Mounties, sheriffs join forces to make highways safer

EDMONTON — RCMP and provincial traffic sheriffs are combining forces to make Alberta's highways safer after a pilot project last year found integration has its benefits.

"We tested four pilot projects last year and each had elements of success, and provided valuable information," Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security Frank Oberle said Monday.

"We are using the best model for moving forward."

The move is based on one of four pilot projects that took place over a six-month period on highways near Whitecourt, Airdrie, Wetaskiwin and Olds.

In Whitecourt, sheriffs and RCMP were given equal responsibility for traffic enforcement. Airdrie had sergeants report to managers in their respective agencies. The Olds model used only sheriffs to enforce traffic laws, while the Wetaskiwin model was an integrated operation overseen by an RCMP supervisor.

Of the four, the Wetaskiwin model was found to work the best because it improved the quality of traffic investigations and enforcement coverage, increased police visibility on highways (which brought speeds down), and made it easier to hand off Criminal Code investigations to the RCMP, said Oberle.

"The pilot showed us that RCMP and traffic sheriffs work very well together in integrated units, and that both efficiency and effectiveness were improved," he said.

Sgt. Doug Milne, commander of the Wetaskiwin detachment, said under the pilot project the detachment's traffic unit ended up with 15 people. "We had three shifts of four people with some doing administration duty as part of that 15. Having a crew of four out there on the road every shift was phenomenal," he said.

The number of people arrested on warrants went up 350 per cent while the number of impaired drivers caught went up by 225 per cent. The number of tickets handed out for traffic violations such as speeding and not wearing seat belts went up by 200 per cent, he said,

"We police nine communities and our local superintendent just before Christmas did all his local detachment visits.

"The thing he consistently heard, be it from a reeve, mayor or the chiefs, was the visibility was phenomenal and so much more enforcement being done in their communities," Milne said.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Rod Knecht said he's confident the new integrated approach will help reduce traffic fatalities and injuries.

Motor vehicle collisions kill on average 400 Albertans each year, and injure 20,000. Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death among young Albertans, said Oberle.

The Wetaskiwin model will be integrated in 19 locations around the province and phased in within two years.

floyie@thejournal.canwest.com