Officer accused of running through school zone stop sign
Investigation launched after Mountie reportedly activated emergency lights when pulled over by bylaw
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, October 29, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife RCMP has launched an internal investigation into one of its own officers after he allegedly drove through a stop sign in a school zone with his child in the vehicle.
An announcer from a local radio station was on a ride-along with a municipal enforcement officer earlier this month when a black pick-up truck was pulled over for running the stop sign.
According to the announcer, the driver of the pickup then activated his own red and blue flashing lights.
The announcer stated in an online report that there was a young boy in the front seat and there seemed to be little reason for the unmarked truck's emergency lights to be activated other than the driver's hope of avoiding a ticket.
The date and location of the alleged infraction has not been made public.
Doug Gillard, manager of municipal enforcement, confirmed the incident did happen.
"There was a brief verbal exchange between our officer and the driver of the pickup," said Gillard.
"Generally speaking, our officers do not write tickets against on-duty RCMP officers unless there is a specific complaint from the public.
In this case, we forwarded our information and advised the RCMP detachment commander, Insp. Frank Gallagher, as to what happened. It's now in their hands."
At this point, there is no indication as to why the RCMP officer activated his emergency lights, nor is it clear whether he was on duty at the time.
"That's all part of the investigation," said Yellowknife RCMP spokesperson Const. Elenore Sturko, who did not release any other information about the incident or the subsequent investigation.
She also wouldn't identify the officer involved or say who was conducting the investigation.
"Because the incident is still under investigation that information is not being made public at this time," said Sturko.
She said there is no exact time frame for when the investigation will be completed. She couldn't say whether the information would be released to the public if the officer is disciplined internally or charged with a
traffic violation.
