Benoit Roberge: the cop that turned
Daniel Renaud has an interview with Benoit Roberge, the police investigator who did time for having sold information to a biker gang member, who’s been out of jail now for two years but clearly has not forgotten what it was like.
Ephraim 08:33 on 2019-02-04 Permalink
As I have said before, the information in those computers should have better security and tracking. (It runs under the privacy act, only those who need to know should be able to look at the file.) Opening a file should have clear tracking. Opening a file that you shouldn’t need, should require permission (physical authorization, a password and a scan of a physical card) from your supervisor and his/her realization that they are taking responsibility by opening the file. Just the fact that your name appears on the file (on screen) indicating your name and the time you opened the file, would clearly signal to most people their responsibility and the tracking. If you are in a file that you shouldn’t be in… questions should start to be asked. The fact that he got away with this for so long is a clear indication of a failure on the side of the police force, not just Roberge.
Kate 08:04 on 2019-02-05 Permalink
That could be made to sound bureaucratically good, Ephraim, but it’s not the head honchos in the police service who are the source of information. It’s the guys collecting it. And doing an investigation isn’t a question merely of information, but of instinct. Anyone who’s done even the lightest research knows how you hop from one item to another as you follow an insight or a line of investigation. Finding yourself constantly blocked would be massively counterproductive. You need to see reports from colleagues working on the same files.
This is local police work, not high government stuff with levels of security.