CATCHING BAD GUYS HARDER SINCE CHARTER, VETERAN MOUNTIE SAYS

Officer With Law Degree Backed Law, But It Has Complicated Policing

When the Charter of Rights and Freedoms became law in 1982, Ross
Fisher thought it was a great idea.

As one of the few Mounties with a law degree, the 12-year veteran of
the force supported putting rights in the constitution.

"It made sense," he said. "It entrenched rights."

But two decades later, and just a few months away from retirement,
Fisher says he had no idea how difficult the Charter would make life
for police officers.

Court rulings on everything from wiretaps to search warrants have
made policing far more complex, he said, and made it more difficult
to catch criminals.

"Things have become so complicated," he said. "There's so many
hurdles and . . . things to go through that you sometimes wonder: Do
they really want me to accomplish what my job is?"

In a 1997 case called Feeney, for example, the Supreme Court of
Canada ruled that police needed a special warrant to enter a house to
arrest a suspect -- even if they already had a valid arrest warrant
for the person.

As a result, police must now often wait on an address for three to
five hours to get a second warrant -- with a team of at least four
officers on hand to ensure the suspect doesn't slip away.

In one of the most infamous examples of such a "Feeney warrant,"
Fisher said, RCMP officers in Surrey once had to wait for a second
warrant on a suspect despite being able to see him through a large
window -- mooning them.

"There's a classic example of bureaucracy," he said.

Fisher said the paperwork burden means police simply can't respond to
as many calls as they used to.

"We've just fallen behind," he said.

"I remember when I was a rookie we went to all accidents, we went to
all shoplifters. We don't go to [most] accidents anymore. We don't go
to shoplifters. . . . I think that's had an impact on society."