up Wednesday under a program that may be the first
of its kind in Canada. It looks like a real estate lawn sign and has a
blank portion for an officer to write the address and unit number of
the searched residence, but not the suspect's name. In large letters
it states: "Drug Search Warrant."

"On the face of it, it strikes me that it is an extraordinary step,"
said Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian.

One of the primary concerns raised by the commissioner's office and
civil liberty advocates is that the owner or occupant of the property
may or may not be the suspect.

"The property owner could be made to look like a drug dealer when
they've done nothing wrong," said Graham Norton, a spokesperson for
the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

The provincial privacy commission has begun its fact-gathering
process, which involves researching the origins of the sign concept.
Similar signs have been used in some U. S. cities, as well as the U.
K, where police have placed signs on neighbourhood lamp posts as part
of crack house closure programs. Those signs indicate police are
actively targeting drug dealers in the neighbourhood and even give
phone numbers for drug addicts to seek treatment.

A commission spokesperson confirmed that it has also scheduled a
meeting with Cornwall police to find out why its chief has decided to
take the new approach to illegal drug activity.

Cornwall Community Police Service Chief Dan Parkinson is the man
behind what he's calling an "innovative and smart policing" tactic to
address the scourge of drugs in the city.

He's comparing his new search warrant signs to the yellow tape found
at crime scenes.

"If there's a major crime scene, what's the first thing you see?"
asked Parkinson. "Police tape. It identifies police action."

The perception of police inaction was one of the major contributors to
the development of the search warrant sign program, Parkinson said. He
found that extensive community consultations revealed many of the
people living near drug houses often didn't know police had executed
drug search warrants.

When he learned of the sign concept while doing research online, he
liked it right away.

"We're not finding guilt or innocence, we're saying is this is what
we're doing," Parkinson said of the signs, which he noted were also
designed to augment a limited police staff and presence.

"We need to be innovative and effective, while being cost effective,"
he added.

The police purchased 30 of the signs, about the same number of drug
search warrants Cornwall police execute each year. The signs will only
be erected for drug search warrants, not firearms or stolen property.

The first and only sign erected so far under the program lasted less
than an hour before someone tore it down. But Parkinson's not rattled.
He said that even if the signs last only a few hours, it's long enough
to get the message across.

Cornwall police did not seek legal advice on the new sign program, but
Parkinson said he's ready to defend the signs against any challenges,
including civil lawsuits.

The police strategy is backed by the Cornwall Community Police
Services Board, the city and the mayor, said Denis Thibault, a city
councillor and chair of the police board.

The city doesn't think it's concerning to place the signs outside a
home even if no one has been convicted, as it's no different than
information regularly provided by police to the public, Thibault said.

The fact that a drug search warrant was executed at a specific address
is information that would appear in this newspaper's police briefs,
Thibault said.

Cornwall is just across the border from New York State, where law
enforcement officials have pointed to Cornwall and the Akwesasne-St.
Regis Mohawk Reserve, as a source of some of their drug-related problems.

Concerns about drugs from citizens is what prompted the police force
to look to new crime-fighting and prevention strategies, Parkinson
said.

The signs are also the first step in a new relationship with city
landlords.

The police will begin to contact landlords of raided residences and
appeal to their "moral conscience", the chief said.

Johnny Peart owns a multi-unit residence at First Street West and
Bedford Street. He's confident he has a handle on who lives in his
main building at the moment. Everybody has a job, he said, except for
one woman on disability. There is also one vacant unit.

"If you get enough of these signs in a neighbourhood, maybe people
will think twice about illegal activity," Peart said. "It might be
hard to rent, but you may get to rent it to someone who's not involved
in illegal activity. It might be a blessing in disguise."