Monday, November 17, 2008

Another Mainland Officer Arrested for Drunk Driving

Another Lower Mainland police officer is suspected of impaired driving after an off-duty Vancouver Police patrol officer was pulled over this weekend.

The officer, who police haven't officially identified, was spotted early Sunday morning by another officer who had just finished a shift performing drinking and driving counterattack duties - the VPD's effort to stop drunk driving.

"[The officer] sees a car weaving in front of them, and makes a call to 911," VPD Const. Tim Fanning, a department spokesperson, told reporters Monday.

The suspected vehicle was pulled over on Knight Street near 32nd Avenue.

Police, Fanning said, "feel satisfied [the suspect's] ability to drive a motor vehicle is impaired by alcohol.

"They also discover in their conversations with him, it is revealed he is a Vancouver Police officer."

Charges are being recommended against the officer, described only as a 30-year-old patrol constable with three and a half years of experience. The officer has been re-assigned while an investigation is underway.

Fanning said the officer's name would be released when he is officially charged.

"We don't tolerate impaired driving in the City of Vancouver," Fanning said.

"It doesn't matter who we pull over. We treat everyone in the same way."

The RCMP in the Lower Mainland has had similar experiences with officers getting in trouble with the law.

At the end of October, a North Vancouver RCMP school liaison officer and a school liaison officer in New Westminster were charged with impaired driving. Additionally, an unnamed RCMP corporal faces charges of impaired driving after a crash on Oct. 25 in Delta that resulted in the death of motorcyclist Orion Hutchinson, 21. The officer was among the group of RCMP officers deployed to Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14, 2007 where Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being hit by a Taser.

More information: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iqZ5GuW6SMv6rfSJDmC9bcg4uOIw

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