Police: Package Thieves Deserve Privacy, So Don't Post Videos of Them Stealing Your Stuff
Canadians are known for inordinate politeness combined with heavy-handed political correctness. It’s an odd combination but somewhat unsurprising for a nation that considers Justin Trudeau an acceptable head of state.
However, even for the great frozen north, this is a bit much: In Quebec, police are warning victims of package theft not to post videos of the alleged thieves online — lest they become the criminals.
According to Fox News, the Sûreté du Québec — the local police force in the province — is warning those who have been struck by “porch pirates” not to share video of the crime online.
The warning came as CTV News Montreal reported on a rash of porch piracy in Canada’s second-largest city.
“Montreal West is known for its large porches, but around the holidays, those porches are a big target for thieves or ‘porch pirates,’” CTV’s Olivia O’Malley reported Saturday.
It’s a major issue in the city, according to Lauren Small-Pennefather, the Montreal West councilor in charge of public security.
“It’s something we deal with on a daily basis,” she said. “You have people that are following the vehicles, and when they see a parcel that’s dropped off, they then go and take the parcel if nobody comes to the door to retrieve the parcel.”
Indeed, CTV reported in November that a FedEx survey found 28 percent of respondents said they were victims of package theft. That’s up from 24 percent in 2022 and 20 percent in 2021 — indicative of a growing problem.
“It’s a natural concern,” said James Anderson, spokesman for FedEx Express Canada. “It’s always in the back of your mind — ‘What happens with my package [when I’m not home]?'”
Well, obviously, if you have a home monitoring system, as many people do, you can catch the individual in the act and post footage where people are most likely to identify the culprit — namely, online.
The problem is, that’s a big no-no, at least as far as the Sûreté du Québec is concerned.
“You cannot post the images yourself because you have to remember, in Canada, we have a presumption of innocence and posting that picture could be a violation of private life,” said Lt. Benoit Richard, communications officer with the force.
“You cannot post the images yourself, you have to remember in Canada we have presumption of innocence.”
Quebec police urge the public not to post footage of thieves stealing packages from their houses because it can be a violation of private life. pic.twitter.com/1hpXIs2gDC
— Alexandra Lavoie (@ThevoiceAlexa) January 10, 2024
When Fox News contacted the agency for comment, the Sûreté du Québec referenced articles 35 and 36 of the Code of Québec. Those state that “every person has a right to the respect of his reputation and privacy,” and “the privacy of a person may not be invaded without the consent of the person or without the invasion being authorized by law.”
So, just to be clear: The lawbreaker has more rights to privacy than the victim, even though the crime was committed in broad daylight and, short of a fantastic AI rendering of a nonexistent porch theft, the camera merely displays what the person did. Any damage to his or her reputation and/or privacy was self-inflicted.
But don’t tell that to the Sûreté du Québec, which warned that those who share footage of porch pirates could face civil or criminal proceedings.
Instead, victims were urged to call 911 and hand the case over to police — who clearly place a high priority on catching the thieves whose privacy they’re so concerned about.
The Quebec police are saying this because it embarrasses them in how much theft occurs without consequence.
Report it to them and they’ll file it away and pretend it never happened. https://t.co/WAyi4oVBUM— Chris Tomlinson (@TomlinsonCJ) January 10, 2024
Ezra Levant, conservative pundit and co-founder of Canadian conservative publication Rebel News, put it best.
“It’s 2024, so of course the police care more about criminals than victims of crime,” he said.
It’s 2024, so of course the police care more about criminals than victims of crime. https://t.co/BFTo5OS2sF
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) January 10, 2024
And, yes, this is Canada, where the cold seems to have frozen over the portion of politicians’ brains responsible for common sense.
The problem is that whatever formless woke movement has taken hold in Canuckistan will eventually find its way down here given enough time.
Sure, today it’s just the Sûreté du Québec worried about protecting the privacy of porch pirates at the expense of hardworking Canadians who paid for the items these people are stealing.
Rest assured that, not too many tomorrows from today, AOC and the rest of the “squad” will be on CNN lambasting anyone who puts doorbell video of package thieves online as racists and vigilantes.
Unless Quebecois heads roll due to this insipidity, one can guarantee the rot will only spread south.
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