Potential photo radar rule changes would 'erode traffic safety': Calgary police chief

Calgary's police chief is worried possible changes to Alberta's photo radar rules will affect safety for both residents and officers – and not just on the roads.

"We're very concerned that this decision is going to actually erode traffic safety and our ability to keep Albertans and Calgarians safe on the roads," Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld said in an interview Tuesday.

The provincial government is expected to release new guidelines on automated traffic enforcement in December, according to a memo sent to Edmonton city council and obtained by CTV News.

The changes include the banning of photo radar on provincial highways and roads that connect with provincial highways, restricting photo radar enforcement to playgrounds, schools and construction zones, and the elimination of speeding enforcement by intersection safety devices.

"Over the summer, Transportation and Economic Corridors engaged with municipalities and law enforcement to get rid of photo radar 'fishing hole' locations," a Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors spokesperson said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

"The province wants to ensure photo radar is used for traffic safety rather than revenue generation. The province is looking to finalize approved locations for photo radar by the end of the year with a primary focus on sensitive areas such as school, playground, and construction zones."

Neufeld noted that the revenue generated from traffic fines support provincial and municipal programs, including victim services, traffic safety and public safety, but said the money is not the biggest worry.

"We use automated enforcement as one of the ways that we do overall traffic safety in Calgary, so as we have different tools that make it more efficient for us to do this work taken away, we are going to have to look at reassigning officers from higher priority work and work that we can't automate to go and cover this off," Neufeld said.

Additionally, the police chief says the new rules could put officers in riskier situations and stretch resources thinner for other crime enforcement.

"I'm talking about situations where officers are going to have to use in-person enforcement in areas that are unsafe, so some of these high-collision locations and the higher speed roads," Neufeld said.

"And then finally, I'm worried about public safety in the sense that we're going to have to take important capacity and reassign officers from the important work that they're doing now over to work that we were able to automate previously."

Officials from other municipalities, including an Edmonton city councillor and Lethbridge's police chief, have also expressed concerns about the radar restrictions.

With files from CTV News Calgary's Teri Fikowski