| They say pickpocketing is a crime.
Yet the Calgary police collect daily fines, on average, of $82,000 from the pockets of Calgarians. When the police do it, it is called enforcement. But the way photo-radar and red-light-camera ticket fines are collected more closely resembles having your purse or wallet snatched.
Every year Calgary police take in about $10 million from photo-radar tickets, voluntarily paid by working people unable to take time off the job to contest the fine, by single parents trying to keep a roof over their heads, or by seniors cynical or jaded by experience with the judicial system. Some of the people who fight tickets do so out of principle, most do it because the ticket imposes a severe hit on their ability to make ends meet.
Whatever their reasons, the majority of people who are issued photo-radar and red-light tickets pay without question. But they should question. And they should demand change.
When people are charged under section 160(1) of the Traffic Safety Act, the Crown charges the owner of the car. But the legislation says that the owner’s vehicle must first have been involved in another "offence." However, the police do not charge the vehicle or the owner with a first offence. Instead, the police issue a ticket they know will not stand up in court, and do so with the knowledge that the majority of non-law-breaking victims who receive tickets will pay the fine.
It’s a scam of the highest order, made worse because it is done with the full knowledge of the Crown Prosecutor’s office.
In the past, although not a lawyer, I have represented two people who had been issued tickets. The first trial was dismissed because "the file had gone missing." The second trial was dismissed because the "registration paperwork was not in order." More recently, on June 9, I represented a person who received a $287 ticket for going through a red light on icy roads last January.
Well, what do you think happened? After the Crown ensured that we waited more than one hour, the case came to trial. The paperwork used by the officer who issued the automated ticket was reviewed by traffic judge Pat McIlhargey. He called an adjournment to review the affidavits in close detail.
Funny thing is, I had given my approval to the documentation. I accepted it, knowing full well that a more serious issue would be addressed. Prosecutor Terry Melendy, who had prosecuted for more than a decade, expressed concern while the adjudicator was out of the court. He had the experience to know. I had the experience to know the entire trial was theatre.
When court returned, Judge McIlhargey reviewed orally the officer’s sworn statements. He went into great legal descriptions of the documents that I could not fully follow. And I have considerable legal experience. But I won’t get into that sordid tale.
In short, the judge concluded that the paperwork was inadequate and defective. Case dismissed!
In the year ending March 2003, $123 million was collected in fines in Alberta. Although information is difficult to access, close to one-third of that was for photo-radar offences. It amounts to a tax on the honest. And perhaps, a tax by the less-than-honest.
In the last fiscal year, the Calgary Police Service recorded a $4-million surplus.
Unfortunately, the illegality of collecting fines does a disservice to Alberta’s finest. It tarnishes the sterling reputation of all good police and court officials. The administration of justice is being dragged into disrepute.
It’s a sad day when the people who are paid to serve us are allowed to act like little more than common pickpockets. |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.