A police officer pulls up to a red light while driving an unmarked police vehicle and notices the driver in the lane next to him or her, talking on a cell phone. A few double takes later, the driver finds himself pulled over for distracted driving.
This is a situation that Const. Craig Bird of the Estevan Police Service has found himself in multiple times while operating one of the police's unmarked vehicles.
"They pull up next to you, and they're looking right at you with their cell phone in hand but things aren't clicking yet that there's someone sitting there with a uniform on," Bird said in an interview with the Mercury. "I've had the same thing with seat belts, too. Everyone does that double take and then all of a sudden they're trying to nonchalantly put their seat belt on. It happens all the time."
Unmarked vehicles are nothing new within the Estevan Police Service. For many years, they have been a significant part of the force and have pulled over numerous personal vehicles and commercial trucks as a result of careless driving. Unsurprisingly, operators of the unmarked police vehicles pull over a significantly higher number of drivers on a daily basis, as opposed to police using regular marked cars.
"It's a little bit more covert," Bird said when describing the uniqueness of driving an unmarked police vehicle. "People don't notice the unmarked vehicle right away … they're naturally doing what they normally do, like not wearing their seatbelts or talking on their cell phones or speeding, so they can't adjust their behaviour because they don't notice the patrol vehicle until it's too late."
Many drivers that have been pulled over by an unmarked police vehicle, Bird said, have complained about the fact that they didn't know they were being followed and that they felt entrapped by the police officer in these situations.
When the first unmarked police truck was implemented, complaints were fierce and frequent. It reached the point where dozens of residents wrote a letter to the police commission to note their frustration and feelings of entrapment in situations where they were pulled over by the truck.
Estevan police Chief Paul Ladouceur said they want the public to know their unmarked vehicles are out patrolling streets, but added it's a matter of balance when it comes to how prominently they're being used.
"We want to have a known police presence on the streets because that itself acts as a deterrent and the public wants to see their police officers out and about … it's important to have a fleet of marked vehicles," Ladouceur said.
Prior to unmarked police vehicles' increased usage in traffic monitoring, Ladouceur said they were largely used for criminal surveillance. It didn't take long for police to recognize the advantages of having unmarked police cars involved in traffic surveillance. Their effectiveness in the Energy City, according to Ladouceur, has prompted a larger rotation of unmarked police vehicles that will take place in the near future.
"We're looking at a plan that would have us rotate those vehicles more frequently," he said. "We're a small community, so it doesn't take long for people to find out which vehicles are our unmarked ones."
He also said it's unfortunate they've had to resort to this system, but noted the public's support behind the decision to expand the rotation.
Neighbourhoods that endured frequent speeding vehicles have been appreciative of the unmarked police presence in combination with the speed radar signs that are stationed there. Prior to its current location on First Street, the sign was previously stationed on Wellock Road.
Ladouceur stressed the changes the public is seeing within the police service, like the implementation of a containment warrant entry team and the expanded rotation of unmarked vehicles, are "not at the cost to taxpayers."
"We're doing good work and saving in other areas … the organization as a whole is committed to giving the best bang for the buck."
