Newly released court documents show the head of the Ontario Provincial Police pleading, cajoling and threatening the leader of a native protest that closed down a stretch of the busiest highway in Canada during last summer’s Aboriginal Day of Action.

The documents include transcripts of wiretapped telephone conversations between OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and Shawn Brant, the leader of a Mohawk protest in eastern Ontario that prompted the closure of Highway 401.

They were released late Friday after being freed from a publication ban.

‘There comes a time when the balance of the greater public good shifts, and the feeling was that under the circumstances, this situation could no longer continue, and we were, in fact, preparing to move on the blockades,’ OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino says.

FULL STORY

Found this story this morning while using my laptop on the boat, by the way I am on vacation. Anyway it seems that GPS units can be used in court in the usa. These are not the run of the mill units that give turn by turn instructions. It is the wave of the future that is now here. This is an interesting read.

Story:

As anyone who has ever gotten a speeding ticket knows (full disclosure: I never have… knock on wood), you often have very little ammo to fight back against the reading that the all-knowing radar gun spat out. But thanks to more sophisticated and affordable technology, that could be changing. GPS data was able to get a California teen off the hook for allegedly going 17 miles per hour over the speed limit, simultaneously casting doubt on the accuracy of police radars and giving hope to tech-savvy drivers.

The story started out simply enough. 18-year-old Shaun Malone was caught by a police radar going 62 in a 45 mph zone last summer. Under most circumstances, most people would assume that this was all simply true—it’s not unheard of for teenagers to speed, after all. Malone’s parents knew differently, though. It turns out that they had installed a GPS device from Rocky Mountain Tracking in his car in order to monitor his driving behavior.

Full Story

Nabbed for speeding? GPS data could get you off the hook

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: July 18, 2008 - 11:57AM CT

Thoughts:
In 1999 Sturgeon Falls and area voted out the OPP to police the area in favor of the West Nipissing police service. This was a very large rural area to police and one that the OPP had policed for many years and has years of experience in policing these types of areas.

I found this article today and find it interesting to see the chief of West Nipissing is under investigation but they are not releasing what the allegations are at this time. Anytime any member of the OPP is investigated it is open to the public in short order. Will follow this story to see what turns up.

Story:

The former chief of the North Bay Police Service is stepping in to fill the suddenly vacant top position of the West Nipissing Police Service.

Joanne Savage, mayor of the municipality and chairwoman of the community’s police services board, announced in a release Monday that George Berrigan will serve as interim police chief following the recent retirement of Richard Lahaie, who is the subject of a complaint under review by Greater Sudbury Police.

No information has been released about the nature of the complaint involving Lahaie and it’s unknown if his retirement Friday is linked to the review initiated more than two months ago at the request of the board.

Lahaie, 54, who had agreed to step down as chief during the review, wouldn’t comment Monday about the investigation and would only say he’s happy to be retiring after more than

32 years on the job.

Savage, meanwhile, also said little about the circumstances surrounding Lahaie’s retirement and the ongoing review, citing legal advice provided to the board.

“We will continue to say what we can when we can,” she said, acknowledging the scant details that have been released about the review have likely triggered plenty of questions within the community.

FULL STORY

The North Bay Nugget

Blogged with the Flock Browser

When I travel off duty I am always looking to see if there are cruisers on the road. In my platoon meeting this past week I talked to the officers about ensuring they are out on patrol during busy times of the day. I wanted to make sure we have high visibility during our peak travel times. High visibility keeps speed and aggressive driving down and thus accidents are reduced. Over the weekend we set up several RIDE (REDUCE IMPAIRED DRIVING EVERYWHERE) checks throughout our area. I also listened on the radio and found that areas from neighboring detachments were  doing the same.

I received the following comment on one of my blog posts and found it interesting as it is from a person traveling cross country and they had the opportunity to see police visibility on our Canadian highways.

“I recently made a change in departments in order to return home…resulting in a long drive across Canada.  I must say that I was incredibly impressed with the police presence on the highways in Ontario.  We took the northern route and although dismayed by the single lane driving, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of police cars that I saw on the highway.  An unofficial count lead me to see about 25 police cars in two days of travel through Ont.  That compares with 2 RCMP cars in New Brunswick, one in Ottawa, and only one in Saskatchewan near Verden.  Amazing to be able to travel 4,700 kilometers and see police in really only one province.  Good luck with the checks, keep up the good work.”

What is the police visibility where you live and do you think it works??

By the way here is the latest COPCAST PODCAST

 

 Standard Podcast [31:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I am a bit of a camera buff and as such like to carry a camera around at work looking for that perfect picture. Last night was a great night for dusk shots during a RIDE check we set up in Timmins. Here is a slide show showing some of the pictures I was able to get before the bugs chased us away.

Find more photos like this on CopsOnline