Pubdate: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2003 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Adrienne Tanner Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1533/a08.html JAILHOUSE STRIP SEARCHES PRODUCE PLENTY Every month, Vancouver jail guards conducting strip searches collect enough contraband to fill a plastic container the size of a 2.5-kilogram bag of flour. Needles, some in their sterile orange and white wrappers, others used and bloodied, make up the bulk of the seized items, Peter Coulson, the jail's acting district director, testified yesterday in provincial court. But there are also knifes, crack pipes, razor blades, pins and bent coat hangers in the mix, he said, shaking the see-through container. Judge Catherine Bruce shuddered and asked that Coulson not enter it as an exhibit. "I'm not sure I want something that might be filled with contamination." Coulson was testifying at the trial of Cara Douglas, 33, who was charged with assault following a scuffle with police after she was pulled over for a driving offence in June 2002. Douglas's lawyer, Rick Brooks, said her constitutional rights were violated by a strip search. In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that strip searches cannot be carried out as a matter of routine. The Vancouver jail routinely searches everyone arrested and about to be charged with a criminal offence because it is a shared provincial jail and police holding cell where prisoners mix. Coulson said the jail, which deals with up to 100 prisoners a day, is at capacity. There is no viable way to separate the fresh arrests from everyone else and strip searches are necessary to ensure staff and prisoner safety and to curb drug dealing. He agreed with Brooks' description of strip searches as humiliating and degrading. "Yes, for the person being searched and in a lot of cases for the people conducting the searches as well," Coulson said. There is no blanket strip-search policy at RCMP holding cells. Two other Vancouver lawyers are attempting to mount a class-action lawsuit challenging the Vancouver jail policy. Douglas's trial continues. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk