Did
anyone else miss the following media release from last Thursday? I personally
have to think that if we were to increase the number of BC Sheriffs, and tasked
them with this duty, they actual could "... engage in traffic enforcement activities in order to modify behaviour
and enhance safety ..."
I’m
sure I’ll get flack on this; however I think that putting an RCMP, or city
police, officer in a car with radar is a waste of resources.
Here’s
the full media release from the Canadian Police Association:
Public safety, not
"revenue-generating" should be focus of traffic enforcement
A proposal
from the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) to
expand the BC Sheriffs' mandate to include traffic enforcement as a
"revenue-generating" tool shows an unfortunate lack of understanding
of the basic role of law enforcement, said British Columbia Police Association
(BCPA) President Tom Stamatakis today.
"The simple fact is that Police Officers
engage in traffic enforcement activities in order to modify behaviour and
enhance safety; not to raise money for the government, and any suggestion
otherwise by the BCGEU is misguided and frankly insulting to BC taxpayers,"
said Mr. Stamatakis.
The
request for the outsourcing of police duties to inadequately trained employees
of the provincial Sheriff's department comes as police officers in BC are
already being diverted from their own regular policing duties towards the
transfer of prisoners, and ensuring an adequate presence in the province's
courtrooms, two key duties that the Sheriffs are currently mandated to perform.
