Edmonton Hate Crimes Unit

Sgt. Stephen Camp, of the Edmonton, Canada, Hate Crimes Unit, presenting on, "Combatting Hate at the Municipal Level," and his unit's work against hate online.

They consider hate crimes as counter to fundamental principles of the Canadian charter, which recognizes multicultural values and human dignity.

Only two people to staff the Hate Crimes Unit, vastly understaffed to address many goals.

Law enforcement in Canada is able to address online activity based on their law against, "Wilful Promotion of Hatred," (319.2) which enables them to practively go after hate sites. One such example was the site, "Western Canada for Us." Many members of the group had previous criminal records for violent crimes. The site was based in Edmonton, the ISP was in New Jersey, and the links to other well-known white supremacist groups internationally.

Interesting discussion of the chronology of the investigation, which only began with online monitoring and then shifted to traditional, on-the-ground investigative tools.

Wrap Up: "Human rights, human dignity and mutual respect are the building blocks of the Unit." Refreshing law enforcement perspective.

Online investigations recommended as effective and economical tools.