BORDER AGENTS HALT JOINT POLICE OPERATIONS

Want to be Armed

OTTAWA - In a shock move, Canada's Border Service Agency has
permanently halted all joint operations with police forces across the
country.

CBSA upper managers, in a long-running dispute with the 4,800-member
Customs and Immigration Union over whether customs officers should be
armed during joint operations, made the announcement in a written
statement late on Christmas Eve.

The customs officers' union has constantly maintained that its work
with police forces is helping keep drugs, guns and explosives off
Canadian streets.

But the officers, trained in specialized searches, say they need to be
armed when taking part in operations with police because the work can
be dangerous and typically they are not told what type of situation
they are walking into.

Commonly using sniffer dogs, the guards are often brought in to
high-risk raids operations to search for drugs imported by organized
crime.

CBA bosses in Ottawa were apparently opposed to their officers
carrying weapons on joint operations because of legal considerations
and insisted that the requesting police forces should be responsible
for protection.

"Our people want to participate," said union president Ron
Moran.

"They are like trained soldiers who want to be among the action. But
they also want to be as safe as possible."

There is no rationale for sending firearm-trained guards into
dangerous situations without their weapons, he added. "These people
are well-trained and firearms are an integral part of that training."