the person who responded confirmed that he was Jay. It was
only at this point that D.C. Canepa asked to buy “80”, common
parlance in the drug trade for $80 of cocaine.
[73] In my view, the police had developed reasonable suspicion
by this time that the phone line was being used in a dial-a-dope
scheme. The call was directed to a particular phone number, supplied by a source who indicated that it was being used by a person
named Jay to sell drugs. The person who answered the phone
confirmed he was Jay, corroborating the source’s information and
further focusing the police investigation. While the police did not
have reasonable suspicion that Mr. Williams specifically was
engaged in criminal activity, the objectively discernible facts support the police’s reasonable suspicion that the telephone line was
being used to sell drugs.
[74] This was not a random call, but rather a focused investigation. The source provided information both about the phone line
being used in the dial-a-dope scheme and the name of the person
using that phone line. While no inquiries appear to have been
made about the source’s reliability, the source’s information
about Jay was confirmed when the person who answered the
phone replied positively to the name.
[75] In my view, the police are not required to investigate the
reliability of a source before embarking on a phone conversation. While information about a source’s reliability may in some
circumstances provide reasonable suspicion that a phone line
is being used in a dial-a-dope scheme, reasonable suspicion
may also be developed in the course of the phone call, such
as when the person who answers the call confirms the source’s
information.
[76] In Mr. Williams’ case, the police reasonably suspected that
the phone line was being used in a dial-a-dope scheme when they
presented the opportunity to commit a crime. As a result, they
were engaged in a bona fide inquiry at the time they gave Mr. Williams the opportunity to sell drugs.
[77] Similarly, the police were engaged in a bona fide inquiry
when they provided Mr. Ahmad with the opportunity to sell
drugs. The police received a tip that a man named “Romeo” was
selling cocaine. D.C. Limsiaco called Romeo’s phone number and
asked if he was speaking to him. Although the person did not confirm or deny he was Romeo, he made no inquiries about the
name. D.C. Limsiaco asked, “you can help me out?”, a common
phrase used to request drugs. The person responded, “what do
you need?”, another common phrase in the drug trade to ask
what kind of drugs a buyer wants. D.C. Limsiaco then requested
“two soft”, meaning two ounces of powder cocaine.
