|
Current Affairs 2006 - Police (67 items)
| Dec 29, 2006 | Compassion Club Raided, Names Taken Mark Russell, the founder of the Coombs chapter of the Cannabis Buyers Club of Canada, who supplies marijuana to sick people who use it for pain relief, was raided by members of the Courtenay RCMP on Dec. 22 and now faces six counts of trafficking in a controlled substance
[ Anytime is a bad time for a club to be raided, but right before the holidays so that many people can suffer just a little bit more this Christmas, is beyond cruel. How do police sleep at night because 'just doing my job to enforce laws' doesn't cut it over moral and intellectual honesty.] |
| Dec 23, 2006 | Big Pot Case Against Five Falls Apart
All charges have been dropped against five men arrested aboard a fishing boat RCMP said was attempting to import $6.5 million worth of marijuana to B.C.
When police arrested the five and seized the 47-metre MV Baku in Ucluelet May 22, they laid out marijuana on the dock that had been discovered inside the vessel -- 1,630 kilograms of it ( 3,600 pounds )...But now, Crown prosecutors say they have entered stays on all the charges laid against the five men because there is little likelihood of a conviction.
|
| Dec 20, 2006 | Breaking The Law To Expose Pot Grow Ops Some Surrey residents are calling in bogus break-in complaints to get Mounties to raid suspected marijuana growing operations.
The tactic was disclosed by a senior drug investigator during a B.C. Supreme Court sentencing hearing for a husband-and-wife team busted during a 2003 crackdown by Surrey Mounties.
|
| Dec 19, 2006 | 'Pot Pirates' Worry Police Cops are growing increasingly concerned over sometimes not being the only ones armed and wearing police uniforms.
An increase in the number of marijuana crops found this year guarded by 'pot pirates' wielding high-powered firearms and using booby traps has provincial police worried about public safety and their own.
|
| Dec 12, 2006 | 6 Kids Seized In Drug Houses Six children have been taken into custody following two marijuana grow op busts in Calgary, their parents set to become the first in the city charged under provincial legislation aimed at protecting kids living in drug homes...."It comes down to organized crime and making profits. They will sacrifice their families to make a profit," said the Ward 13 alderman. "I hope that if these parents are found guilty, that they never get their kids back."
[ Pure evil - the spin that it is heartless criminals making profits, rather than possibly families trying to supplement meager incomes with a bit of extra income so they won't have to live on the street. Either way, tearing families apart for growing plants (that many people are eager to buy) ensures there are emotionally scared victims for life - and we allow these people to rule our lives? Are we insane?] |
| Dec 6, 2006 | Roots Of Drug Use Not Tackled, Says Expert The legal system is failing to shield the public from the effects of drugs, so the RCMP is tackling the responsibility of prevention more than ever. ...Those studies show that each child needs at least four positive adult role models in their lives in order to diminish the chances of problem drug use later in life. She suggested it was part of a Mountie's mandate to try to be one of those positive role models....
"Right now the barn door is wide open and no one is there to shut it," Rintoul said.
[It is quite terrifying to see the path we have been going down in the decades since the war on (some) substance users began. The dogs, the lockdowns, the lack of respect - How many baby boomers would have gone on to graduate under those conditions? Unfortunately, they try and make sure that was the last rebellious generation to exist - since then they have ramped up attempting to shape obedient puppets. You certainly can not blame today's kids for looking at alternative education options. ] |
| Dec 6, 2006 | RCMP Put Spin On Grow Op Busts Drug squad head Sgt. Tim Shields of the Kelowna RCMP spent a considerable part of a media briefing yesterday trying to convince reporters of a stand the force has taken often in the past: The majority of marijuana grow operations are connected to organized crime and that the dope they grow is smuggled into the U.S. and comes back as cocaine.
During Green Team raids on 23 large grow houses, Shields said police seized 10,500 plants, enough by their calculations to provide every teenaged kid in the Central Okanagan school district with a joint a day for 429 days.
But what about the obvious disparity? If the pot is all going south for cocaine, how is it that the same dope can also supply our kids for over a year?
[ Kudos to this newspaper for not accepting the police PR at face value... if all media did this, peraps the drug war would be over.] |
| Dec 6, 2006 | Rogue Officer Must Quit The Ottawa police officer has been found in violation of the basic standards expected under the Police Services Act. He was found guilty of the breach after a hearing that detailed his theft and use of crack cocaine. The hearing also revealed that Const. Hall lied about the extent of his prior use of marijuana on his application to become a police officer.
|
| Dec 6, 2006 | Huge Pot Sweep RCMP have dedicated six officers full-time to investigating and busting marijuana grow-operations in the Central Okanagan since Oct. 30.
Working with six other drug-section members, the Green Team raided 23 grow-ops and seized 10,500 pot plants, worth an estimated $8.4 million on the street.
