By Staff
February 1, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton Regional Police have taken a much proactive approach to keeping drunk drivers off the roads. Impaired driving remains one of the three big road safety issues in Halton Region.
Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah with former Governor General David Johnston.
Statistics show that impaired drivers are much more likely to cause collisions, highway injuries and vehicular deaths than non-impaired drivers. “This is one of the greatest risks to public safety that we face,” says Halton Regional Police Service Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah. Part of Halton Regional Police Service’s commitment to Community Safety and Well-Being is an enhanced emphasis at the front line, and upstream opportunities for the community to engage in prevention and risk mitigation.
Opportunity
Recognizing that traditional approaches to impaired enforcement represented an opportunity for improvement, the Halton Regional Police Service leveraged their existing front line resources in conjunction with their vast database of impaired-related information and used business intelligence and advanced analytics to refine their deployment model, develop innovative tactics, inform their enforcement activities, and increase the reach of public awareness programs.
Outcomes
As a result of the Service’s enhanced toolkit of impaired enforcement tactics:
• a total of 2,563 roadside tests were conducted by HRPS officers in all of 2017, more than double the number of roadside tests conducted in all of 2016;
• a total of 554 motorists were arrested by HRPS officers in all of 2017 for all impaired driving offences, a 26 per cent increase over total impaired offences in all of 2016. Impaired offences include driving while ability impaired, care and control, driving over 80mgs and fail or refuse to provide a sample;
• a total of 527 roadside suspensions were issued by HRPS officers in all of 2017, a 55 per cent increase over total roadside suspensions in all of 2016;
• a total of 514 roadside tests were conducted by HRPS officers during the December 2017 RIDE program, nearly double the number of roadside tests conducted during the December 2016 RIDE program;
• a total of 73 motorists were arrested by HRPS officers for impaired offences during the December 2017 RIDE program, a 24 per cent increase over total impaired arrests during the December 2016 RIDE program; and
• a total of 83 roadside suspensions were issued by HRPS officers during the December 2017 RIDE program, a 54 per cent increase over the total number of roadside suspensions issued during the December 2016 RIDE program.
The significant increase in impaired arrests and suspensions can be attributed to the Service’s efforts to continuously identify and employ new approaches to impaired enforcement, which are supported by an increasingly vigilant community in terms of reporting suspected impaired drivers to police. “In 2017, road users within our region reported 165 drivers who were subsequently located by police and arrested for impaired driving,” says Duraiappah. “It is remarkable to think that more than a third of our impaired investigations can be attributed, at least in part, to our community. Community safety is a shared responsibility. We encourage residents and visitors to continue to work with us to reduce impaired driving.”
Next Steps
Duraiappah insists that the efforts of the Service to reduce impaired driving is always going to be a work in progress. “Impaired driving and road safety remain priorities in 2018. Our goal as a Service is to ensure our enforcement is tightly aligned with the issues we are facing. The community deserves and demands our best, and in this regard, we will continue to seek opportunities with our partners to mitigate risk, improve prevention messaging and promote social development with our municipal and health partners. This is core to our Halton Community Safety and Well-Being Plan”.
about time good work