RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told a parliamentary committee February 6 that officers were deployed as a disruption at three Chinese “police stations” in Toronto and one in Vancouver. “We did a disruption by going in uniform, with marked police cars, to speak with the people involved,” she said. Meanwhile, the RCMP is continuing its investigation into what has been condemned as a global initiative by China against expatriates. [node:read-more:link]
The federal government is facing resistance to a request that the RCMP stop using sponge rounds and CS gas for crown control. Brian Sauvé, a former RCMP officer and now President of the National Police Federation, says “removing less lethal options from our members’ available options raises real concerns for public and police officer safety.” [node:read-more:link]
Two RCMP officers in Prince George, B.C., are charged with manslaughter in the 2017 death of an indigenous man in their custody, prosecutors announced February 1. Three others are charged with attempting to obstruct justice. Four of the officers remain on active duty while the other is on administrative leave for unrelated reasons. [node:read-more:link]
On the same day it decriminalized small amounts of drugs in a bid to prevent deaths among users, B.C. reported 2,272 deaths attributed to illicit drugs in 2022. It said January 31 that Fatalities in November and December alone totalled 182 and 210, respectively, and the daily average for the year was 6.4, roughly the same as the previous year, with victims aged 30-59 accounting for 70 per cent of the toll. [node:read-more:link]
Fiji’s new government, elected in December, today suspended its police commissioner and its elections supervisor as it beefs up ties with Australia and New Zealand and prepares to terminate a contentious policing agreement with China. “Our system of democracy and justice systems are different so we will go back to those that have similar systems with us,” explained Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. [node:read-more:link]
A failed Republican candidate said to be angry over his defeat in the last New Mexican state election, claiming it was “rigged”, was arrested January 16 in connection with a series of drive-by shootings targeting the homes of Democrat legislators and county officials. [node:read-more:link]
A University of Toronto student and his mother are suing three Toronto police officers and the Toronto Police Services Board for nearly $3 million in damages, alleging that the student was unlawfully and violently detained in August 2021. Police disciplinary documents refer to the incident, which involved repeated shocks with a Taser, as a case of “mistaken identity.” [node:read-more:link]
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed today that he wants to extend police powers to clamp down on “disruptive” public protests pre-emptively. “We cannot have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the ordinary public," he said January 15. “We're going to bring it to an end.” [node:read-more:link]
Two police operations in eastern Ontario across the St. Lawrence River from New York state have resulted in the arrests of six persons on firearms charges. In one case, the investigation leading to four arrests involved provincial, local and indigenous police services as well as the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. [node:read-more:link]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today that the federal government is considering bail reforms after provincial and territorial leaders called for “immediate action” to overhaul the system. In a letter dated January 13, they said the system too readily releases potential repeat offenders. “Our heroic first responders cannot wait,” they said, calling for Criminal Code amendments which would “keep anyone who poses a threat to public safety off the streets.” [node:read-more:link]
Police services across Canada last year seized an increasing number of 3D-printed “ghost guns”, so named because the lack of serial numbers make them untraceable. While the receivers which integrate components that enable guns to fire are illegal, the other elements can be bought without a Firearms Acquisition Certificate. “It’s cheap, it's accessible and its purpose is to evade the law,” says Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, adding that a parliamentary committee reviewing Bill C-21 draft amendments to the Firearms Act “is examining a way in which we can make it illegal.” [node:read-more:link]
Several major Canadian police associations want to identify the root causes of an “unacceptable wave of violence” after five officers were killed on duty in four months. “We are saying today what we are sure most Canadians are feeling: enough is enough,” the Canadian Police Association, the Police Association of Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police Association and the Toronto Police Association said January 6. Representing some 60,000 personnel, they said “everything will be on the table”, including judicial frameworks and a “growing and chronic” shortage of officers. [node:read-more:link]
The December 27 shooting death of an Ontario Provincial Police constable literally hours after he had completed probation and could patrol independently, has left many in the ranks devastated. Grzegorz Pierzchala was the fourth officer to be killed while on duty in Ontario this fall and the fifth in Canada since mid-September. “I've been in policing for 18 years, but certainly during my time I've never seen anything like this,” says Mark Baxter, President of the Police Association of Ontario. “It really has shaken our profession to the core.” [node:read-more:link]
The Canada Border Services Agency reported today that its officers have seized nearly 2.5 tonnes of opium in Vancouver with the help of the RCMP. The opium was found in 247 shipping pallets. [node:read-more:link]
Coordinated investigations by 27 Ontario police services have resulted in 428 child exploitation and pornography charges being laid against 109 persons. The Ontario Provincial Police said November 30 that the charges laid in October through Project Maverick, which is ongoing, are a “snapshot” of efforts to protect children from Internet-based sexual abuse and exploitation. “Because the Internet can cross jurisdictional boundaries, this project highlights the collaborative working happening with police services all over,” the OPP said. [node:read-more:link]
