Police Have the Authority to Target LCBO Patrons

POLICE HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO TARGET LCBO PATRONS
By: Snoopster



A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice says that police officers can randomly stop and question patrons of the LCBO (or any other establishment) to check for sobriety when leaving the premises.

In R v. Farquharson, Justice Irving Andre overturned the decision of the lower court which found that Mr. Farquharson’s rights under section 9 of the Charter were violated.  The court dismissed all the charges and the Crown appealed.

On February 4th, 2012, a police officer from Peel Regional Police decided to conduct random sobriety checks on motor vehicles driven by patrons leaving an LCBO store in Brampton.  The officer stopped the accused vehicle just after he had left the store and a demand for a breath sample was made.  The accused blood alcohol level was registered above the legally permissible limit and he was arrested and charged for impaired driving.

At trial, the sole issue for determination by the court was whether the random stop contravened the accused rights under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Section 9 guarantees that everyone has the right not be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.  The trial judge found that indeed Mr. Farquharson’s rights under section 9 were violated when the officer decided to randomly stop his vehicle coming from the LCBO on the chance that the driver may have consumed alcohol.  Justice Kenny concluded that:

“…the stop was not objectively reasonable.  The accused was not stopped for a Highway Traffic Act offence.  He was not investigated as a result of a specific suspect offence.  The officer had no reasonable grounds to affect this stop or to undertake an investigation”

Justice Andre disagreed with this decision and ruled even if the decision to randomly stop and detain the accused was arbitrary (which he stated it was not); it nevertheless was a reasonable limit on the right against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment under section 1 of the Charter.  The court made it clear that the random stop in this case was not arbitrary because it was based on criteria directly relevant to highway safety concerns.  It would however, have been arbitrary and unlawful if the random stop was made because of the accused person’s race or sex.

For the general public, the real crux of this decision is that police officers can randomly stop persons to check for sobriety even if they don’t have articulable cause to believe an offence has occurred. The evidence from this case also disclosed that police do indeed target certain establishments (bars, nightclubs, and liquor stores) for random stops for sobriety checks based on statistics which show a propensity for patrons to be arrested and charged for impaired driving when leaving these locations.

Bullshyte Ruling !

We are on the verge of becoming a Police state....

Trust me : they would have to conduct a High speed chase IF I am arbitrarily stopped 

I agree Bro.  The law in this country is that police officers have to have articulable cause to believe an offence has been committed, or is about to be committed, to stop and detain a citizen.  This ruling clearly is an exception on the basis of "sobriety checks".

It's going to the Court of Appeal for sure.

dats terrible..an encroachment on privacy and freedom of movement.

it is already illegal to drink in public in canada..and for LCBO to sell patrons who have been drinking. 

people have already been highly disciplined into compliance with canadian likker laws.  and dem an' politician an' dem know that.  so what is this save extension of their desire to stop people, to put people under manners and lock-down in the country > >

Here the kicker Maps.  Justice Andre is a Black man of Caribbean birth.  When he was a criminal defence lawyer he fought ferociously for civil liberties and constitional rights.

I was shocked when I read his decision on this case yesterday.

why does that sooprise you snoops ::confused:: ::confused:: ::confused::

I know dem well.  doh let their youthful allegiances mislead you. 

when it comes to black west indian with professionals that is no way to understand them..with due respect to you.  why do you think I beat up on dem so ferociously...like skunt Lloyd for example. I knew dat MF inside out but I gave him every chance to prove himself the opposite.  but no. 

look at the career of Lloyd and see the same flow you describe fuh the black judge in question

and remember!  the people who appoint these guys to their positions are no fools.  they make no mistakes with their choices.  you can be absolutely certain that if he gets to that position he is one of them

When they stop you , open the window just a crack and give your documents,  By opening the window they can claim that they smell alcohol and that is all the probable cause they need , Lock all doors and never allow them to search vehicle . Tell dem to get a warrant

yall should join the force