Unfortunately, this is exactly what it sounds like. Police Chief Keith McCaskill said last night that he’s put out the edict to patrolling officers and specialized units to hand out more speeding and Highway Traffic Act offences. Surprisingly the first voice of descent didn’t come from citizens who hate getting ticketed but rather from the president of the Winnipeg Police Association, Mike Sutherland.
In light of the recent focus on gang violence in the North End, the Sun quotes Sutherland as saying “It’s difficult to do two things at once,” and “the gang violence issue, especially in light of the homicide at Club 13 and others, is very significant right now. If we had that more well in hand, I would say the traffic issue is something we could look at. We obviously have resource issues. We need more people on the gang side, and need more people in traffic. To ask officers to do even more, I’m not so certain about in terms of practicalities.”
Either way stay sharp out there since police will be less likely than ever to overlook a minor infraction when it comes to giving out tickets.
Image Police Originally uploaded by Stephen Downes
