LAC LA BICHE - The start of the new school year in the Lac La Biche area is also a learning opportunity for motorists, and the municipality’s Manager of Protective Services, says most have been getting a passing grade
A full week into the new school year, and John Kokotilo said there have been no significant concerns regarding motorists in school zones, around school buses, or dealing with increased pedestrian traffic around schools.
“The public have been very cognizant with respect to the start of the school year, and we have not heard of any issues at this time,” he told Lakeland This Week.
Kokotilo continued by saying that during this time of the year, local law enforcement officials “ramp up” their strategies with respect to public safety.
This, he explained, means primarily focusing on kids returning to school, motorists speeding in school zones, school bus drop off and pick up times, as well as general overseeing of safety within school areas of the community.
Community peace officers, he added, frequently check to ensure that drivers are following the law.
“We are about education and safety, and we will enforce penalties if it impacts safety of the public,” Kokotilo said.
As for the penalties that drivers can incur should they step on the gas while going through a zone school, Kokotilo says those vary and are numerous. He did say, however, that such actions can result in a loss of demerit points on an individual’s license along with a dramatic increase in vehicle insurance rates.
Speed training
When community peace officers monitor school zones to ensure that drivers are complying with speed limits within school zones, they use RADAR and Light Detection and Radar (LiDAR) equipment.
Speed enforcement is part of the job description for peace officers, according to Chris Clark, the director of training for Lac La Biche County’s Law Enforcement Training Centre. And while training classes can have more than a dozen recruits in a class, Clark said the extra bodies aren’t deployed in school zones with radar guns.
“We don’t do school zone checks with recruits as they are not certified and have no appointment to do enforcement activities – plus, they are busy learning,” Clark said, explaining that during their training to become community peace officers, recruits spend three days learning speed enforcement and the use of RADAR and LiDAR.
Speed enforcement training he explained, includes theory, practical application, and unit testing, doing drives around and utilizing the device under the supervision of an instructor and then both written and practical testing.
With compliance rates in school zones – so far into the school year – at acceptable levels, Clark and Kokotilo say the regular patrols of the municipality’s current peace officers are continuing to educate the public.
