RCMP SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB

A decision made last week in the Supreme Court of Canada, seems to further
restrict what the police can actually do.

As Canadians we expect to be relatively safe in and around our communities.

We live in a great country, with a great police force in the RCMP and we
expect them to be everywhere at once and completely halt crime on our
streets.

Although these are lofty expectations that are unattainable, they are
nonetheless what we expect of our police force.

However, they do a great job of being there for us with the limited
resources that they have to work with.

For some reason though, the courts, don't seem to want to give our police
force much jurisdiction when it comes to enforcing the law.

A decision made last week in the Supreme Court of Canada, seems to further
restrict what the police can actually do.

In a Supreme Court decision Friday, Justice Frank Iacobucci, writing for the
5-2 majority, said "Individual liberty interests are fundamental to the
Canadian constitutional order. Consequently any intrusion upon them must not
be taken lightly.

In this court case, police were en route to a break-and-enter scene in a
rough neighbourhood, when police stopped a young man because he matched the
suspect's description "to the tee".

Upon searching the man, they found that he had an ounce of marijuana in his
shirt pocket.

The young Winnipeg man, Philip Henry Mann, was acquitted, overturning a
Manitoba Court of Appeal decision.

The basis of the defence was that the search was unreasonable.

To a certain extent, the judge is right, we do have the right to privacy,
however in this decision, like many before, it chops away at the ability of
the RCMP to do their job.

They must be given some leeway to do their job. In this case, the officers
involved thought that this was the man they were looking for, which would be
to be reasonable grounds?

No one in Canada, I don't think, expects to be jumped from behind and
searched by RCMP officers while they are out for a walk, unless they
reasonably suspect that the person they are apprehending is guilty of a
wrong doing.

The RCMP should be given the ability to do whatever it takes to do their
job. These are highly-trained professionals and they should be trusted to a
greater extent than what they are now.

In court, they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person that
they have arrested is guilty as charged. Investigations can last for years
before the accused person is taken to court. They must be sure that what
they are doing is correct and that the person they have arrested is in fact,
guilty as charged, otherwise the time spent on the investigation was a
complete waste of time and effort.

They know what they are doing and they don't do it half-heartedly. Their
safety, job, reputation is on the line every time they go on duty. They
don't take anything lightly and work hard to do their job as public
servants.

The RCMP must be given the authority to do more to keep our streets safe,
not less.

K.M.