Delta drivers have been warned.
In what is believed to be a first for policing in B.C., the Delta Police Department’s traffic unit will be regularly advising social media followers when and where traffic enforcement will be occurring.
The first publicized enforcement effort began Thursday morning at the foot of Nordel Way in North Delta, which is the corridor with the most collisions in Delta, according to a top 10 list of city crash sites released by DPD last week.
“Although Delta police and other forces occasionally publicize enforcement efforts, we don’t think any other police force in B.C. has committed to giving the public a heads up on a regular basis,” said S/Sgt. Ryan Hall.
“We’ll be giving folks who follow us @DPDTraffic on Twitter an advance warning of enforcement efforts approximately once a week.”
Hall acknowledges that some may find the move controversial, but adds the public should recognize traffic enforcement takes place every day of the week.
“Part of the job of traffic officers is to ensure that the public is aware we’ll be out there – whether it’s CounterAttack on a summer long weekend, or doing a distracted driving blitz the first week of school,” he added.
“We’d like to expand those efforts year round, because people should be practicing good driving habits every week, and every minute of every day. If we don’t hand out any tickets, because people have slowed down and are driving responsibly, that would be amazing because that means all our officers have observed is good driving behavior, and as a result no harm is coming to anyone who is on the road.”
