kyla lee

A high-ranking B.C. RCMP officer says the legal “landscape has changed” in recent years, affecting officers’ abilities to deal with repeat and chronic offenders.

Supt. Syd Lecky made the comments in an interview with CFCJ as he ends four years as the officer in charge of the Kamloops RCMP to take a position as chief superintendent in the Northwest Territories.

“There’s limitations to the authorities that police have now,” he said.

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In the Jordan case, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that accused persons must be tried within 18 months in provincial courts and within 30 months in superior courts, while the Zora case set the precedent that the right to bail can only be infringed where holding someone in custody is the last possible resort ahead of a trial, Vancouver criminal lawyer Kyla Lee explained.

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“The charter guarantees that you are to be released on bail unless it’s absolutely necessary to keep you in custody pending the outcome of your case,” she said.

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RCMP in the Northwest Territories have begun using roadside cannabis-screening technology that has faced criticism from defence lawyers elsewhere in Canada.

Mounties in the territory announced late last month that they had deployed devices designed to take a saliva sample and test for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis. They said the technology would help them detect impaired drivers and make roads safer.
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“It can lead to people being arrested who are actually innocent,” said Kyla Lee, a lawyer based in Vancouver.

Lee said research has shown the devices may be more likely to deliver false results in extreme cold temperatures, and movement during analysis could also affect outcomes. She added that while the devices can deliver either a positive or negative test result, they do not indicate how much THC may be in a person’s bloodstream.

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According to a report from Daily Hive , an officer spotted Kaytlin Quinn holding her phone in her hand as she spoke to her brother on speakerphone during the 2.5-hour wait for the PCR test on Dec 22. She was removed from the lineup, ticketed, and allowed to return to her place in line. 

Lawyer Kyla Lee is representing Quinn pro bono, saying that the $300 ticket and potential insurance rate increase that could come with it was a disappointing decision by the officer.  

“It shocks me that an officer would have voluntarily decided to interact with somebody who might have COVID-19 and get close enough to them to get their driver’s licence, identify them, and serve them a ticket. It’s just not common sense,” she told Daily Hive, adding that she believes the ticket does not serve the spirit of B.C.’s distracted driving laws, which are designed to make roads safer. 

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