‘Zoned out’ peace officer’s tickets voided in Edmonton

EDMONTON An Edmonton peace officer was fired from her photo radar enforcement position with the city just days before an investigation into allegations of the officer sleeping on the job found she failed to make “adequate observations relating to the movement of traffic.”

But in its investigation findings dated Dec. 30, the city said the officer was removed from her position on Dec. 27 for “reasons which are unrelated to this code of conduct complaint.”

Vocal photo radar critic Jack Schultz, who monitored and filmed the contracted peace officer on Oct. 17 and believed she was sleeping on the job, said he wants answers on the reason for her removal if it is not related to this specific incident.

He is concerned the officer was allowed to continue working for two months as the investigation took place, hoping a similar issue didn’t happen again.

“I think the city needs to answer to the public on what those causes could be,” Schultz said.

“How many tickets from Oct. 17 to Dec. 27 were issued that shouldn’t have been given out?”

The city’s traffic safety department said the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires removed the peace officer from her role with the city for other reasons, but didn’t provide specific details.

Parks and roads branch manager Brian Simpson said processes were put in place following the complaint made by Schultz to watch the peace officer and ensure she was completing her job properly.

Drivers who were nabbed for speeding by the officer on Oct. 17 had their tickets rejected and never mailed out, Simpson said in a statement Monday afternoon. The officer continued to work photo radar shifts until her termination Dec. 27 and those tickets remain valid.

After being told a photo radar operator monitoring a school zone in the city’s west end appeared to be asleep on the job, Schultz said he went to the site and watched the vehicle for several minutes without any movement from the officer. He then approached the vehicle while taking a video of the officer before knocking on the vehicle’s window.

The peace officer denied sleeping on the job during the city’s investigation, but said she may have been “zoned out” with her eyes open as she was being filmed.

“Upon completion of the investigation, the peace officer was found to be failing to make adequate observations relating to the movement of traffic at their enforcement site,” Simpson said in the statement.