Province backs down on random stop policy

The Ontario government has backed off authorizing police to randomly pull motorists over to enforce new stay-athome orders, following refusals by numerous police forces — including Windsor's — to take part.

The Windsor Police Service announced Saturday it would not randomly stop people or vehicles as part of new government restrictions.

“The Windsor Police Service will continue to focus on engaging the community, educating the public, and enforcing the (stay-at-home) order, in a fair and unbiased manner. Officers will not be randomly stopping people or vehicles,” a post on Twitter stated.

On Friday, the provincial government announced stricter rules for the stay-athome order first launched April 8. This included giving police the authority to randomly stop vehicles and individuals and require people provide their home address and purpose for not being at their residence. But many police services across Ontario issued statements saying they would not start randomly stopping people as part of the stricter lockdown rules.

On Saturday, the Office of the Solicitor General issued a statement that said it had “refocused” the new regulations.

“If a police officer ... has reason to suspect you are participating in an organized public event or social gathering, they may require you to provide information to ensure you are complying with restrictions,” the office explained. “Every individual who is required to provide a police officer ... with information shall promptly comply.”

Lasalle police on Saturday stated they would not randomly stop people or vehicles for the sole purpose of enforcing the stay-at-home order.

“The Lasalle Police Service will continue to focus on compliance through engagement, education and, where appropriate, enforcement,” said Duncan Davies, acting chief of police, in a written statement.

“Be assured, we will not be conducting random traffic stops or person checks for the sole purpose of enforcing the stay-at-home order.”