clarinews@clarinet.com (hewitt/standard broadcast news ottawa) (02/02/90)
(OTTAWA) In a ruling which outlines valid reasons for police body-searches, two Montreal police officers have been acquitted of assault charges. The charges of assault were laid against officers Richard Langlois and Jean-Pierre Bedard after they frisked a man whom they had just arrested for unpaid traffic tickets. The charges of common assault were laid by the suspect who claimed the police had no right to search him. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that once a person has been arrested, police can perform such searches in order to ensure the safe application of the law. The power is not unlimited though. The court says there must be a question of safety at the time of arrest and the search must not be abusive.