Codiac RCMP will 'continue to push' for 10-officer traffic division

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The Codiac RCMP will continue to push for the resources to create a traffic division, according to the detachment’s commanding officer.

Superintendent Benoit Jolette said the RCMP’s provincial traffic team, which consists of four of five members, typically comes to the region once a month for a one-day blitz where about 100 tickets are handed out for traffic violations.

“We see amazing results,” he said.

During a meeting of Moncton city council on April 15, Councillor Dave Steeves asked Jolette if he could begin or continue discussions on the creation of a traffic division in the Codiac detachment when discussing an incident where a Grade 5 student was struck by a vehicle on his way to Northrop Frye School on April 12.

“I feel like we might be behind as far as regulating speeds and all that sort of thing,” said Steeves.

Jolette said it’s something the detachment would “love to see” and that they proposed creating one in 2022.

He told Brunswick News that the RCMP recommended hiring 25 officers, with 10 forming a new traffic team. The recommendation was not supported, and five officers were hired. Jolette said the officers were deployed where they were needed but it wasn’t enough to develop a full-time traffic team.

“With 10 people we could actually have different rotations where we would have members in police cars fully dedicated to traffic enforcement and that could be school zones, that could be speeding, seatbelts, cell phones, everything,” he said.

At this time, Jolette said they don’t have the resources to patrol areas like school zones all the time. He said right now, traffic monitoring is done sporadically between calls.

He said the first thing the detachment does if they are in “great shape” for the day, is to assign a member to traffic duty for the day.

“We see that it’s an issue and we need to get out there as much as I can,” he said.

“Some of the councillors see a need and (Codiac Regional Policing Authority) and residents do as well, so we’re going to keep pushing for that,” he said.

Jolette said the next step will be to highlight this need in its next proposal to Moncton council this summer and to make the same proposal to councils in Dieppe and Riverview.

“If have some sort of full-time traffic team it would be beneficial to the entire area,” he said.

Ashly Barron, spokesperson for the Town of Riverview, said the town continues to work with the Codiac Regional Policing Authority and RCMP to ensure public safety needs are addressed within the community, including traffic enforcement.

“Riverview Town Council looks forward to reviewing additional resource requests and measurable outcomes as a result of that investment during the annual budget process this fall,” she said.

“Along with the CRPA, and Codiac RCMP, the City of Moncton works to ensure public safety needs of our residents are met, which includes traffic enforcement,” Isabelle LeBlanc, spokesperson for the City of Moncton, said in an email. “City Council considers requests, along with their measurable results during the municipal budget process held in the fall.“

The City of Dieppe was unable to provide a comment by press time.