Greater Sudbury police will receive up to $500,000 per year for a dedicated traffic enforcement initiative, under a motion passed by city council’s finance and administration committee during its May 19 meeting. The funding comes from a $2.7 million provincial grant intended for street calming measures after the province removed the city’s speed cameras. “The city got 2.7 million (from the province) for street calming when our (speed) cameras were taken away,” said Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin. “One of the things that the money could be used for is for traffic enforcement with the police. So, I brought this motion forward.” Multi-year agreement The motion, presented at the May 19 committee meeting, directs the CAO to enter into a multi-year agreement with the Greater Sudbury Police Service to sponsor a dedicated speed enforcement initiative. The program will be funded up to a maximum of half a million dollars per year, with the first year funded from the provincial Road Safety Initiatives Fund received by the city. Future years of the program are to be funded either through increased Provincial Offences Act revenues that result from the program, or from the same provincial funding stream as in year one. Existing officers to be reassigned Greater Sudbury police spokesperson, Kaitlyn Dunn, told CTV News that the initiative will operate without expanding the police workforce. “There will not be any net new hires. However, these officers will be brought in to conduct traffic enforcement solely, so they won’t be taking calls for service,” said Dunn. “Their tour duty will be allocated to traffic enforcement, whether it be speeding, school zones, distracted driving (or) any of the top complaints related to road safety in our community.” Enforcement a complement to new speed limits The funding follows the city’s recent announcement on the permanent implementation of a 40 km/h speed limit on all residential streets. Fortin said that engineering and signage alone cannot change driver behaviour. “We need the police to be out there and be seen,” said Fortin. “Reminding people that they need to slow down and stop at red lights and things like that.” Timeline, deployment details yet to be released It is unclear at this time when the funding will be rolled out. However, Dunn said more specific information should be unveiled at the police services board meeting on June 17. That information will include how many officers will be involved and how often resources can be allocated based on the approved funding.
