Traffic Safety Unit

Road safety is a high priority for the Belleville Police Service and its Traffic Safety Unit. Whether it be speeding 80 kilometers an hour in a 60 kilometer zone, or driving with an expired licence, the traffic unit has the tools and knowledge to enforce the rules of the road.

Currently, the traffic unit members drive around the community with police cars using Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras that check for expired license plates, suspended drivers, stolen plates and individual vehicles that need to be monitored.

Cst. Barry Lannin says that the addition of the ALPR cameras and partner systems has “saved us time that will allow us to be a better service to the community.”

While offenders might not always be stopped, driver information is saved and stored in various databases. This assists police avoid having to chase down offenders and be a possible danger to other motorists on the road.

“You always have to keep in mind that you are hurling around a 500-pound object on the roadways with other people. The risk always has to be taken into account, we want to catch these people but we don’t want anyone to get hurt in the process” said Cst. Lannin.

Along with the ALPR cameras, the Traffic Safety Unit uses radar (radio waves) and lidar (light waves) machines to check for speeders, up close and from far distances.

Distracted driver laws are enforced and the service has a zero-tolerance policy. Statistically, more people are getting hurt in collisions involving distracted driving than impaired driving.

The penalties for distracted driving include a significant fine as well as an automatic driver’s suspension. The first offense will be a three-day suspension that goes up to seven days and thirty days for subsequent offences within a two-year period.

Cst. Lannin says the Traffic Safety Unit’s main objective is to ensure safety on the roads. “You don’t write tickets for the sake of writing tickets, you write them to make drivers follow road safety rules”.