York police to publish names of people charged with impaired driving

York police will name all drivers charged with impaired driving offences in its region every week because they say the problem is not getting better.

"It's clear that something has to change," Chief  Eric Jolliffe said in a news release on Monday.

Jolliffe said the force wants to make impaired driving even more socially unacceptable than it is already, bring down the number of people charged, and prompt more members of the public to notify officers when they encounter motorists under the influence.

"Innocent lives are put at risk every day by this irresponsible and criminal behaviour. We are not giving up."

The move comes after 16 drivers were charged in York Region on the weekend. Police said 27 impaired driving related charges were laid.

Other police forces in the Greater Toronto Area, namely Durham Regional Police and Halton Regional Police, already publish names of people recently charged with impaired driving offences.

According to the release, the names will be published every Monday on the York police website in its media releases section.

So far this year, York police have laid more than 1,400 charges for impaired driving offences but the number of drivers choosing to drive while impaired is "showing no signs of decreasing." 

Five people have been killed in crashes this year where impairment by alcohol or drugs was believed to be a contributing factor.

Police said one person charged on the weekend was a Toronto man, 32, who allegedly blew four times over the legal limit. When he was stopped in Richmond Hill, after he had blocked a driveway for more than an hour, police allegedly found a half-full bottle of vodka in the centre console of his vehicle.

South Simcoe police say they will also post names 

On Friday, South Simcoe Police Chief Andrew Fletcher announced that the force would also publish the names of suspected impaired drivers.

"Enough is enough," Fletcher said in the release. "The statistics are not improving. In fact, the numbers of impaired drivers are getting worse."

South Simcoe police laid 15 charges during their 2016 "Festive RIDE" program and 26 charges the following year. So far this year, the force has laid 96 impaired driving-related charges.

Fletcher said the move is not being done lightly.

"We release names of accused people only in the most serious of circumstances. Impaired driving is one of them," he said.

"We feel we have no choice but to take a tougher stand. We hope it will act as a deterrent. If we prompt even one driver to make the right choice — to think twice and make other arrangements — we will have bolstered the safety our communities.

"Lives are needlessly, carelessly and selfishly being put at risk because of the bad decisions of a few people."

Drivers don't want names out there, Durham police say

Durham police said they have been publishing names of alleged impaired drivers for 10 years, while Halton police have been doing so for more than a year.

Dave Selby, spokesperson for Durham police, said publishing names has an impact.

"We believe this is a significant criminal offence that puts people's lives in danger — something that normally would cause the media to demand to know the names," Selby said in an email on Monday.

"Yes, we believe it is a deterrent — anecdotally we have been told by drivers they deliberately do not drink and drive because they don't want their names out there. We also have stories about neighbours reading the name and calling us when they see their neighbour get behind the wheel when intoxicated.This has led to arrests," he added.

"But it's impossible to measure because we can't count what doesn't happen."

Point is to improve road safety, Halton police say

Halton police, for their part, publish names of alleged impaired drivers twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.

Const. Ryan Anderson, Halton police spokesperson, said the force is committed to improving road safety through prevention, education and enforcement.

"The operation of motor vehicles while drivers are impaired by alcohol and/or drugs remains a serious concern for Halton Region," he said in an email on Monday.

"In an effort to bring more attention to the risk of driving while impaired, assist in identifying witnesses and reduce continued offences, the service is reporting incidents with an impaired driving related charge."

Yet he acknowledged that, despite years of awareness campaigns, impaired driving continues to be among the top criminal causes of death in Canada.

For its part, Peel police said they have no plans to publish names regularly, but intermittently, they will publish the number of people charged with impaired driving. Toronto police say they have no plans to change their current practices.

"We haven't seen the need for it," Const. Danny Marttini of Peel police said.