Hilda was no ordinary store detective

---

Shoplifting calls were common when I was on patrol. Upon arrival wide-eyed store staff would direct me to a back room, telling me the store detective had a person in custody. Most times I would hurry – unless I knew it was Hilda, who always had everything under control.

A partner in community wellness

---

!/issues/november_2009/cover.jpg!Manitoulin Island is the largest fresh water island in the world and has been policed by the United Chiefs Councils of Manitoulin (UCCM) Police Service since a tripartite agreement was signed in October, 1995.

UCCM Anishnaabe Police serve the six member First Nations of the UCCM Tribal Council, policing the communities of Aundeck Omni Kaning, M’Chigeeng, Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning, Whitefish River and Zhiibaahaasing, which have a combined population of about 2,000 permanent residents. An influx of tourists during the summer swells the population by more than 25 per cent. Quick response to emergency calls can be a challenge; the travel distance between Zhiibaahaasing and Whitefish River is some 145 kilometres. Officers effectively conduct highway patrol when responding to calls for service.

Cocaine tossed because Charter rights disregarded

---

The importance of maintaining Charter values and a court’s disassociation from police misconduct can trump the truth seeking interests of the criminal justice system, a convicted drug trafficker has learned.

In R. v. Harrison, 2009 SCC 34, a police officer saw a Dodge Durango without a front licence plate (an offence for Ontario registered vehicles) and decided to stop it. When he activated his emergency lights and manoeuvred in behind the vehicle he noticed it had an Alberta rear licence plate and realized it did not require a front plate. He nonetheless decided not to abandon his intention to make the stop to maintain his “integrity” in the eyes of observers – he already had his emergency lights on and had begun the stop.

Ritual child sex cases

---

!/articles/ritual_child_sex_cases/child.palm.jpg!There are cases in which the accused admits, in sickening detail, exactly what was done to children: a self-anointed pastor walks into a small-town Louisiana sheriff’s office and announces he and others have forced children into sexual acts for years, dabbling in witchcraft as well.

Those are the easy ones.

Then there are those in which the facts may never be known. The ones that show some authorities still stumble when talking to children about abuse – despite the awful legacy left by hysteria-driven trials that began in the 1980s and lasted two decades.