Calgary police in talks to ramp up dangerous driver reporting method

Calgary police hope to introduce a new way for concerned citizens to put the brakes on human road hazards.

This comes as provincewide, Albertans partner with police each year to clear the streets of dangerous drivers, including suspected impaired drivers.

RCMP Cpl. Mathew Howell says that’s a valuable collaboration between law enforcement and citizens — who share the same goal.

“Impaired is not just alcohol; we’re talking drugs and prescription medication. Even fatigue can be a form of impairment. We can’t be everywhere all the time,” he says.

“‘Oh, maybe they are not impaired, or maybe they are just tired.’ We would rather get the information and validate it rather than someone not call it in, and it ends up being an impaired driver, and they end up causing a collision or something else down the line.”

Thousands of Albertans each year report suspected impaired drivers

Year-round, Alberta police clear the roads of human road hazards — everything from impaired to distracted or speeding drivers — who put fellow motorists at risk. Those officers rely on fellow motorists to assist.

And according to the stats, they do.

On average, Calgary police receive about 5,800 calls for drivers suspected of being impaired behind the wheel each year.

RCMP, meanwhile, tells 660 NewsRadio that the bulk of about 2,700 calls in 2024 came in on Saturdays, mostly between 4 p.m. and midnight.

The reports increased with warmer weather, coming in between May and September.

Calgary reporting system under discussion to include video submissions

Soon, Calgarians may have a new way to report suspected impaired drivers, with police looking at introducing a program similar to one in the United Kingdom, which offers a hub for concerned citizens to share video footage, either dashcam or phone, to document dangerous drivers. It bolsters a case if it goes to court.

“Technology is a definite asset within the traffic section, so that is something being looked at with our service modernization project,” Traffic Inspector Rob Patterson recently told the police commission.

“We’re actually looking at creating some sort of method, whether it be a direct online portal or somewhere you can email to — to be able to own that information.

“The UK has a very well-developed program like so we are looking at it as an option, that we would have officers that would monitor that account, review the evidence, determine if they can lay a charge and then lay that charge.”

Patterson also says traffic officers now have point-of-view cameras on their ball caps and helmets to document what they see — hoping it translates to more success in holding distracted drivers accountable.

“We know that distracted driving is a huge issue. And the problem was for the longest time we could not get convictions because people would say, ‘No, that wasn’t a phone in my hand, that was X, Y or Z.’ And without a video of that, it was hard to prove that,” he says.

Earlier this month, Calgary police — and many law enforcement partners province-wide — launched their first checkstop of the holiday season to zero in on impaired drivers.

The most recent available numbers show, year-to-date, impaired driving was a factor in at least five of 35 fatal collisions in Calgary.

Thus far, police have laid 109 impaired driving charges.