POLICE TICKETING MORE DRIVERS

Enforcement: Highway Stings Are Making Construction Zones Safer For Workers,
Says The Head Of Traffic Division

SAINT JOHN - The city's police department has devoted more officers to
its traffic division and more tickets are being handed out, the Saint
John Board of Police Commissioners heard Tuesday night.

The number of tickets for violations rose from 2,534 in 2007 to 3,854
in 2008 and will likely top that again in 2009, said Sgt. Jeff
LaFrance, who heads the traffic unit.

Traffic hot spots in the city keep changing as conditions change.

"One of the key areas the guys have been concentrating on is the
highway where the construction is taking place by the Rockwood off
ramp," LaFrance said, outside the meeting. "When the guys first went
out there and started enforcing radar speeds the workers came over and
thanked them for being there because they were terrified for their
safety."

Speeding is the primary concern of the traffic division followed by
impaired driving as a very close second, he said.

Officers in the division are trained to recognize the signs of drivers
impaired by drugs other than alcohol, he said.

"They are trained to look into their eyes," he said. "They can tell by
looking at them initially that they are probably impaired by a drug,
and then there are a series of tests they can put them through that
identifies exactly what type of drug they are impaired by."

The Canadian Criminal Code has a new section making it illegal to
drive while impaired by drugs. The numbers of cases going to court in
Saint John is still small but it is rising, he said.

"There is still training going on throughout the country," he said.

The work of the traffic division can be described as the three E's -
education, enforcement and engineering, LaFrance said.

The first two are self explanatory but the third one is a recent
innovation where the police's traffic division feeds information to
city engineers if they investigate an accident and find evidence that
street design issues such as curves or drainage may be contributing
factors, he said.

The traffic division also oversees all the taxis in the city.

"I am the taxi inspector and as part of my job I have delegated to the
six enforcement officers to also make them taxi inspectors, which
gives them the power to issue taxi bylaw tickets," he said.

LaFrance showed the commissioners new speed detection equipment now in
the hands of police officers that operates using laser beams instead
of radar.

"It is much more accurate than the Doppler radar we used to use," he
said. "It's accurate within the width of a car for about a kilometre."