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
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Feds move to end port strikes, order binding arbitration
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon says he is intervening to end the work stoppages at ports in both British Columbia and Montreal.
Canadian Union of Postal Workers issues 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has given a 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post.
'He begged me': Brampton, Ont. woman loses more than $200K to romance scam
A Brampton woman says she is devastated after she lost more than $200,000 — her life's savings — to a romance scam.
Driver rams his car into crowd in China, killing 35. Police say he was upset about his divorce
A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement rammed his car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in southern China, killing 35 and severely injuring dozens of others, police said Tuesday.
Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments
A new Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 has been temporarily blocked after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday.
Ottawa high school principal apologizes for song played during Remembrance Day assembly
The principal of an Ottawa high school is apologizing to students, parents and guardians after an Arabic-language song was played during the school's Remembrance Day service.
Church of England head Justin Welby resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, resigned Tuesday after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.
Earth's biggest polluters aren't sending leaders to UN climate talks in a year of weather extremes
World leaders are converging Tuesday at the United Nations annual climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan although the big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent, unlike past climate talks which had the star power of a soccer World Cup.
Trump picks Kristi Noem to serve as his Homeland Security secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has selected South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, according to two people familiar with the selection.