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Police stake out bar, hoping to catch man drunk |
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by Andrew Orlowski The Register Entered into the database on Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 @ 18:02:51 MST |
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Canadian cops staked out a bar in the hope of finding a journalist
drunk. The journalist in question, Edmonton newspaper columnist Kerry Diotte,
wasn't suspected of involvement in any crime. But Diotte had written a column
criticizing the police force's radar and camera technology as being more of
a cash cow for the force than an effective measure against road fatalities,
and the story enraged the local constabulary. Diotte has been a consistent critic of the police's technology
dependency habit. Police tapped into the confidential vehicle licensing database to obtain
Diotte's details of car and home residence, then staked out the Overtime Bar
in Edmonton with three officers. According to one Edmonton officer, the journalist posed a threat to the city's
burghers. "It was true that we found that vehicle in a bar lot and the potential
for serious harm or death was there," claimed Sergeant Glen Hayden, testifying
before a disciplinary hearing. According to witnesses the journalist took a cab home and was reported
to be sober. What kind of journalist is he? The hearing continues. |
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