CHANGE PAROLE SYSTEM, SAYS TOP COP

A 14-year prison sentence given to convicted cop shooter Daniell
Anderson underscores the need for sweeping changes to Canada's parole
system, the heads of Winnipeg's police service and police union say.

Reacting to yesterday's sentence, police Chief Keith McCaskill and
Winnipeg Police Association president Mike Sutherland aren't pleased
Anderson is eligible to be freed by the National Parole Board years
before the sentence expires because such a move wouldn't make the term
meaningful.

"If the 14 years meant 14 years, we'd be satisfied," Sutherland said
at a press conference.

Both said they take issue with the fact the amount of time Anderson
actually spends in a federal prison will be determined by the NPB and
not a judge.

Anderson is eligible for parole after serving one-third of his
sentence.

"I would like to see much broader abilities for judges ... to say,
'No, we won't have parole until this much time has actually been spent
in custody, you've paid an appropriate debt to society and a strong
deterrent has been sent," Sutherland said.

Such a change should apply to all violent crimes against citizens and
police officers, Sutherland said.

He and McCaskill said they don't take issue with Justice Doug Abra's
sentence because Abra had to follow a precedent.

Straying from that precedent -- even if the facts aren't similar --
would put Anderson's conviction at risk of appeal, Sutherland said.

However, McCaskill said he would have liked "a higher sentence"
imposed.

The pair also spoke out against the practice of statutory release,
which is automatic after an offender completes two-thirds of a sentence.

"(Statutory release) should be earned, it shouldn't be automatic,"
McCaskill said.

McCaskill and Sutherland said both organizations will continue to push
lawmakers for parole reform to make offenders serve more of their
sentences behind bars.

Const. Donald Murray, one of two officers shot by Anderson during a
drug raid at the Anderson home in December 2006, was scheduled to
speak alongside McCaskill and Sutherland but decided not to attend.