B'nai Brith 1996 Press Releases Page

MOCK BRIEFS CHIEFS ON HATE

For Immediate Release

Ottawa, August 27, 1996... "The Internet gives hatemongers influence that far outweighs their numbers", said Dr. Karen Mock, National Director of the League for Human Rights in a keynote address to the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. "Haters love the Net because it gives their venom a global reach, freedom from regulation and the ability to publish hate propaganda with ease and at minimal cost.", said Mock.

But she cautioned the Chiefs from getting too carried away, at a time of declining resources, and to avoid duplication of effort. "It behooves the law enforcement community to harness this technology and use it as a tool to enhance the work of gathering evidence and sharing intelligence, and especially as a tool for education and rapid dissemination of information." said Mock, "You only need a few people monitoring the hate sites, and then use the most up-to-date information technology to create a network and system of countering their influence and to prosecute where appropriate.", she added.

In documenting hate and related violence in Canada from Aryan Nations to Zundelsite, Mock challenged the Canadian Policing services to more effectively enforce existing hate legislation to "put hatemongers from A to Z where they belong by working cooperatively with communities, all relevant government agencies such as immigration, customs and excise, Canada Post and others, as well as joint forces police operations without so much concern for jurisdiction. The Internet knows no boundaries. We have to be smarter than the hatemongers, and with turf wars we lose sight of who the enemy really is.", she reminded the audience.

"B'nai Brith has shown tremendous leadership and expertise in the field of hate and bias crime. It was great to have someone as well respected in policing circles as Dr. Mock to address the Chiefs on such an important and timely topic.", noted David Pepper, Director of Community Development for the hosting District of Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police Service.

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