Friday, February 25, 2005

Police Powers

From Reason's Daily Brickbat:

Cop vs. Cop (2/25) David Laing was quite upset when a Texas police officer pulled him over, asked for his identification and asked to search his car. Laing, a Canadian police officer, knew Canadian law didn't allow that type of search. What's that got to do with anything? He was stopped in Canada. The Texas officer was there to show Canadian officers how they catch drug dealers in the Lone Star state. After Laing asserted his rights and left, another Texas officer, this time accompanied by a Canadian police officer, pulled him over again. They told Laing he was under the influence of marijuana and demanded to search his car. This time, Laing agreed, but they also searched his two-year-old son, who was with him. They found no drugs, and despite asserting minutes earlier that Laing was under the influence, they let him go. Laing sued the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who settled out of court with him, but the RCMP defends its actions. The RCMP also says Laing was evasive when asked what his job was. Laing says he simply didn't want any special treatment because he is a cop.

1 Comments:

At 10:43 PM, Blogger The Offensive Coordinator said...

A big story in Canada right now is the country's involvement in the missile defence shield with the US. To me, it worries me a lot more that we're inviting cops from Texas to Canada (and BC of all places!) to teach the RCMP how to trample civil liberties, than it would worry me for Canada to get involved with the US plan for missile defence - THAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO WITH US OR WITHOUT US, ANYWAY

 

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