POCKET SEARCHES COME UP EMPTY IN COURT

Cops who like fishing should hit the lake - not the public's pockets,
the Supreme Court of Canada ruled yesterday. Police can pat-down
someone to make sure they aren't armed, but officers can't go on
"fishing expeditions" in people's pockets for evidence, said the court
- - the first such Charter of Rights ruling on an everyday police practice.

The decision upholds a ruling by a Winnipeg judge who acquitted a man
of trafficking.

Police stopped the man to question him about a nearby break-in, and
did a pat-down search for anything dangerous, felt something soft, and
retrieved an ounce of pot in the pouch of his sweatshirt.

"Individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their
pockets," Justice Frank Iacobucci wrote in a majority decision that
divided the high court 5-2.

Calgary Police Association president Al Koenig said "if officers take
this ruling too literally they may be putting themselves at risk."

"We're finding weapons now that don't fit the description of
traditional weapons. With just a pat-down search, you can't ascertain
what it is -- whether it's a weapon or what."