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This week, the Ridge Meadows RCMP announced that they were a mapping out a “red zone” for downtown Maple Ridge, B.C., a suburb east of Vancouver. Covering a roughly 15-block section of the downtown’s core known for its high crime, it would be a “designated area” where habitual offenders could be arrested on sight. Or, as the Mounties put it, it would be a “legal tool to arrest a repeat offender who is simply in a geographical area.”

The National Post called up the experts to get the details on B.C.’s most cinematically named crimefighting tool.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or A B.C. city is building 'red zones' to banish repeat offenders from its downtown. Can cities really do that? Back to video

Can you really just banish offenders from places?

Police generally call a geographic ban a “no go” provision, and it’s enforced by being attached to offender’s parole orders or the release conditions of an accused criminal awaiting trial. Men accused of spousal abuse, for instance, are routinely released from custody on the condition that they avoid the home or workplace of their spouse. Similarly, in the future, someone with a rap sheet of Maple Ridge break-ins might leave police custody with an order to steer clear of the red zone. According to Maple Ridge officials, the red zone is being created largely to keep out offenders suspected of being behind a rash of property damage and break-ins.