Crackdown

County OPP getting tough on speeding and traffic offences

Have you noticed a greater police presence on County roads this year? Or perhaps you’ve been on the receiving end of the nearly 1,000 provincial offence charges handed out by Prince Edward OPP in the first three months of 2011.That’s an increase of 62 per cent over last year over the same time period and more than double the number of charges laid in the first three months of 2009.

The vast majority of provincial offences charged were for violations of the Highway Traffic Act. In the first three months. From January to March of this year County OPP issued 516 speeding tickets—most of these of the minor variety. They laid another 285 charges under the Highway Traffic Act; many of these related to a provincial crackdown on use of seatbelts.

Thirty-five drivers were charged for failing to provide proof of insurance—nearly three times the drivers charged for the same offence in the same period last year.

This has meant a bit of a financial windfall for the municipality, which receives the fine revenue. For the first three months of 2011 stepped up enforcement has resulted in an additional $32,015 in fine revenue to the County coffers—totalling $90,482 in the first quarter.

But before readers draw the wrong conclusion— municipal staff and council are restricted by provincial statute from influencing enforcement as a method to drive fine revenue. It is strictly forbidden and so council steers well clear.

Rather, the increase in speeding enforcement has more to do with a new “enforcement philosophy” espoused by new detachment commander Staff Sergeant Barry Freeburn.

At least that is how the County’s finance chief Susan Turnbull described the spike in fine revenue to council last month when asked “if County residents had suddenly become lousy drivers.”

Freeburn, however, rejects the description. “Police have a responsibility under the Police Services Act to enforce the statutes enacted by parliament,” said Freeburn. “The Highway Traffic Act is just one of these statutes we enforce. I see this as just doing our job.”

In January Freeburn announced that he had “assigned a full-time traffic management officer dedicated to monitoring vehicle movement on Prince Edward County roads and enforcing all laws in relation to driving offences.”

In the release he said the County had suffered three fatalities and 70 injuries resulting from 392 motor vehicle collisions in 2010.

“All were preventable and reflect the national identified issues,” said Freeburn.“The big four— alcohol, distracted driving, aggressive driving (speed included) and seat belts.As police we need to focus our efforts in these areas both through education and enforcement.

We have been putting out press releases weekly and sometimes more often to bring these issues to the public’s attention and seek compliance. Unfortunately given our accident statistics and enforcement statistics compliance is a concern.”

But are County residents actually lousier drivers than last year? How do County drivers rank compared with provincial or national statistics? What is the scale of the problem the new detachment commander is trying to fix?

Freeburn says he hasn’t looked at the provincial or national statistics. For him, three fatalities and 70 injuries is too many. He says he will allow more time to pass before evaluating the detachment’s progress.

Robert Quaiff, councillor for North Marysburgh, is chair of the police services board, a position he has held for several years. He was one of the committee members who hired Freeburn.

“One of our mandates in hiring the new detachment commanders was to make our roads safer,” said Quaiff. “And safety on the roadway always comes back to speeding.”

But Quaiff is hearing the frustration being voiced across the County.

“Some of the comments I get from the public is that we seem to be in a police state,” said Quaiff.“We are hearing from the public that we need to get back to community policing where the police are actually friendly, where they smile and assist. I think we’ve got some work to do.”