Protesters Know Their Rights Including The Right To Trample On Mine...

Know your rights

By Paul Terefenko

 

You’re the peace-loving type, so you’re not worried about getting detained. But that might not matter. Knowledge of your rights goes way further than trying to recall what you’ve gathered from years of watching Law And Order.
Fortunately, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is on your side. All advice is from their protester rights guide, available on ccla.org.
If you’re minding your own business and not doing anything illegal and a cop comes by demanding you identify yourself, you don’t have to oblige (though politeness goes a long way.)
That said, having a bike without a bell or lights might mean an officer could use that against you – issuing a ticket and thereby getting your info. Make sure you don’t get hit for technicalities.
If an officer tries to keep you from going on your merry way, he or she has to detain you. To do that, the officer has to suspect you of having committed a crime or feel there’s a need to keep you.
You must ask why you’re being detained, and cops have to tell you. Beyond providing your name and address, you don’t have to talk and can call a lawyer. As in most tense situations, gauging the value of actually talking through your problem with cops can pay off.
Your backpack isn’t something police can just ask to take a look into. You can always say no unless they produce a warrant, detain you, arrest you or feel there’s evidence in it. Also, don’t carry anything illegal in your bag. Even a little pot is enough to earn you a trip to arrest-town.
Basically, as I said, don’t let the police get you on a technicality like smoking on TTC property or, well, lighting shit on fire.
Here’s the top-eight list of offences protesters get hit with: 1) breach of peace, an easy catch-and-release way for cops to detain you; 2) causing a disturbance could be singing or obscenity; 3) mischief – did you intentionally spray-paint something? That counts; 4) weapons, pretty self-explanatory unless you’re talking about flagpoles; 5) rioting – violent chaos counts, marching in an organized fashion does not; 6) blocking a road; 7) assault and assaulting an officer (that means no spitting); 8) obstruction and resisting arrest.
So now you’re under arrest. What now? First, find out why. They have to tell you. You can also call a lawyer, and contrary to Hollywood, you get more than one call. The police have to provide the phone, and you have the right to speak in private. The Summit Legal Support Project says it will have lawyers available at the detention centres. If at any other time you need help, contact them at movementdefence.org.
And the most fun of all – go completely limp. It’s not resisting arrest if you’re not being active. Make ’em work for their $1 billion.