A useful resource for understanding common-law police powers in Canada.

Police enforce the law, but they must also obey it. Statutes circumscribe how law enforcement officers conduct their work. At the same time, Canadian courts have handed police many powers to stop, search, and otherwise investigate people in the pursuit of public safety and crime prevention. 

Ancillary Police Powers in Canada explains what these common-law police powers are, how they came to be, and, crucially, what the potential dangers are in their expanding scope. Why are “Mr. Big” sting operations used? What is the difference between police duty and lawful authority? Should the Supreme Court rescind powers when the police tactics they enable become controversial? This nuanced book surveys the evolution, application, and future of judge-made police powers. The authors bring historical perspective, critical legal theory, and empirical analysis to an issue that is fundamental to constitutional protection from state interference with individual liberty.

John W. Burchill is an instructor at the University of Manitoba, chief of staff with the Winnipeg Police Service, and president of the Winnipeg Police Museum and Historical Society. He is the author of Volumes 1 and 2 of Pioneer Policemen: The History of the Manitoba Provincial Police. Richard Jochelson is the dean of law at the University of Manitoba. He also spearheaded Robsoncrim.com, a leading research blog that undergirds the criminal law edition of the Manitoba Law Journal. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah is associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto and a senior fellow at Massey College. He has held positions with Canada’s National Judicial Institute, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General. He is the coauthor of Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice. Terry Skolnik is associate professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa and the co-director of the Ottawa Public Law Centre. He is also the interim executive director of the Academy for Justice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. He was formerly an officer in the Montreal Police Service.