Michael Spratt, an Ottawa-based criminal defense attorney, says police can only enter a home legally if they have a search or arrest warrant or if there are demanding circumstances, such as tracking or information that a person is in immediate danger. “There does not seem to be any of these reasons here,” Spratt said. “What seems to have happened here is that the police simply took the easy way out, took the law into their own hands and completely disregarded its constitutional obligations.” On Tuesday, Cortney Pike told CBC News that she woke up around 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning to the sound of footsteps and voices outside her bedroom. Two RCMP officers entered the house through an unlocked door looking for a missing 17-year-old girl, Pike said, and interrogated her 11-year-old daughter as she pulled out a flashlight in her face. Cortney Pike stands in the doorway of her home, where she says two RCMP officers entered unannounced around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. (Troy Turner / CBC) Pike said police also told her they came to her home after receiving a report of the girl disappearing into a red house on the street. She said there were several red houses on her street, including one across from her house, but none of their neighbors had anything to do with police on Sunday. “The belief that the missing girl was in a red house did not give the police the power to enter all the red houses and they seem to have failed to meet the reasonable possible criteria,” said Michelle Johal, a Brampton-based criminal lawyer. Ont. and an active member of the Association of Criminal Lawyers “To be honest, it seems in this case that the police were trespassers. In my opinion, they should know better, they are responsible for law enforcement and there has been clear guidance for years about the extent of their powers to they enter houses without a warrant “. Sprat agreed. “If they were not police officers, if they were just people, they would face long prison terms and charges, and perhaps these officers would also have to deal with these consequences,” he said.
Come in first, ask questions later
Spratt said it appeared RCMP officers had decided to “enter a private home first and ask questions later”, creating a dangerous situation and violating the sanctity of Pike’s home. “Privacy in your home is one of the most protected rights in Canadian law … This is a private place, it is a refuge. But to allow the police unexpected, unrestricted, unrestrained access in the middle of the night, well armed “Entering someone’s home is a recipe for disaster,” he said. “This is how people and police are killed, this is how members of the public are injured, this is how tragedy happens and it seems that the police are a little too trivial in the face of an inevitable future tragedy if this kind of behavior continues.” Police have a right to interrogate children, Spratt said, but there is no reason for police to enter a child’s room overnight. “What possible information could this young child have about that incident, because the police believe that this child had information, these are the questions that the police need to answer,” he said. Michelle Johal, a Brampton-based criminal lawyer in Ond., Says the way she handled the situation “certainly raises a number of questions.” (CBC) Interrogation by a police officer in his own bedroom could also be traumatic for a young child. “I do not think it is acceptable for a child to have a flashlight in his private bedroom and ask questions without his parents being present. I’m sure it was a scary experience that he will not soon forget,” said Johal. . “Everyone can appreciate here that the police had good intentions, they were looking for a missing girl, that’s part of their job, but the way they handled it certainly raises a number of questions.” Both Johal and Spratt said the RCMP now has a responsibility to investigate and explain what happened at Pike’s home. “The police seem to be providing very little information about what they did and why they did it,” Spratt said. “It should be up to the police to provide a full explanation of how this situation arose and they do not seem interested in doing so in this case.”
Better education, systemic change is needed
He said there are issues with continuing education on constitutional obligations for police officers across the country. It is possible that some officers are negligent because they are not properly trained or if the officers are trained, they are completely indifferent. “Both sides of this coin lead to several condemnatory conclusions,” Spratt said. “Incompetent officers, whether they are individually incompetent or systemically incompetent, should not be armed, should not be given the power we give to the police and should not be on the streets and certainly should not scam around someone’s house in night”. We need real consequences for officers who are either fraudulent or incompetent.- Michael Spratt According to Spratt, large-scale systemic change is required. “We need better police training, we need to change what the police are doing to remove a lot of responsibility from the police and we need real consequences for officers who are either swindlers or incompetent,” he said. “With a lot of power, we also need a lot of responsibility. The system we have… right now for the police force across the country gives the police a lot of power, but we do not see the persistence in the aspect of responsibility.”
