Posted on 11/22/2014 5:50:13 AM PST by Don W
Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner wants to meet with the Integrated Road Safety Unit after a ticket issued by one of its members led to a storm of reaction on social media and in the community.
Debbi Ferguson, a military veteran of 20 years, was pulled over by an IRSU officer as she and a number of other drivers accompanied the body of Pte. Steven Allen from Victoria International Airport to a funeral home on Remembrance Day. Allen, a 20-year-old Victoria High School graduate, died Nov. 3 in a training exercise in Wainwright, Alta.
The traffic officer, a member of the Victoria Police Department seconded to IRSU, issued Ferguson a $230 ticket for having an obscured licence plate. Rules say that plates can’t be obscured by things like dirt or tinted covers.
Ferguson said her car had a Canadian flag at half-mast as well as its four-way flashers going when she was stopped, but that did not deter the IRSU officer.
“What I’ve done is I’ve asked for a meeting with IRSU to really figure out what their mandate is in and around enforcement, and when they’re in our community,” Elsner said Wednesday.
Elsner said the incident involving Ferguson first came to his attention on the evening of Remembrance Day through social media.
“The next morning, I met with the family,” he said. “This is the part that broke my heart — they lost their son and now they’re talking to the police chief about something that happened.
“So I said, ‘I want to provide you my sincerest apology with no caveats.’ The dad actually shook my hand. He said: ‘That’s all I wanted to hear.’ ”
Elsner said his department responded further by providing a full police traffic escort for Allen’s Nov. 15 funeral.
He said he expects IRSU will look into all the circumstances around the ticket being issued.
“I’m going to do what’s right for our department, and the actual ‘What happened there?’ I’ll leave up to them.” - See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/victoria-police-chief-apologizes-for-ticket-at-soldier-s-funeral-1.1600419#sthash.FSGqlYNL.dpuf
A good cop would have gotten a rag and wipe the place to make it visible or removed whatever cover or issued a warning. A good cop that is ...
“And the cop who issued this ticket deserves to be fired.”
Only if this type of gouging was that cop’s personal idea. Most likely the cop’s actions reflect departmental policy and the town’s desire to use the Police force as a revenue generating device.
Those truly responsible should be tried and imprisoned.
Isolated incident.
The po-leece man went home safe.
No dogs were shot.
“And the cop who issued this ticket deserves to be fired.”
I used to wonder why the soldiers under Hitler’s command would follow his orders to harm their own people........
Today it is even worse than it was in the early 1940’s....
Sorry, A good cop would not f with a funeral procession, no matter whether it was a veteran’s or not.
Sheriff Andy Taylor wouldn’t have pulled over a car in a military funereal.
I've read some bad (all inclusive) things LEOs have done, but that was probably the most classless act I've heard of.
sorry.... now, will you be paying the $230 fine in cash or check?...
Pretty low rent if you ask me.I guess cops in the Great White North have quotas to meet just as they do down here.
So just following orders is ok regardless of what those orders entail?? Were you also in Favor of the Nazi Death Camp guards because they were “Just Following Orders” of their Department?? Group Think ALWAYS leads to TYRANNY.
With all due respect, Please read it again. There was nothing to wipe. She had Canada’s National Colors attached to her vehicle in such a way that in a slow cortege with minimal airflow the flag drooped over the license plate. And the pompous, swaggering, bedwetting @$$hat cop pounced. Useless hunks of protoplasm like that cop really clench my jaws.
Funny thing, I got pulled over by this same unit in August. Even though I blew 0.05, I got a fine ($200), had to buy my DL back ($250), and had to pay an administration fee ($31). Even though I had broken no law, I was fined rather harshly for daring to have 2 beer at 9 pm on a Thursday. At least they didn’t tow my car!
It gets better! I appealed this event ($100) and learned that there is no court, no appearance before an adjudicator, just some bureaucrat in an office reads your presentation, the cop’s writeup then decides your fate. Can you say “Star Chamber”?
Not only that, but IF you want to appeal, you MUST have all your information together and at the DMV within 7 days of the driving prohibition!
2 1/2 weeks after I jump all the hoops and dance on the barrel, a letter from the DMV arrives informing me that “since they are unable to process my appeal within the 21 days from the receipt of the ‘Application for Review’ stipulated in the regulation, the DMV has unilaterally extended the time span for its review.”
You can guess what the final outcome was. BTW, no refund on the appeal fee either.
So I am out $581 for breaking no law. Nice, huh?
The Integrated Road Safety Unit, more commonly known as IRSU, was formed in 2004 and is made up of 110 traffic enforcement officers from the RCMP and Municipal Police
...yet. The weekend is still young.
“It’s a free country ... isn’t it?”
Love, Meg
Well, it used to be...
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