Increased enforcement is the reason St. Albert has one of the highest numbers of people charged with impaired driving offences nationally, say local officials.
Information from Maclean’s annual Canada’s Most Dangerous Cities survey has started trickling out this week. The website, www.macleans.ca, features eight categories of crime and lists the top 10 cities with the largest number of charges laid per 100,000 people.
St. Albert only appears in one top-10 list. In the category for impaired driving, St. Albert ranks eighth with 471.9 charges per 100,000 people. St. Albert’s total is calculated to mirror how many charges it would have if it had a population of 100,000.
Grande Prairie is the worst city in Canada with 945.7, followed by Red Deer at 847. The 10th-place city is Chilliwack, B.C. at 389.4.
The statistics are based on data from 2011.
Cpl. Laurel Kading of the St. Albert RCMP said the city has no more of a problem with impaired driving than any other community. The high number, she said, is proof that St. Albert enforces impaired driving laws.
“I would say it’s probably as a result of a more targeted effort by the detachment and a partnership with the community,” Kading said. “Do we have a bigger problem than anyone else? No. Are we more successful? Yes.”
Kading pointed to more frequent checkstops throughout the year – not just at Christmas – as well as encouraging the community to call in suspected drunk drivers and having officers investigate even minor erratic driving patterns as reasons for the high number of charges.
“We are looking at this as a sign of effectiveness, that impaired driving is being addressed in the community and it’s an effort on all our parts, not just the police,” Kading said.
That’s how Mayor Nolan Crouse also perceives the ranking, as a story more about enforcement than any significant problem.
“I’ve never shied away from the fact you have to have good enforcement of the law,” Crouse said. “This is an example of that.”
Still, Crouse said he was disappointed that so many instances of impaired driving are occurring.
“Whenever you have any high numbers in that category, it’s unacceptable,” Crouse said. “It’s unacceptable for people to be driving under the influence.”
Kading said police this year are emphasizing that people make plans for how they are going to get home if they suspect they are going to be drinking.
“We do know one of the continuing challenges is once people have been drinking, alcohol affects judgment and people make poor choices,” Kading said. “That’s why we encourage people to make plans … before they even go anywhere and have any drinks at all.”
