Officer posing as panhandler helps issue dozens of tickets in Lower Sackville, N.S.

A RCMP vehicle is pictured on July 3, 2025. (CTV Atlantic / Callum Smith)

An RCMP officer posing as a panhandler helped hand out dozens of tickets in the Halifax area on Wednesday.

Police say they conducted 33 traffic stops and issued 38 summary offence tickets near Glendale Drive and Cobequid Road in Lower Sackville, N.S.

One officer in plain clothes posed as the panhandler and acted as a traffic spotter.

Later that day, officers carried out a second road safety enforcement operation on Cole Harbour Road and Cumberland Drive in Cole Harbour.

Officers conducted 16 traffic stops and issued eight summary offence tickets in the area.

Police say the 46 total tickets issued at both locations were for:

• failing to wear a seatbelt (12 tickets)
• using a handheld device while driving (9 tickets)

According to an RCMP release, 25 other tickets were issued for no insurance, driving while revoked, driving without a valid driver’s license and administrative offences, such as expired registration and safety inspections.

“Innovative approaches like this help us see violations we might otherwise miss,” said Cpl. Bobby Bambury of the RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment Traffic Unit, in the release.

“When drivers think no one is watching, that’s often when risky behaviour happens. Our goal is always to intervene before those behaviours lead to a collision.”

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