Edmonton’s police chief says the service will crack down on “poor drivers” by assigning a specialized traffic team to watch over school zones, playgrounds and crosswalks in a new enforcement initiative.
Chief Rod Knecht said Friday the move comes after traffic fatalities increased by 50 per cent in 2015 from the year before.
Police currently have four specialized traffic apprehension teams with 15 members each patrolling the city’s streets. Knecht said three of those teams will continue focusing on patrolling major high-speed throughways, specifically Yellowhead Trail, Anthony Henday Drive, Whitemud Drive, Gateway Boulevard and Calgary Trail.
What will change are the responsibilities of the fourth team.
Those 15 officers will be divided among the six police divisions — west, southeast, southwest, downtown, northeast and northwest. Working alone or in pairs, they will patrol school zones, playgrounds and crosswalks in neighbourhoods across the city, focusing on distracted driving, speeding and prolific offenders.
Knecht said people should see increased police visibility in these areas during peak times.
“Edmontonians have told us that traffic safety is their No. 1 concern. This strategic realignment is designed to make our roadways safer through very focused and targeted enforcement. This initiative will not solve all our traffic problems, but it is another step toward reaching that goal,” he said.
There were 35 traffic fatalities in Edmonton last year, up from 23 in 2014, dwarfing the totals of Calgary (23), Hamilton (18) and Winnipeg (12).
There were more traffic fatalities than homicides last year, and this year has already got off to a bad start, said Knecht.
On Jan. 3, four people, two mothers and their two young children in strollers, were struck by a vehicle in a marked crosswalk, suffering serious injuries, Knecht said. The preliminary investigation shows distracted driving was likely the cause, he said.
“We know traffic is a problem in the city, we know we have poor drivers in the city and we’ve got to take action. We’ve got to change the culture of entitlement of some of those prolific offenders in the city that take advantage of our roadways,” Knecht said at a news conference on Friday to announce the changes.
While there won’t be any more officers allotted to the traffic teams, except to fill current vacancies, Knecht said he hopes that by “refocusing” resources in communities and neighbourhood hot spots, the number of traffic fatalities will go down this year.
By the numbers:
Fatal collisions
2014- 22
2015- 33
Injury collisions
2014- 2,330
2015- 2,344
Property damage collisions
2014- 27,258
2015- 28,450
Total reported collisions
2014- 37,777
2015- 38,933
