Police procedure questioned
Municipal enforcement officers called by RCMP to issue tickets
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 16, 2013
IQALUIT
A side-effect from a recent RCMP initiative to make Iqaluit roads safer sparked a debate at a city council meeting on Dec. 10.
Staff Sgt. Monty LeComte, while giving his monthly report, told council the RCMP had recently implemented a measure to stop more vehicles and check for outdated paper work, such as expired licences and insurance.
In October, the first full month of the program,
officers made 126 vehicle stops and noticed many drivers had out-of-date documents.
"Is it because notices aren't being sent out?" he asked rhetorically.
"I really couldn't say."
Councillor Kenny Bell mentioned he had been in a vehicle when the driver was pulled over by the RCMP for an infraction.
During the procedure, the officer called a municipal enforcement officer to the scene so he could issue the ticket instead.
Bell said the course of action makes him a little uneasy.
"If I get pulled over by someone, that's fine," he said.
"But to have someone give you the riot act and have to wait for municipal enforcement to show up after and issue a ticket? Would that ticket hold up in court if the municipal officer didn't witness the incident?"
LeComte said he "honestly didn't have an answer for that" but justified the procedure by explaining that court appearances often take place during an officer's days off.
"When I call an officer to come in on a day off, that's minimum three hours' pay," he said.
"To call a member in over a $120 ticket just doesn't
justify that. This may be something we're erring on and it's something that will have to be ironed out, if that's the case."
Coun. Mark Morrissey, who expressed a desire for more traffic stops, suggested the RCMP could provide a document in the form of a sworn statement, to be used as evidence in court.
Bell followed up by telling LeComte he doesn't want to "open a can of worms" by asking the question, and supported the RCMP in what they do, but preferred they write the ticket instead.
Following the meeting, chief municipal enforcement officer Kevin Sloboda said the procedure really depends on the infraction.
"If an RCMP officer pulls someone over and discovers expired paperwork, then our officers can see the evidence at the scene. It's pretty straightforward," he said.
"It then becomes a legitimate ticket. But if it is something like a speeding ticket, then it's a whole different ball game, it would become a different procedure."
Sloboda said that situation hadn't arisen yet and couldn't comment as to how it would unfold.
