Use peace officers for traffic enforcement

RE: DRIVING ON THE LINC (MARCH 15)

I read the letter from Rob Howard, of Hamilton, today and I agree with the gist of what he is saying. We need more enforcement on the Linc and the Redhill.

But, I would like to carry this issue further. One of the reasons we don’t see police on our roadways enforcing traffic laws all the time is because they are needed elsewhere for other situations. The availability of police officers at any given time, is limited for various reasons. they could be in court, doing investigations or even taking training courses.

Recently, talking to my brother, a retired law enforcement official, he stated we don’t need sworn police officers to enforce the Highway Traffic Act. Instead, let’s use sworn peace officers to enforce the rules of the road. The sole purpose for these peace officers would be to man radar, hand out tickets and control traffic during disruptions such as vehicle accidents or road closures. For seven days a week, 24 hours a day, these peace officers would be concentrating on enforcing our laws concerning the roadways.

I believe this would be a win-win remedy for the taxpayers, they would get more traffic enforcement but at a lower cost. They would also get more availability of police officers but with no cost increase.

Sam M. Speakman, Hamilton