Anyone who doubts there are enough provincial police cruisers patrolling routes in areas just outside Thunder Bay may feel otherwise after they’ve pondered a recent service-call report.
Or received a ticket last week.
According to a statistical update for the OPP’s Thunder Bay detachment, officers handed out more than 130 tickets just for the period between Feb. 17-23.
Most involved the Highway Traffic Act, which covers provincial non-criminal offences like speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, driving a vehicle with an unsecured load or failing to remain at the scene of a collision.
Regional OPP spokeswoman acting Sgt. Hayley Mcleary said suspected violations under the act accounted for about half of the incidents that involved the Thunder Bay detachment.
Highway Traffic Act offences “generally indicate pro-active traffic stops, in which officers are pulling vehicles over for (Highway Traffic Act) issues that they see” during regular patrols, Mcleary said on Monday.
Based on Highway 130 in Rosslyn, the Thunder Bay detachment oversees policing for the majority of rural municipalities just outside Thunder Bay. The exception is Oliver Paipoonge, which is policed by the Thunder Bay Police Service.
These days, OPP cruisers are equipped with printers, sparing officers the task of hand-writing tickets and helping to eliminate confusion for alleged violators.
Though the majority of last week’s incidents involved Highway Traffic Act tickets, Thunder Bay detachment officers also responded to a variety of other service calls, including 16 incidents of suspected impaired driving, nine vehicle crashes, five “family disputes,” three domestic disputes and one alleged assault, according to the statistical report.
In all, the report said, officers on patrol during the week claimed to catch 122 Highway Traffic Act offences and laid 36 charges under the Criminal Code. About 300 “occurrences” were responded to in total.
Meanwhile, the OPP issued a reminder on Monday of the force’s online citizen reporting service for less serious crimes, including theft under $5,000, stolen licence plates, theft from a vehicle and complaints about poor driving. The service is not for emergencies.
More information about the citizen reporting service is available on the OPP’s website at opp.ca.
