A contentious effort

Dealing with a national readership of police and other law enforcement professionals comes with a lot of unique challenges. In many instances the people I deal with work in a regionally insular environment. Some of this cocooning is naturally self generated, while on occasion I see it as imposed from the top down.

Lending a hand for 50 years

!/issues/may_2010/cover.jpg!The dawn of a new decade conjures up much thought among police services about what the future holds in this rapidly changing world. While this also holds true for the Ontario Provincial Police, the year 2010 also has the force reflecting on another important milestone.

With members still catching their breath after the highly successful 100th anniversary celebrations in 2009, the organization is recognizing yet another significant occasion this month – the 50th anniversary of the OPP Auxiliary.

The volunteer program has seen its fair share of transformation and growth since its early days. It was originally recognized as the Emergency Measures Organization (EMO), a body trained to control crowds and offer first aid in the event of a nuclear attack from Russia during the Cold War era.

Vehicle search lawful as incidental to arrest

The search of a driver and his vehicle was lawful as incident to arrest after he was arrested for possessing marijuana, Saskatchewan’s highest court has ruled.

In R. v. Tosczak, 2010 SKCA 10 a police officer approached the open driver’s window after routinely stopping a vehicle and smelled raw marijuana and the strong odour of body spray, which he believed was used to mask the odour.