Prof. Kate Puddister, Department of Political Science, spoke to the Woodstock Sentinel Review about why police forces discourage ordinary citizens from taking the law into their own hands.

Her comments came after reports of anonymous video vigilantes using online messaging and YouTube to snare suspected child predators in the Woodstock area.

Puddister said police discourage “cyber vigilantes” because “it undermines the rule of law and the administration of justice.” She added that police are trained in the proper way to conduct stings that will help to preserve evidence “in a manner that will be acceptable in court.”

An expert in criminal justice policy and police oversight, she studies interactions between politics and the judiciary. Most recently, she analyzed reference cases in Canadian courts of appeal and government use of the reference power.