FOG BLOG NEW BRUNSWICK LOG: POSTING NAMES WITH OUTSTANDING WARRANTS ON FACEBOOK, EFFECTIVE TOOL?

Unnecessary public shaming or effective police tool? Warrant Wednesday gets divided reaction in N.B. Some N.B. police forces use social media to publish names of people who have outstanding warrants At least two police departments in New Brunswick have begun using social media to get the public's help in finding people with outstanding warrants.

They call it Warrant Wednesday.

Each week, the Woodstock and Kennebecasis police forces publish a list of people's full names, and sometimes the fines or jail time they owe, on Facebook.

Generally, these warrants are for people who have been convicted of something like a driving offence, but haven't paid a fine or done their jail time, or haven't appeared for their court date.

Woodstock has been doing it since November 2022, while Kennebecasis began the practice in January.

"This is just a new approach when we've tried everything, people are avoiding police, and we think we owe it to the public to execute these [warrants]," said Insp. Mary Henderson of the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force.

Henderson said in the first three weeks of January, they've resolved warrants with 12 people, some of whom had more than one warrant attached to their name. So far, the department has posted lists of people convicted of impaired operation of a vehicle, driving with a suspended licence and with outstanding arrest warrants.

Warrant Wednesday could cause harm, says ethicist

Timothy Christie, a philosophy professor at the University of New Brunswick who writes about ethics, doesn't believe Warrant Wednesday is fair.

He said people are held accountable for their actions through the court system and receive penalties such as fines or jail time.

"They definitely deserve those things because they went through a process in court, where that was what was determined, and it was determined as an appropriate sanction," Christie said.

"Nowhere in that sanction did it include public shaming."

Henderson, however, said Warrant Wednesday is not about shaming people. "It is a very public venue that people get to look at, but does that outweigh the need to execute these warrants and public safety?"

Christie said that the justice system imposes punishments on people so they can correct themselves and reintegrate into society.

"This thing that the police are doing strikes me as not helping people reintegrate into society in a meaningful way, but actually will make things more difficult for them," Christie said.

He said life may be more difficult because being named on Facebook could impact someone's reputation.