Tapped Out

Who should pay for police wire taps? Not us, say Canadian police chiefs. They've urged the government to impose a 25-cent surcharge on monthly telephone and Internet bills to pay for the equipment and manpower required to tap phones. Canadian phone companies say they and police should split the costs, but they want some compensation if they have to make changes in their equipment to accommodate wiretaps. Police say if they are forced to pick up those costs it will harm investigations.