Additional resources helping Sudbury Police nab more impaired drivers

Greater Sudbury Police nearly doubled the number of impaired drivers they took off the road over a four-month period in 2019.

Between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, officers arrested 91 drivers for alleged impairment. That's compared to 48 during the same time in 2018.

These impairment statistics are service wide. Sergeant Tim Burtt with the Sudbury Police Traffic Unit says the numbers include drivers arrested during RIDE checks, during regular traffic stops, at collision, or after someone else called 911 to report a suspected impaired driver.

However, Burtt doesn't think these stats mean more people are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

Rather, that police have more resources to help make more arrests.

"Over the last few years we've gone out and we've identified that impaired driving is an important issue in society," he said.

"We've got more tools in the tool box now."

More officers trained to detect alcohol, drugs

Greater Sudbury Police now have 51 officers trained as standardized field sobriety technicians. They have training to detect on the roadside, whether a driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

If these officers believe a driver may be impaired by drugs, then one of their six drug recognition experts is called in for assistance.

"Those two areas are something we didn't have in years past," Burtt said. He added that the Sudbury Police continues to train more officers in these areas.

"Couple that with mandatory alcohol screening, which came in with the changes in legislation, and an officer can demand a sample of a driver's breath on the roadside without having suspicion."

Burtt describes this similarly to an officer demanding to see a driver's licence, insurance and ownership.

The legislation he is referring is Bill C-46 which came into effect across Canada in December 2018.

Increased and varying spot checks

According to Burtt, the Sudbury Police Traffic Unit has also been varying the times, dates and locations for its RIDE checks.

"You'll find a spot check at 7 o'clock in the morning. Something that people aren't used to seeing. You might find one in the middle of the day, because we know that there's an event where there's a potential for alcohol to be," he said.

Don't expect those spot checks to only be on roads.

"We are land of lakes and trails," Burtt said. "We've started doing spot checks, not just our Festive RIDE spot checks, but spot checks in general along ATV and sled trails. We're now out doing marine patrols in spot checks that way."

The Sudbury Police Traffic Unit has also just added two more officers to its division.

"We will be out on the roadways even more trying to find people who are in contravention of this law," he said.

Another way police are able to nab more drivers, is when concerned citizens call 9-1-1 to report a suspected impaired driver on the road.

"I think people are even more vigilant nowadays," Burtt said.

Drivers still making bad decisions

Burtt was especially alarmed by a recent incident where officers from the Sudbury Police traffic unit were put in jeopardy when an alleged impaired driver drove through an investigation scene. At the time, the officers were looking into a collision  — which also involved an alleged impaired driver.

"I still wonder if people are getting that message, and are just willing to take the chance that they're not going to get caught," Burtt said.

"People are still making that decision to take that chance: 'Well I can get from Point A to Point B,' and that's sad because you may not even get close to that."