Municipal councils, provincial prosecutors and police all want to see the way traffic charges are handled at the Stettler courthouse expanded.
Both Village of Alix and Town of Bashaw councils passed resolutions at their most recent regular meetings seeking a separate day in Stettler court for traffic charges/provincial.
At the Alix regular council meeting Nov. 1 Coun. Ed Cole, himself a retired RCMP officer who still works in the justice system, presented his peers with letters from police and the provincial prosecutor’s office noting too little time in Stettler court for traffic charges means some of those charges are being withdrawn.
Cole, as he presented the letters, noted this is not a new problem and has occurred in the past. The first letter he presented was from Bashaw RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Trent Cleveland, dated Oct. 30, which stated Cleveland learned of the issue of serious traffic charges possibly being dismissed after recently taking command of the detachment.
“It immediately came to my attention that there is a concern with the constables issuing provincial violation tickets as they have been getting withdrawn in court more often than not,” stated Sgt. Cleveland in his letter. “This has deterred the RCMP constables from issuing provincial violation tickets and instead issuing warning tickets because there is no support from the courts to pursue the charges.
“We have prolific traffic offenders in our jurisdiction who are aware of the court proceedings and know that if they plead not guilty that the ticket will likely be withdrawn.
“We have even gone so far as to provide community awareness for safe driving habits and illegal driving habits to make sure that all drivers are aware of the ongoing road safety concerns we are having in our jurisdiction.
“In the end, the driving offenders are still getting off in court without any repercussions because of how busy Stettler court is with Criminal Code (CC) matters.”
It was further clarified that Sgt. Cleveland wrote the above letter on the request of Provincial Prosecutor Chris Noble, “…who is attempting to get Stettler court a specific date for traffic offences only.
“I agree that Stettler court should have a specific day to deal with traffic/provincial violations only. I am aware that Camrose and Wetaskiwin court have specific court dates to deal with traffic/provincial offences.
“We have had some concerns with traffic violations being withdrawn in Stettler court because they do not have the time to deal with them due to CC offences taking precedence,” added Cleveland in his letter.
The ECA Review left a message for Stettler RCMP detachment commander S/Sgt. Cam Russell requesting a comment on this issue Nov. 7.
Town of Stettler Chief Administrative Officer Leann Graham stated the municipality supports a separate traffic day in court.
“The Town of Stettler is in support of a specific traffic court date in Stettler,” stated Graham in a Nov. 7 email. “Traffic matters are often withdrawn in our community to prioritize other court matters which results in decreased accountability for local traffic concerns.”
During Alix council discussion Coun. Cole stated it can be frustrating and inefficient if police officers sit at court waiting for hours for the traffic charges to come up on the docket to only see them withdrawn.
Alix village councillors unanimously passed a resolution to support efforts to have a dedicated traffic/provincial day at Stettler court.
Also on Nov. 1 at the Town of Bashaw regular meeting councillors read the same letter from Cleveland.
In a phone call to the ECA Review Nov. 6 Bashaw CAO Theresa Fuller confirmed town council unanimously approved by resolution writing a letter of support for a dedicated traffic/provincial day in Stettler court every month.
Further, the Village of Big Valley council at their regular meeting Nov. 20 also read a letter from the prosecutor’s office requesting the council’s support in obtaining a separate traffic day in Stettler provincial court.
Mayor Clark German stated such a day would positively affect Big Valley so councillors unanimously passed a resolution to support the request.
Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ECA Review