[Everyone must feel so much safer now] |
| Dec 5, 2006 | Police Officer Who Stole Crack Loses His Job An Ottawa police officer who admitted to stealing crack cocaine from suspects and smoking it himself has been dismissed from the force.
[ Imagine if they caught every cop who stole or "confiscated" pot from suspects and took it home to smoke? We would have a lot less police.] |
| Dec 5, 2006 | Business Busted Chatham-Kent police has scored its largest ever seizure of drug paraphernalia.
During a raid at a St. Clair Street convenience store last week, officers seized more than 2,000 items including pipes, water bongs, scales and grinders.
[Everyone feel safer now? Has this world gone completely insane?] |
| Nov 30, 2006 | Low Tolerance For High Drivers The Federal Conservatives Want to Amend the Criminal Code to Better Target Stoned Motorists. Is It a Safety Measure, an Electoral Ploy, or a New Way to Bust Potheads?... It would amend the Criminal Code by increasing penalties for drivers found under the influence or who are found to be in possession of an illicit drug. ...The bill has several obstacles to overcome before it becomes law. One is its constitutionality.
|
| Nov 24, 2006 | Drug Dealers Upgrade Weaponry To Protect Marijuana Traps such as nails driven into weighted wooden boards and suspended overhead in trees, and spikes attached to tied-back tree saplings, are being increasingly found during police investigations, Det. Supt. Frank Elbers of the Ontario Provincial Police drug enforcement section said yesterday.
[ And in other prohibition-related news... when will there be honesty in the media?] |
| Nov 22, 2006 | Drug Producer Registry An Idea Worth Pursuing Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ) National Chemical Diversion Coordinator, Corporal Brent Hill, recently provided a piece of that puzzle. Speaking to the Perth County Task Force on Crystal Meth, Corp. Hill said he would like to see a national registry created of those found guilty of manufacturing illegal drugs, similar to that used to keep tabs on sex offenders.
Such a registry would provide rapid access by police to current vital information about convicted drug producers.
A person convicted of a designated drug offence could be required to report to the appropriate registration centre to re-register annually and every time they change their address or legal name....Would the registry differentiate between chemical drug producers and small-scale marijuana growers, and should it? Regardless, this is an idea that shouldn't be allowed to get mired in the legislative system for years. It should be examined fully, post haste.
[Using the extremes of the crystal meth scare as propaganda to snag someone growing a plant in their backyard by making "drug producers" seem the same as someone with an obvious mental defect and unwitting victim, is illogical and hopefully unconstitutional. Also, if registries for real crimes involving victims continues, will there be a drunk driver registry so everyone can know when a convicted drunk driver moves to the neighbourhood? Is this what we want?] |
| Nov 17, 2006 | Chief Constable Dan Maluta In Nelson As for the many questions about marijuana, the local economy, and how Nelson's community feels about this drug, Maluta will not be drawn too far....
The Chief is aware that 'marijuana advocates' talk about 'mom-and-pop operations' as being mostly harmless, or will say 'maybe some handicapped person might earn a little cash by growing-' He notes that when mom and pop grow ops are busted, it is usual to find the owners have an average of nine Criminal Code offences in their past records.
|
| Nov 17, 2006 | Project Aims To Zap Grow-Ops Last May, the province amended legislation to the BC Safety Standards Act. BC Hydro is now required to divulge the "name of account holder, civic address, and relevant consumption records for residential homes that meet or exceed 93 kilowatt-hours per day, which is three times the normal consumption rate," according to the staff report. ...The project is expected to be financially self-supported: Revenue generated through fines will offset the cost of additional personnel.
...As it stands, investigations will only be conducted on single family residences.
[Another "tool" to circumvent individual rights - of renters, and now home owners.] |
| Nov 1, 2006 | Kids Protected From Grow Ops One week after three Calgary children were found living in a home used as a marijuana grow op, a law enabling police to charge unfit parents for exposing their kids to drugs comes into effect.
Under the Drug Endangered Children Act, officers can seize kids found in narcotics situations, as well as charge the family members who put them in harm's way.
[Although the intention of these laws sound good, there is too much room for abuse of the system by authority in deciding "what is best for the children"] |
| Oct 31, 2006 | RCMP Allowed Agent's Crimes A police agent who infiltrated the Hells Angels in Vancouver may have broken the law at times but he was always acting at the direction and under the control of the RCMP, a top Mountie who oversaw the investigation testified Monday.
"He is operating under the guidance, authority and approval of his handlers," recalled RCMP Chief Supt. Bob Paulson...
|
| Oct 12, 2006 | Victoria Cop Obstructed Justice Victoria police officer Ravinder ( Rob ) Singh Dosanjh has been found guilty of obstruction of justice in a case linked to the December 2003 police raids on the B.C. legislature.
|
| Oct 6, 2006 | CN NS: Authorities Join Forces To Seize 6,000 Marijuana Plants A recent RCMP-led campaign against marijuana-growing operations pulled up 6,000 plants in Nova Scotia, a news release said Monday.
|
|
