Officers from the Airdrie Integrated Traffic Unit (ITU) joined with Airdrie RCMP and Calgary Police Services (CPS) to hold a Joint Forces Check Stop on Dec. 5. These events are held periodically throughout the year.
The Check Stop took place on Highway 566 near Balzac in the evening as officers from all three law enforcement organizations stopped motorists travelling in both directions.
According to Airdrie ITU NCO Corporal Darrin Turnbull, only one motorist stopped during the Check Stop needed to be removed from the roadway, a 24 year old man from Calgary who was subsequently issued a 24-hour suspension for driving while his ability was affected by a drug. The man’s vehicle was immediately seized for a 24-hour period.
The event launched the RCMP’s National Impaired Driving Enforcement Campaign, which takes place throughout the month of December. During this campaign, Turnbull said officers will look for impaired drivers, particularly as the holiday season and holiday parties ramp up.
“Typically, the worst time for impaired drivers is from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays,” Turnbull said.
CPS had its specially equipped Check Stop bus at the event. Inside the bus are private rooms where motorists charged with impaired driving can call a lawyer or legal aid, as well as a instrument for testing the blood alcohol level of anyone suspected of driving impaired.
After the Check Stop, Turnbull and six other Airdrie ITU officers headed out on patrol to look for impaired drivers.
“There are usually two officers out at a time,” Turnbull said. “Because of the special Check Stop this evening, we’re doing a bit of a blitz and there will be seven of us out.”
A total of two criminal code impaired driving charges were laid by Airdrie ITU officers between Dec. 5 and the early hours of Dec. 6. In addition, four other drivers were issued immediate road side suspensions for alcohol or drug infractions.
Under Alberta’s Impaired Driving Law, passed in 2012, Graduated Driver’s License (GDL) drivers are prohibited from having any level of alcohol in their blood. If caught, the driver will face an immediate 30-day suspension and seven-day vehicle seizure.
Each 30-day suspension also requires an additional year in the GDL Program.
Officers also pulled people over during the Dec. 5 blitz for infractions under the Alberta Traffic Safety Act including Speeding, Driving an Unregistered Vehicle, Driving without Insurance, and Failing to Stop at a Red Light.
Alberta’s Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Jonathan Denis said he was cautiously optimistic Alberta’s new impaired driving laws, which include stiffer sanctions for GDL drivers and all drivers with blood alcohol levels of 0.05 or greater, are having a positive impact.
“We see an indication that the number of fatalities are going down. Within a couple of years, though, it’s too soon to establish a trend,” he said. “I firmly believe that we did the right thing. Drunk driving deaths, injuries, collisions are 100 per cent preventable.”
Denis said he made a point of attending the Dec. 5 Joint Forces Check Stop.
“I think that this is a very important issue, that we need to keep driving the message home,” he said.
“I hope people during the Christmas season get to take some time off and spend some time with friends and family. If that involves a few beverages, that’s just fine. All we ask is to please plan ahead for the safety of yourself and others.”
Denis praised the efforts of law enforcement who “do a very good job every day. All you have to do is meet with one of the families of a drunk driving fatality and that changes your perspective. It can happen to anyone.”
Airdrie ITU officers patrol within Airdrie as well as on highways and roadways from the Calgary city limits north to Didsbury and east to the Beiseker RCMP detachment area. According to Turnbull, from 2008 to 2013, 471 people were killed and 7,397 were injured in collisions on Alberta highways involving at least one driver who had consumed alcohol prior to the crash.
The Airdrie ITU is comprised of 12 officers, some from the RCMP and some from the Alberta Traffic Sheriffs. Turnbull, who heads the unit, reports to the Regional Traffic Commander in Red Deer.
The Airdrie ITU is separate from the officers who work as part of the Airdrie city and rural RCMP.
Turnbull said he encourages anyone who sees what they believe could be an impaired driver to pull over or use a hands free device to call 911.
“We investigate all incidents that are reported to us,” he said.
