[420 Girl]

Cornwall's police force risks "tarring and feathering" innocent people by placing signs outside homes where they have executed drug search warrants, a civil liberties advocate said yesterday.

Local police erected the new program's first sign -- emblazoned with the words "Drug Search Warrant" -- on Wednesday in front of a home where three people were arrested.

It's a "dangerous situation" that brands people as drug dealers before they have been convicted or even charged, said Graeme Norton of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

"When people are arrested they are dealt with by the criminal justice system," Norton said.

"That generally doesn't include putting a sign on their front lawn, nor tarring and feathering them."

USED IN U.S.

Norton has never heard of police anywhere in Canada taking such action, but Cornwall police Chief Dan Parkinson said the program has been used in some U.S. cities.

He said the signs are part of an effort to increase police visibility in the community and not an attempt at "public shaming."

But Norton called the policy "gratuitous" and said it presents a lot of alarming implications.

The owner of the home may not actually live there, or the home's occupant may not be the one suspected of drug crimes, Norton said.

"Executing a search warrant doesn't mean that somebody has done anything wrong," he said.

Aside from the vast civil liberties implications, Norton said, property values could take a hit if homes in a neighbourhood are branded as drug dens.

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