Search warrants have become much too easy for Toronto police to obtain, says a veteran defence lawyer who is calling on the courts to “bring some control to the situation that’s become like the Wild West.”

New documents show the number of search warrants executed by Toronto police has almost tripled in a nine-year period. In roughly half the cases, nothing illegal was found and no charges laid.

In 2005, officers executed 487 search warrants in Toronto. By 2012 that number had climbed to 1,500 before dipping back to 1,359 in 2013. That means on average, police were executing four search warrants a day somewhere in the city, according to Toronto Police Service statistics.

Only 698, or half, of the 1,359 search warrants executed in 2013 resulted in Criminal Code or Controlled Drugs and Substances Act charges being laid, “and (those charges) may also include charges not directly related to the warrant,” the TPS states.

A 50-per-cent “failure rate” is a “huge problem,” lawyer David Bayliss said Friday.

“These search warrants are supposed to be based on reasonable and probable grounds to believe that something will be found.”

Toronto Police spokesperson Mark Pugash disagreed. “The test for a warrant (to be issued) is there may be evidence, it’s not the test that you have to meet for arrests or convictions and there is a mechanism by which these (warrants) are scrutinized.”

While Bayliss said he is baffled by the jump from 2005 to 2013 since there have been “no significant legislative change” requiring warrants, Pugash said the number of warrants executed is actually “incredibly low.”

“When you look at the numbers, as a percentage of the number of investigations we have, in a city like Toronto . . . the numbers may be up but it’s a fairly small base to start with. The clear trend in case law is more and more warrants are required.” He cited child-exploitation investigators now requiring warrants when they used to simply ask for, and get, basic subscriber information from telecommunications companies.

In order to obtain a search warrant, police must seek approval from a justice of the peace (JP) using an “information to obtain” (ITO) document or affidavit prepared by the police. An officer cannot enter a home or business without one.

Bayliss shared the search warrant information with the Star which he obtained from Toronto police after filing a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The information did not include any details about the investigations nor what police were looking for when they sought approval from the courts.

He made similar requests to Ontario Provincial Police and York Regional Police but was told those departments don’t keep track of their search warrant statistics. Durham Region Police did not respond to his request, Bayliss said.

Peel Region Police reported their officers executed 232 search warrants in 2005 and by 2013 the number had risen to 363. Contraband was seized, on average, 76.8 per cent of the time, Peel police figures show.

Bayliss said if case law is behind the rise in the number of search warrants being executed in Toronto, “didn’t Peel get the memo.” Pugash said it’s ridiculous to compare the two jurisdictions given Toronto’s size.

Another area for concern is that police can obtain a search warrant outside of regular working hours through a “telewarrant.” Within an hour, police can get one by faxing an affidavit to an on-call JP, who could even be in North Bay, Ont., Bayliss said.

Too many of these and other routine warrants are being granted by JPs based on information gleaned from confidential informants, who might be offering tips in exchange for bail or some other consideration.

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Defence lawyers can’t properly challenge the reliability of these warrants in higher courts because a confidential informant’s identity is typically shielded from the defence.

“There is no effective oversight,” Bayliss said. “And there is a perception of no oversight amongst the police officers involved. They know no one from the defence will ever see the affidavit in support of the warrant.” He suggested officers “take liberties” both in drafting the affidavits and in court. Pugash said Bayliss is “completely wrong.”

The Ontario Court of Appeal, in 2012, says when an application for a search warrant is “based largely on information coming from a confidential informant,” a judge must ask: was the information predicting the crime compelling, was the source of the information credible and was the information corroborated by the police before conducting the search.

Pugash said Bayliss should take his concerns to the Ministry of the Attorney General — not police.