RNC'S USE OF INFORMANTS 'OUT OF CONTROL,' LAWYER SAYS

Police Paying Cash To Drug Users, She Claims

A capital city lawyer says the use of confidential informants by
police is "absolutely out of control and unchecked," in St. John's.

Defence lawyer Averill Baker made the comment to The Telegram this
week while speaking about the case of her client Matthew Arsenault,
who's facing weapons-related charges.

After stepping off a DRL bus near Paradise on June 28, the
26-year-old Arsenault, another man and a woman, were arrested at
gunpoint by a team of officers.

Baker said the police were acting on a tip from an informant that a
man named Matt, last name unknown, had cocaine.

While police didn't find any drugs, they did find a weapon. Baker
said it has yet to be proven who owned the bag the weapon was in. She
says both the search and arrest were illegal and violated Arsenault's
charter rights, and she wants the charges thrown out.

Baker said a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision threw out
evidence - including 35 kg of seized cocaine - because the rights of
the accused were breached. She said in Arsenault's case, the police
had no search warrant and the information they were acting on was
wrong.

"This is an example of the problem of the police use of informants,"
she said.

'Massive sums of cash'

Baker alleges the police pay "massive sums of cash" to informants -
most of whom are drug users - every year, and the information
collected is not always correct.

She said no one knows how much money informants get and the police
don't have to report that information to anyone.

"The police are meeting with people, with drug users all over the
city, on a daily basis, paying them cash and we're not allowed to
know how much," she said.

Common practice

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Deputy Chief Robert Johnston can't
talk about specific cases, especially those before the court.

But he said the way the RNC uses informants is no different than most
other police services in the country.

He also cites the Supreme Court.

"The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled on a number of occasions that
the use of informants is an accepted practice in Canada by police
agencies," he said.

"If and when there's a concern about a specific case ... they're
really questions that need to be posed in a courtroom setting."

Johnston said the use of informants is an effective policing tool,
especially when it comes to investigating organized crime.

Vital in some cases

Without informants, he said, there would be cases the police couldn't
crack.

He says officers evaluate tips on an individual basis, and whether or
not they act on the information depends on several factors, including
whether past tips by the same informant were reliable.

Johnston didn't say how much the RNC spends on informants each year.

Arsenault, meanwhile, was released on bail and has returned to
Vancouver, Baker said.

The case is back in provincial court Aug. 10.