RCMP DROPS U.S. DRUG TRAINING PLAN

The RCMP has scrapped plans to send hundreds of officers to Arizona
for training in recognizing and testing drugimpaired drivers after
learning that the sheriff 's office they had partnered with has been
accused of engaging in "unconstitutional policing."

A scathing U.S. Department of Justice report recently concluded that
the Maricopa County Sheriff 's Office in Phoenix engages in racial
profiling of Latinos, unlawfully stops and arrests Latinos and
unlawfully retaliates against individuals who criticize the force.

An RCMP official stressed Monday that at no time were Maricopa County
sheriff 's officers going to be involved in teaching the Canadians and
that the only role of the sheriff 's office was to provide access to
people in custody at a remand centre who could be evaluated for
drug-impairment.

Still, the seriousness of the allegations prompted the RCMP to cancel
its training sessions in Arizona, said Insp. Allan Lucier.

"It was almost immediate after having read the report that this would
not be a facility that we would associate ourselves with," he said.

Officer Christopher Hegstrom, a spokesman for the sheriff 's office -
whose commander, Joe Arpaio, likes to call himself "America's toughest
sheriff" and has received a lot of attention for his tough approach to
illegal immigration - said Monday in a statement that the accusations
against the force are unproven and overstated by a "sensationalistic
press, and so far represent mere words uttered by administration
officials in Washington, D.C."