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| NEWS > 17 November 2007 |
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WSU investigating police chief
Investigators at Washington State University are looking into allegations that campus Police Chief Steve Hansen may have used work computers to look at sexually explicit photographs, a school spokesman said Thursday.
"The investigation is nearly completed," said WSU spokesman Rob Strenge. "We could have a report as early as next week."
Hansen remains on the job, although he is reportedly in California this week, Strenge said. A voice mail message left at his office on Thursday was not immediately returned.
Few details about the investigation by WSU's Internal A... Read more
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Winnipeg Free Press - Winnipeg
17 November 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
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'We're turning up the heat' -
CITY police will publicize the names of motorists charged with impaired driving this holiday season in a bid to make people think before they drink.
The plan drew immediate criticism, however, from legal experts who point out the people publicly shamed by police will only be charged, not convicted. Even if they go on to prove their innocence in court, the damage to their reputation will already be done.
"We're turning up the heat," Patrol Sgt. Rob Riffel said Friday. "This is meant to be a deterrent. It's one more thing to think of when you go out drinking and driving."
This is the first time police will release the names of suspected impaired drivers as part of its decades-old annual holiday season Checkstop program. This year's program runs Nov. 28 to Dec. 31.
Under the plan, the names of people charged with impaired driving, driving over the legal .08 blood-alcohol limit or refusing a demand to provide a breath sample will be released to the media at a daily news briefing.
The names will also be posted on the Winnipeg Police Service's website. Police are considering an additional feature on the website to highlight those charged, but a decision has not been made.
The names have never been a secret -- they are on the court docket at the Law Courts Building.
Last year, 51 people were charged over the Christmas season with either impaired driving, driving over the legal limit or with refusal.
"I think it's a great idea," said Rod Sudbury, spokesman for MADD Canada's Winnipeg chapter. "I just wonder why they don't do it all year."
Riffel said each year police take a different tactic to combat impaired drivers. In the past, officers have conducted high visibility roadside stops on busy streets where cars are waved over at random, to the more recent targeting of drivers leaving bars or large holiday parties.
Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds said he had serious concerns about the new policy.
Simmonds said while charges laid against alleged offenders are public, he said he had concerns about publicizing charges if Crown prosecutors do not have an appropriate time to review the charge and make sure it will be pursued in court.
"For a lot of people, they are punished almost immediately... they almost immediately lose their driver's licence, they have the impoundment of their vehicle, and that's whether or not after review by Crown counsel, the charge is set aside early in this process or not," he said.
"Very often, if the person blows at a very low rate, that doesn't stop the police from charging them with an impaired. It may be very well quickly reviewed by a Crown attorney who may choose not to proceed on the charge itself, and still their name is going to be published."
Simmonds said the policy requires Crown review to determine the strength of the case.
"Some kind of scrutiny is necessary. Prominent or not prominent, any individual doesn't want to see their name in that position if there's a clear defence to the charge beforehand," said Simmonds.
"Putting every name in as the police lay charges, I think is an extremely unfair process."
Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky said the police policy of naming alleged impaired drivers was used a decade ago.
He said the attempt to publicly embarrass drivers often loses effectiveness over time.
"It's very effective at the beginning, but after a while, lists of people appearing in the paper or broadcast on the television get boring," he said. "It's very good at the beginning and very insignificant at the end."
Arthur Schafer, director of University of Manitoba's Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, said the new policy will likely shame those who drive drunk but will likely hurt people not convicted of driving impaired. He suggested publishing the names of offenders after they are convicted of a charge, rather than before.
"I think today there's a much wider appreciation in society that (drunk driving) is a profoundly dangerous and antisocial thing to do," he said. "Some of the people who are shamed may well be innocent. My question would be, why not wait until they're convicted?"
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