|
Terry
Arnold | Calgary Police
Chief seizes citizen's computer | RCMP
scenario stings | OPP Porn
police | Saskatoon
Police 2005 |
RCMP 2003
More money for fighting
cybercrime
Andrew Ehrkamp, Leader-Post,
December 09, 2003
RCMP and Regina police
now have sharper tools to cut down cybercrime.
The Saskatchewan Integrated
Technological Crime Unit has more than doubled its staff -- from
two to five -- and added more computers, network and backup systems
to fight a variety of technology-related crimes from Internet
fraud to child pornography.
"We now have more capability
to take on a greater caseload," said RCMP Sgt. Chuck Scott,
head of the unit which includes four specially-trained RCMP officers
and one Regina police officer.
The Saskatchewan Integrated
Crime Unit -- the only one of its kind in the province -- also
has a new, secret location which officially opened Monday.
The unit helps RCMP, Regina
police or other police investigate the growing area of cybercrime
-- crimes, Scott said, that know no boundaries.
"Everywhere you go there's
somehow a computer involved."
The three-year-old crime unit's
work involves many types of data storage from electronic organizers
to global positioning systems and computers.
"We examine a computer
just like a crime scene and we find the evidence that remains,"
Scott said. "A computer does, by its mere nature, keep a
record of where it's been."
In some cases, officers must
deal with huge amounts of information, up to one terabyte (1,000
gigabytes) of data.
Scott said the unit uses "traditional"
investigative methods, including tips from the public, and doesn't
"actively pursue in an undercover capacity" -- such
as visiting Internet chatrooms.
The extra officers and equipment
mean the Saskatchewan Integrated Technological Crime Unit can
handle four times as many cases, up from an average 127 per year.
The unit currently has about
30 active cases, but Scott said "time for completion on
urgent cases is instant."
Earlier this year, the crime
unit was charged with determining what happened to a hard drive
after it was stolen from Regina data management company ISM Canada.
The hard drive contained confidential,
personal information on customers of Co-operators Life Insurance,
Investors Group, SaskTel and SaskPower.
The case ended in September
after a former ISM employee, who pleaded guilty to possession
of stolen property, was placed on probation for a year.
Regina police Chief Cal Johnston
said the Saskatchewan Integrated Crime Unit helps police stay
on top of this type of crime, although the amount of cybercrime
in Regina is likely no different than in any other city.
Johnston noted the unit's expertise
helps solve a wide range of crimes -- including drug dealing
and homicide -- as well as technology-related crimes.
He also said the unit may need
further expansion.
"As people become aware
of the investigative capacity and the willingness of police to
deal with this issue, I think it will confirm something we've
long suspected: that there's much more of it going on (than police
know)," Johnston said.
"At that point, we'll
have to put more resources this way."
The annual cost of the unit
is about $100,000.
© Copyright 2003 The Leader-Post (Regina)
RCMP forks over $65,000
to help deadbeat dad
By TONY BLAIS, COURT BUREAU,
Edmonton Sun, February 28, 2003
The RCMP witness protection
program used taxpayer money to cover $65,000 in child-support
arrears for a witness who never testified against three Hells
Angels because he lied to police, court heard yesterday.
And before making the city
man's tardy maintenance payments, the program paid for a lawyer
to try to get the arrears either wiped out or the payments reduced.
"In other words, they
hired a lawyer for a deadbeat dad to take food out of the mouths
of children," said Bill Tatarchuk, defence lawyer for one
of the three Hells Angels, two of whom are members of the local
chapter.
Court also heard that once
the RCMP learned the lawyers for the outlaw bikers had discovered
the court file, an application to seal it was successfully made
before a judge.
Defence lawyer Bob Sachs said
the file was sealed because officials with the witness protection
program were embarrassed by what they'd done and didn't want
to "get whacked" in the House of Commons.
"They should get whacked
in the House of Commons for helping a deadbeat dad take the food
out of the mouths of children," said Sachs. "It's reprehensible
behaviour."
The lawyers for the three Hells
Angels were in Court of Queen's Bench seeking court costs for
their clients in a case where charges against them were dropped
in relation to an alleged 1998 robbery and extortion.
Deveron McKay, 52, the founder
of the Edmonton Hells Angels chapter, Neil Cantrill, 44, a local
member, and Allen Farago, 39, a Hells Angel from Saskatoon, were
charged in May 1998 after the man said the trio held him against
his will, using threats and violence to make him hand over his
truck and trailer to clear up a debt.
The charges were stayed by
the Crown in September after evidence revealed the deadbeat dad
had lied to police.
Tatarchuk told Justice Joanne
Veit they are seeking costs from both the federal and provincial
Crowns because they failed to disclose defence-requested information
about the man and the witness protection program.
During his argument, Tatarchuk
revealed Ottawa spent $362,000 on the man while he was in the
witness protection program, including the $65,000 for child maintenance,
nearly $225,000 in living expenses and $72,000 for protective
reasons, such as medical and counselling.
