The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is concerned Delta police may have cast the net too wide in their description of possible impaired driving behaviour, with the danger being that some might take the descriptions too literally.
Partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada, Delta's police force is one of the first in the Lower Mainland to embrace a 911 campaign encouraging citizens to help identify impaired driving suspects by calling the department's emergency line. Delta police have provided a list of 10 possible signs of an impaired driver.
Tracy Crawford, chapter services manager for MADD Canada, said the campaign "sends the message to impaired drivers that other motorists are watching and will report them to police."
While the campaign's intent is laudable, said David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, he suggested Delta police might want to reel in the descriptions of possible signs of impaired driving, lest they "create a huge body of work for police."
"Do we want to spend those resources pulling people over for driving with an open window," he asked, "or on combating violent crime?"
Being stopped by police because somebody saw you driving around with your window open, or for stopping well before a stop sign, would be "strange."
"It's a heavy club for driving around with an open window," Eby noted.
Const. Ciaran Feenan, spokesman for the Delta police, said officers must respond to all 911 calls.
"We respond to them and if they're not impaired, they're free to go," he said.
Asked if police are concerned some peeved motorists might use this as a tool for revenge against other drivers, Feenan said that would constitute public mischief.
"Our hope is people don't misuse it and abuse it," he said.
