Legal Issues In Policing
Legal Issues in Policing (LIIP) is the podcast blending the demands of the book with the rulings from the bench through the lens of the badge. Police Officers with a solid understanding of the law and their legal powers are more confident, competent and effective. Each episode will examine a legal issue in policing by reviewing current Canadian criminal case law from coast to coast to coast.
Legal Issues In Policing
E136| A man, a mall & a menacing machete. Assessing a stop, safety searches & the right to counsel.
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In this episode, Mike discusses the BC Supreme Court decision R. v. Watroba, 2025 BCSC 815 where police saw a man, who they recognized as someone known to be involved in drug trafficking, standing outside a shopping mall with an easily accessible machete strapped across his back. This led to an investigative detention, a pat-down, the search of a satchel, the discovery of fentanyl and ultimately an arrest. The man was charged with possessing a weapon dangerous to the public peace and two counts of PPT. His lawyer, as one might expect, challenged every aspect of the police interaction on Charter grounds. Did the police have enough cause to detain? Was the pat-down legitimate? Was looking in the satchel justified on the basis of officer safety? And was the arrest lawful? Listen to learn what the judge ruled. It may just help you in a future case like it.
Related cases:
- R. v. Watroba, 2025 BCSC 2192
- R. v. Watroba, 2025 BCSC 2209
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