First off I have to say, this is not a knock against all our 'guys and gals in blue.' I happen to know, like, and respect a lot of the police and RCMP members I have met over the years. After all, they are only doing their jobs. But with that said, what was up with that blitz last week?
I understand it's intended to be about safety but why do events like this feel more like a big money grab?
Last week in Yorkton - and apparently across much of the nation - there were big traffic blitz's held. RCMP were everywhere, both patrolling the streets as well as teamed up at a variety of locations watching drivers and pulling people over "at their discretion." Also to be noticed were officers in disguise strategically placed so they could radio ahead to other officers if they happened to notice a driver "up to no good," although cell phone users and non-seat belt wearers were said to be the main targets. In Ottawa reportedly, there were even officers dressed up as panhandlers. Once the disguised officer catches a distracted driver, they radio partners in nearby patrol cars who then pull the driver over.
Clever...
There's no question distracted driving is not a good thing and yes drivers should know better. And I suppose if you get pulled over and you're obviously breaking the law, well then you deserve that ticket but a set up "blitz" like this for cell phones and seat belts just seems a little nit picky and underhanded if you ask most of the general public (many of whom took the time to share their thoughts with me).
Grandma gets caught "rolling" through the stop sign and gets a hefty fine while on the other side of the town kids are stunt driving and the local corner store could be getting robbed. Hmmm... When all of your police enforcement is marked out at obvious locations, what about what's happening where they notably are not?
As I said, distracted driving is dangerous. It causes needless accidents and I can understand we need to curb the tendency but there are a lot of bad things that happen where police attention could be focussed.
Are we really making the most of our resources by resorting to measures like this? Or seriously, is this really more of a cash grab?