Police act on warning from missing girl’s caregiver: RCMP
In an e-mailed statement to CBC News on Wednesday, the RCMP said police were looking for a young man in danger as he entered Pike’s home and were contacted directly by the girl’s caregiver. “Police are examining all the circumstances and the information provided,” the spokesman said. The force said it had not yet received any complaints on the matter. On Tuesday, a spokesman said the Corner Brook RCMP responded and attended a home meeting, taking into account “youth welfare concerns, based on information provided by the complainant”. “After a prolonged period of knocking, ringing and verbal communication, the police entered the house through an unlocked door, verbally declaring their presence,” the statement said. “The resident owner then woke up and confirmed that the missing person was not present.” A spokesman for RCMP’s national communications services said they had nothing to add to the Newfoundland and Labrador police statement. Newfoundland Royal Police, which has jurisdiction over neighboring Corner Brook, said the 17-year-old was found safe. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
title: “Rcmp Took The Law Into Its Own Hands By Entering Nl S Home And Questioning A Child Lawyers Say " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-08” author: “Verna Marquez”
Michael Spratt, an Ottawa-based criminal defense attorney, says police can only enter a home legally if they have a search or arrest warrant or if there are demanding circumstances, such as tracking or information that a person is in immediate danger. “There does not seem to be any of these reasons here,” Spratt said. “What seems to have happened here is that the police simply took the easy way out, took the law into their own hands and completely disregarded its constitutional obligations.” On Tuesday, Cortney Pike told CBC News that she woke up around 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning to the sound of footsteps and voices outside her bedroom. Two RCMP officers entered the house through an unlocked door looking for a missing 17-year-old girl, Pike said, and interrogated her 11-year-old daughter as she pulled out a flashlight in her face. Cortney Pike stands in the doorway of her home, where she says two RCMP officers entered unannounced around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. (Troy Turner / CBC) Pike said police also told her they came to her home after receiving a report of the girl disappearing into a red house on the street. She said there were several red houses on her street, including one across from her house, but none of their neighbors had anything to do with police on Sunday. “The belief that the missing girl was in a red house did not give the police the power to enter all the red houses and they seem to have failed to meet the reasonable possible criteria,” said Michelle Johal, a Brampton-based criminal lawyer. Ont. and a member of the Board of the Association of Criminal Lawyers. “To be honest, it seems in this case that the police were trespassers. In my opinion, they should know better, they are responsible for law enforcement and there has been clear guidance for years about the extent of their powers to they enter houses without a warrant “. Sprat agreed. “If they were not police officers, if they were just people, they would face long prison terms and charges, and perhaps these officers would also have to deal with these consequences,” he said.
Come in first, ask questions later
Spratt said it appeared RCMP officers had decided to “enter a private home first and ask questions later”, creating a dangerous situation and violating the sanctity of Pike’s home. “Privacy in your home is one of the most protected rights in Canadian law … This is a private place, it is a refuge. But to allow the police unexpected, unrestricted, unrestrained access in the middle of the night, well armed “Entering someone’s home is a recipe for disaster,” he said. “This is how people and police are killed, this is how members of the public are injured, this is how tragedy happens and it seems that the police are a little too trivial in the face of an inevitable future tragedy if this kind of behavior continues.” Police have a right to interrogate children, Spratt said, but there is no reason for police to enter a child’s room overnight. “What possible information could this young child have about that incident, because the police believe that this child had information, these are the questions that the police need to answer,” he said. Michelle Johal, a Brampton-based criminal lawyer in Ond., Says the way she handled the situation “certainly raises a number of questions.” (CBC) Interrogation by a police officer in his own bedroom could also be traumatic for a young child. “I do not think it is acceptable for a child to have a flashlight in his private bedroom and ask questions without his parents being present. I’m sure it was a scary experience that he will not soon forget,” said Johal. . “Everyone can appreciate here that the police had good intentions, they were looking for a missing girl, that’s part of their job, but the way they handled it certainly raises a number of questions.” Both Johal and Spratt said the RCMP now has a responsibility to investigate and explain what happened at Pike’s home. “The police seem to be providing very little information about what they did and why they did it,” Spratt said. “It should be up to the police to provide a full explanation of how this situation arose and they do not seem interested in doing so in this case.”
Better education, systemic change is needed
He said there are issues with continuing education on constitutional obligations for police officers across the country. It is possible that some officers are negligent because they are not properly trained or if the officers are trained, they are completely indifferent. “Both sides of this coin lead to several condemnatory conclusions,” Spratt said. “Incompetent officers, whether they are individually incompetent or systemically incompetent, should not be armed, should not be given the power we give to the police and should not be on the streets and certainly should not scam around someone’s house in night”. We need real consequences for officers who are either fraudulent or incompetent.- Michael Spratt According to Spratt, large-scale systemic change is required. “We need better police training, we need to change what the police are doing to remove a lot of responsibility from the police and we need real consequences for officers who are either swindlers or incompetent,” he said. “With a lot of power, we also need a lot of responsibility. The system we have… right now for the police force across the country gives the police a lot of power, but we do not see the persistence in the aspect of responsibility.”
Police act on warning from missing girl’s caregiver: RCMP
In an e-mailed statement to CBC News on Wednesday, the RCMP said police were looking for a young man in danger as he entered Pike’s home and were contacted directly by the girl’s caregiver. “Police are examining all the circumstances and the information provided,” the spokesman said. The force said it had not yet received any complaints on the matter. On Tuesday, a spokesman said the Corner Brook RCMP responded and attended a home meeting, taking into account “youth welfare concerns, based on information provided by the complainant”. “After a prolonged period of knocking, ringing and verbal communication, the police entered the house through an unlocked door, verbally declaring their presence,” the statement said. “The resident owner then woke up and confirmed that the missing person was not present.” A spokesman for RCMP’s national communications services said they had nothing to add to the Newfoundland and Labrador police statement. Newfoundland Royal Police, which has jurisdiction over neighboring Corner Brook, said the 17-year-old was found safe. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
