Pubdate: Wed, 16 Feb 2011
Source: Similkameen Spotlight (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Similkameen Spotlight
Contact:  http://www.similkameenspotlight.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3484
Author: Dierra Maynard

JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER

"Who made them judge, jury and executioner," said disgruntled citizen
Wes Arnold after being given a 'Notice of 24 hour Prohibition and
Report to ICBC' on Monday evening by a Keremeos RCMP officer. Arnold
was driving in to town at just after 9 p.m. on February 7 when an RCMP
officer walked out into the middle of the road near the Brown Bridge
and waved for Arnold to pull over. "I pulled over and rolled down my
window," Arnold recounted, "and that is where things got ugly."

"I smell marijuana," Arnold said the officer stated. "In fact, I smell
green marijuana. I am going to put you under arrest for possession of
marijuana." Arnold said the officer had neither seen nor found any
before making this alarming statement, but he was asked to exit his
vehicle and get into the back of the RCMP cruiser anyway. "I did," he
said, "and then I sat in there and waited while he searched my
vehicle." After minutes had gone by, Arnold said the peace officer
returned to the cruiser empty handed and demanded that Arnold tell him
where his stash was. "I didn't have one, so I couldn't tell him that,"
Arnold continued.

The officer then, went back to my car and searched some more. "When he
came back to the cruiser," Arnold said, "the cop started filling out
this fine and then let me out of the car and handed it to me.
Apparently, I was no longer under arrest, but was being given this 24
hour prohibition."

Arnold said he was completely honest with the officer who pulled him
over admitting that on occasion he did smoke marijuana to help combat
pain from a long term disability. "I have paralysis in my left leg
from a spinal  injury," he stated. "I have a prescription for Demerol,
but I don't like taking it. It makes me blotto, so instead I take the
odd hit off of a joint to help me when my pain is peaking at it seems
to help."

On top of that, Arnold said he further admitted that he had stopped in
at a friend's place before driving to town and had "a couple of hits
off of a joint." Arnold said "I wasn't trying to hide anything. The
RCMP always say they just want people to be honest, so that's what I
was and it totally backfired." The officer took Arnold driver's
licence and said, "sign this" and handed him the fine. He said to me,
"I am taking your licence. You can get it back after 24 hours."

Arnold said the whole situation has turned out to be completely
disconcerting. "I was asked to empty my pockets. I was put into the
back of the police car and told I was under arrest. At no time was I
ever given a sobriety test. Then, after the cop didn't find anything,
he gave me a 24 hour instead without ever even doing any test of any
sort to see if I was safe to be behind the wheel of a vehicle or not."

This is not the end of the story for Arnold. On Tuesday, he picked up
his driver's licence from the RCMP station and headed to the
government services office to dispute the prohibition. "I was told to
go to ICBC to dispute it and that it had nothing to do with them,"
Arnold said. "I was shocked. Are the RCMP working for ICBC now or the
province? I was mad."

Arnold headed to one of the local insurance offices and received more
bad news. "After I was given a copy of the dispute application, I
realized that I couldn't dispute the prohibition because my reason did
not fall into one of the two categories the form stipulated and also,
that this prohibition would be put onto my driving record for the next
five years. I had no recourse. I couldn't believe it. The fee for
disputing the prohibition is $100 and the prohibition will stay on the
driver's record and may be considered by the Superintendent of Motor
Vehicle in a review of a driving record. A driving record review may
result in additional sanctions such as driving prohibitions under the
Driver Improvement Program.

The application for review that Arnold was given by the insurance
office stated two reasons for review: "the officer failed to
administer a test of my blood alcohol level when I requested it; I was
not the driver or did not have care or control of the motor vehicle."
"I am not trying to absolve myself here," said Arnold,"but I would not
have told that officer anything looking back nor would I have signed
the prohibition slip had I known the repercussions. I want people to
know that this prohibition goes onto their driving record for five
years and that any peace officer in B.C. can be judge, jury and
executioner based on their opinion. I could have had my car towed too,
but the officer did let me phone a friend to come get it. The whole
thing is really crazy. This is Canada, not Russia. These same officers
who might kick you in the head when you are down on the ground and
obeying orders and who taser people to try and gain information while
you are handcuffed in! the back of a police car have been given more
power. It is a scary thing and one you apparently can't do anything
about. What happened to our rights?" 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D