integrated U.S.-Canada aerial border patrols RCMP commissioner open to idea of integrated U.S.-Canada aerial border patrols
Proposal would see U.S. officials helping with patrols 80km into Canada
The head of the RCMP is open to the idea of an integrated cross-border aerial law enforcement program which could see U.S. officials helping to patrol the Canadian side of the border.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme was asked about a proposed U.S. Senate bill that would authorize the Department of Homeland Security to negotiate joint U.S.-Canada aerial patrols at the border.
Duheme suggested he's been briefed on the proposal and pointed to an existing marine program.
Colloquially known as Shiprider, the decade-old agreement gives the U.S. Coast Guard and the RCMP the power to board ships and make arrests in both Canadian and American waters.
"So when they're on the Canadian side of the waters, the Canadian officers will use their authority, and when we're on the U.S. side, the U.S. Coast Guard will use their authority. It's a good program," he said.
"We're looking at having another land rider as well as the air rider."
The U.S. Senate bill proposes that the jurisdiction of the proposed aerial patrol program be limited to territory located within 50 miles of either side of the border, about 80 kilometres on either side.
Introduced this spring, the bill advanced past the committee stage in the Senate earlier this week and is now eligible for a vote. Its chances of passing are slim, however, as the clock ticks down on this lame-duck session of Congress.
Duheme said there have also been discussions about a land-based version of the Shiprider program.
"We've been working on it, but I'm not quite sure of a timeline on it," he said Wednesday following a public safety committee hearing on the bord
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-aerial-patrol-us-1.7408664