freespirit
14th July 2012, 07:04 AM
A cross-border agreement with the United States will see American police authorized to arrest people in Canada.
http://news.sympatico.ca/oped/coffee-talk/us_police_could_make_arrests_on_canadian_side_of_b order/e8340e72
Cross-border crime between Canada and the U.S. will soon be the target of a new team of law enforcement officers.
Criminals who use the waterways between the two countries have in the past been able to scoot across the border to avoid police. Under the new Integrated Cross Border Law Enforcement Operations Act, mixed teams of American and Canadian officers (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/07/10/cross-border-policing-integration-sovereignty.html)will be able to cross the border by boat to pursue criminals on the run.
Canadian officers who enter the United States will be under the direction of the American agents on board, and when the boat enters Canada, a Canadian officer will be in charge.
What's very new is that all the officers on board will be authorized to make an arrest on either side of the border. All agents will be trained in the laws of both countries.
The crimes being addressed are very real, and include gun-running and drug smuggling. The goal of the new cross-border teams is sensible. But there will be concerns about sovereignty.
Allowing armed police from another country to make arrests on our soil does come with risks.
Even if an American officer is under the direction of a Canadian officer, there is always the possibility that the U.S. cop will do something unexpected, making a bad situation worse. What will the reaction of the public be the first time a U.S. officer fires his gun in Canada? What if a death results?
If the situation was reversed, and a Canadian cop made a fatal error on American soil, imagine the reaction south of the border.
Despite those kinds of risks, both federal governments should be applauded for coming up with a good idea and seeing it to its current stage. Hopefully the waterways agreement will run smoothly and prove its value before the cross-border program is expanded to include law enforcement on land.
At that point, foreign officers are much more likely to come into contact with people on both sides of the border that are simply going about their day. The multinational teams will have to be tactful as they deal with suspects.
There is a precedent of sorts; one that many Canadians have already accepted.
In many large international airports in this country, American border agents prescreen people travelling to the United States. Their check of Canadians' customs and immigration paperwork is carried out here, on Canadian soil.
Once through that American inspection, travellers await their flights in a secure space that is controlled by the American agents. In effect, we compromise and give up a little bit of sovereignty in order to make a cross-border process work more efficiently.
The same will hold true once the new cross-border law enforcement teams set off in their boats. If the end result is less crime, the compromise will quickly be forgotten.
Are the cross-border teams a good idea? Can the new process survive a serious mistake by a Canadian officer working in the U.S., or vice versa?
http://news.sympatico.ca/oped/coffee-talk/us_police_could_make_arrests_on_canadian_side_of_b order/e8340e72
Cross-border crime between Canada and the U.S. will soon be the target of a new team of law enforcement officers.
Criminals who use the waterways between the two countries have in the past been able to scoot across the border to avoid police. Under the new Integrated Cross Border Law Enforcement Operations Act, mixed teams of American and Canadian officers (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/07/10/cross-border-policing-integration-sovereignty.html)will be able to cross the border by boat to pursue criminals on the run.
Canadian officers who enter the United States will be under the direction of the American agents on board, and when the boat enters Canada, a Canadian officer will be in charge.
What's very new is that all the officers on board will be authorized to make an arrest on either side of the border. All agents will be trained in the laws of both countries.
The crimes being addressed are very real, and include gun-running and drug smuggling. The goal of the new cross-border teams is sensible. But there will be concerns about sovereignty.
Allowing armed police from another country to make arrests on our soil does come with risks.
Even if an American officer is under the direction of a Canadian officer, there is always the possibility that the U.S. cop will do something unexpected, making a bad situation worse. What will the reaction of the public be the first time a U.S. officer fires his gun in Canada? What if a death results?
If the situation was reversed, and a Canadian cop made a fatal error on American soil, imagine the reaction south of the border.
Despite those kinds of risks, both federal governments should be applauded for coming up with a good idea and seeing it to its current stage. Hopefully the waterways agreement will run smoothly and prove its value before the cross-border program is expanded to include law enforcement on land.
At that point, foreign officers are much more likely to come into contact with people on both sides of the border that are simply going about their day. The multinational teams will have to be tactful as they deal with suspects.
There is a precedent of sorts; one that many Canadians have already accepted.
In many large international airports in this country, American border agents prescreen people travelling to the United States. Their check of Canadians' customs and immigration paperwork is carried out here, on Canadian soil.
Once through that American inspection, travellers await their flights in a secure space that is controlled by the American agents. In effect, we compromise and give up a little bit of sovereignty in order to make a cross-border process work more efficiently.
The same will hold true once the new cross-border law enforcement teams set off in their boats. If the end result is less crime, the compromise will quickly be forgotten.
Are the cross-border teams a good idea? Can the new process survive a serious mistake by a Canadian officer working in the U.S., or vice versa?