Abbotsford police beef up skills to crack down on impaired drivers – British Columbia
A dozen Abbotsford, British Columbia, police Officers are completing a week of extensive training on how to catch impaired drivers.
The training session follows a weekend in which the ministry reported an alarming increase in the number of impaired drivers on the road.
“It’s frustrating to see our impaired driving the numbers continue to rise; 19 in one weekend, that’s significant,” said Abbotsford police spokesperson Sgt. Paul Walker told Global News.
“At the end of the day, we don’t want to see any of them.”
The dozen officers — some veterans of the force and other new recruits fresh out of the Justice Academy — are trained in a trio of techniques designed to arrest people impaired by drugs or alcohol.
One of the tests is an eye exam that looks for involuntary movements, a telltale sign of impairment.
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Others are “psychophysical” exams that test a person’s ability to follow instructions while performing physical tasks.
“A sober person will have no difficulty with this. They are so simple and straightforward that they should be able to complete it without too much trouble,” explained Const. Scott McLure of the Abbotsford Police Traffic Enforcement Unit.
“However, a weakened person, even for the simplest tasks, will have their attention divided between a number of instructions that we give them and it will be very difficult for them to remember how to complete the test and their balance and coordination will be strained something else that we will examine.
The in-depth course allowed trainees to practice alongside their colleagues before using live subjects who had consumed alcohol.
Abbotsford police say they have already taken 650 impaired drivers off the road this year.
They are now preparing to step up enforcement as the holiday season approaches, as police in Abbotsford and across British Columbia carry out annual counterattack roadblocks.
“We want our roads and the roads in the Lower Mainland to be safe,” Walker said.
“Police officers from across the province will be on hand to ensure that people who make poor choices are located and held accountable.
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