Do Police Need a Makeover?

On Thursday it was announced that the Conservative government of Canada is trying to pass two new crime bills.

One will allow police to monitor our Internet activity – without requiring a warrant – and another to force ISPs to install “intercept-capable” equipment, enabling police to track “suspicious” activity and seize subscriber’s personal information – name, phone, address… Billing info?  Maybe, who knows? All of this while passing the cost on to us – of course.

In announcing the bill, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan defended the move by saying our laws governing telecommunications were designed in the “era of the rotary dial telephone” and that “Twenty-first century technology calls for 21st-century tools.” Police need these updated technologies to help them “catch up to the bad guys.”

Michael Geist points out this is a renege on a pledge by then Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day in 2007, when he announced the government had reversed its decision to force ISPs to hand over customers’ personal information to police without a warrant.

Also today, it was reported that a parliamentary committee recommended police should be given the power to conduct random roadside blood alcohol tests. A spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving praised the recommendation saying it was a good thing, because it would make people think twice before drinking and driving. Others raise concerns that a police officer, who felt a citizen wasn’t showing enough respect, might then demand they submit to a roadside breathe sample.

And really that’s what it all boils down to, respect. With cases in the news such as the horrible tazing death of Robert Dziekański and off-duty police officers beating and robbing a Vancouver newspaper delivery man, Phil (Firoz) Khan, the public loses its respect for the authorities.

And without respect, you don’t get to have cooperation, which is really the basis for law abiding behaviour. But where are the examples of respect and cooperation? Certainly not in parliament with the “big swinging dick contest,” going on daily.

It’s been said the RCMP need a good public relations campaign; this may be true for police agencies across Canada. But really, where’s the sense in putting lipstick on the pig? (No pun intended). Respect and cooperation have to be demonstrated at the top, before they will be adopted by the rank and file.