Tatarchuk also told Veit the
defence never received disclosure that the man was charged with
several crimes while in the program, including assault causing
bodily harm for attacking a girlfriend during a drinking binge.
Defence lawyer Richard Gariepy
said that also not disclosed was the fact the man got preferential
treatment by not having most of the charges proceeded on.
"He was the linchpin witness
in a high-profile case against members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle
Club," said Gariepy. "That's why he got preferential
treatment."
Tatarchuk concluded: "This
is a case that cries out for costs against both the federal and
provincial Crowns."
Federal prosecutor David Stam
argued costs should not be awarded because those involved were
simply trying to protect the safety and integrity of the witness
protection program. Prosecutor Clif Purvis argued the province
shouldn't be on the hook because it did nothing terribly wrong
and only tried to ensure the proper process was observed.
"There is nothing about
the conduct of the attorney general Alberta that should attract
costs," said Purvis.
Veit reserved judgment in the
case.
Canadian Police urged
citizenship for militant to please him
DeepikaGlobal.com, Saturday, March 1, 2003
Vancouver, Feb 28 (UNI) In an attempt to retain him as a witness
in the Air India bombing case, Canada's police even requested
citizenship for a Sikh militant in order to keep him happy, according
to released transcripts of pre-trial hearings.
The witness, a former member
of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) whose name
was protected under a court order, had repeatedly told the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigating the worst case of
aviation sabotage up until 9/11 that he would publicly announce
his withdrawal unless he got citizenship, a Vancouver Sun report
said today.
He was then granted landed
immigrant status in June 2000 after the RCMP Commissioner vouched
for him to the Immigration Minister, the news report added, citing
transcripts of pre-trial hearings released this week from a ban
on publication by Supreme Court Justice Ian Bruce Josephson.
Also, the former ISYF man was
paid more than 100,000 dollars by the RCMP in recent years. At
first, the monthly payments were 2,000 dollars, but were increased
to 3,000 dollars in the summer of 2001, the Vancouver Sun reported.
However, his efforts to get
citizenship were less successful, even with the help of senior
law enforcement officials who wrote to the federal immigration
department pressing for the man to be granted citizenship despite
a criminal record.
The man, according to the transcripts
cited in the news report, had claimed he feared for his family
both in Canada and in India if he remained on the Air India witness
list without the protection of Canadian citizenship.
At the pre-trial hearing, suspect
Ajaib Singh Bagri's defence team took issue with the Crown's
delay in disclosing the witness' reluctance to testify. Bagri's
team has called the man ''highly unreliable'' and said his testimony
is suspect given that he has been on the RCMP payroll.
The man told police that Bagri
admitted his involvement in Air India to him in the early 1990s
at a meeting outside a Surrey elementary school.
RCMP Staff-Sergeant John Schneider,
who was the witness' main handler, testified last April that
the man was very agitated because he felt he was in danger.
According to the report, Schneider's
notes from November 27, 2001 said the witness arrived at the
Surrey E Division office that day and was ''very uncomfortable''
about his information being recorded.
''It will bring more danger
to his family. Canadian government can't provide proper protection,''
Schneider's notes quote the witness as saying, according to the
Vancouver Sun.
Police offered the man security, as well as the witness protection
programme, but he said he felt Canadian citizenship would help
him the most.
© Copyright DeepikaGlobal.com
1997-2002.All rights reserved
Blogging
Blogging has been in the news.
It is the new, trendy thing with 40,000 new blogs being created
each day. I established a blog for this website last September
and it is now "taking off." These are a few of the
pages with ongoing discussions.
- Tasering Mary Lutz
- Saskatchewan Centenary
- Quint Blog discussion
- Rotten apples in the Saskatoon Police
- Blogging for choice
- Michael Cardamone witch hunt
- Implement recommendations of public
inquiries
- Stealing from the poor
- Vancouver's killer cops
- Tisdale rapists appeal
- Winnipeg police misdeeds
- Milgaard Inquiry
- Chief Sabo: can he be trusted?
- The Old Boys' Club Must Go!
- Vancouver activists
- John Hudak: Falsely accused mountie
- City of intolerance
- Constable Larry Lockwood: Exciteable!
- Eric Cline
This is a great way for like-minded
people to communicate and share our views. It is easier than
making a website and marginally more difficult than a forum.
People who want to contribute
simply have to punch the "comment" link and they will
be taken to a page with a box which allows them to write their
comment, preview and post it. It takes a while for the comment
to show up and some people get impatient and repost. That's fine,
I trash the duplicate posts and no harm done.
Please, please give it a try.
The internet is distinguished from other media in that it is
really and truly interactive. Blogging makes it possible to express
your viewpoint even if you don't have a computer. You can go
to the library or a friend's place or an internet cafe. Once
you've mastered the basics (and believe me, if I can do it, you
can do it) you will be participating in one of the most democratic
-- and potentially powerful -- media the world as we know it
has ever seen.
Come on. Don't be shy. Join
the Weblog World! -- Sheila Steele, March 20, 2005
Toronto Police paid out $30M in secretly resolved
claims over last five years
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
