The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Stockwell Day, Canadian Minister of Public Safety, and the U.S. Attorney General, Alberto R. Gonzales, last week signed a memorandum of understanding at the ninth annual Canada-United States Cross-Border Crime Forum to help solve cross-border crime investigations. "Today's agreement will further enhance our ability to tackle gun violence on both sides of the border and keep our communities safe and secure," said Minister Day. "Our law enforcement agencies will be able to solve more crimes by connecting firearms and bullets used in one or more crime scenes across North America." "This agreement paves the way for greater law enforcement collaboration between the United States and Canada," said Attorney General Gonzales. "It will aid criminal investigations involving firearms on both sides of the border and will help ensure the safety of citizens of both nations." Currently, the RCMP, in concert with the provincial forensic laboratories can associate firearms from crime scenes and can trace guns used in one or more crime scenes in Canada, using Canadian-developed digital technology that studies the markings on bullets and cartridges. With this agreement, the RCMP and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will be able to compare evidence electronically across North America. Prior to the agreement, there was a limited manual exchange of gun, bullet and cartridge information, which was also time-consuming and cumbersome. Other key issues discussed at the Cross-Border Crime Forum included combating mass marketing fraud, organized crime, and firearms and drugs trafficking.11/22/2006
