Scenario: YOURE a Police Officer. Its late; not many people out. You see a person walking up the street rolling TWO bicycles on the sidewalk. Hes wearing a very distinctive hat, which is bright orange and has a big green dot in the front. [Dont worry about the hat thing, well get to that in a minute.] This person is in a neighbourhood where the homes are worth $800,000.00-plus, yet hes dressed like he has worn the same tattered clothes for the past week. This person is looking around, left, right... a bit shifty. Maybe youve seen him around, youre not sure. Somethings not right. The bicycles are the high-end, tight-pants rich-guy type; they cost thousands. He sees you in your scout car and does the felony stare; just eyes forward, keep walking. He looks like hes thinking If I dont look at him, hell just go away. As an Officer, your job is, among other things, to preserve life; to investigate crimes that have been committed; and to prevent the commission of crime when possible. With the set of facts above (along with the intangibles that go with being an experienced Officer, but well leave those out for arguments sake), you have reasonable suspicion that perhaps this man has stolen these bikes. It is reasonable to expect that a diligent Officer would go and speak to this person and ask a few questions. The tone doesnt have to be accusatory, just questions. Perhaps this man has a perfectly good explanation for the property in his possession; perhaps not. Either way, you wont know until you ask. What ensues is one of three things: 1- Through your questions, you develop grounds to believe that this man has stolen the bicycles and arrest him. 2- He gives you a perfectly logical explanation for the circumstance in which he finds himself and you thank him; hes on his way. 3- Hes fishy, no doubt, but youve got nothing and you have to let him go. HERES THE RUB: Carding is the controversial practice of recording a persons information after an interaction with Police, as above. [Media uses the term carding, Cops dont, its silly.] Now, given the new direction we seem to be taking, you cant record his information for other Police Officers to be able to access; theres no valid Public Safety concern. See link below. UH-OH Two days later, youre at home, another shift is working. Mr. tight-pants rich guy calls Police to say hes had his two prized bicycles stolen and would like to file a report. Also, a neighbour saw a man wearing a very distinctive hat, which is bright orange and has a big green dot in the front [!] walking with two bikes the other night, but nothing else. Another officer attends the scene and take the report. Does he get his bikes back? Not likely. Charges? Not likely. Why? Because you didnt record the information from the other night, even though everything in you said something was up, because youre not allowed to. This was just stolen bikes. What about something more serious? This happens ALL THE TIME and its how Police USED to solve crimes; with INFORMATION. I feel badly for the public who turns to the Police for help expecting results. Its coming to an end. Well take your report, and occasionally, well catch someone in the act, but other than that, I apoligize. We ARE able to help you, but were not allowed to anymore. /rant
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 15:11:56 +0000
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