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Red-light cameras being used to penalize police officers responding to emergencies in Ontario, unions say (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 6 days ago by NarrativeBear@lemmy.world to c/toronto@lemmy.ca

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42588196

Red-light cameras in Ontario have been catching civilians for years, but some police officers who rush to emergencies say they’re unfairly being penalized by the same technology.

Under Ontario's Highway Traffic Act, police are allowed to go through a red light, with lights and sirens activated, after coming to a stop and when it’s safe to do so.

There have been instances in other parts of Canada when first responders were found to be responsible for causing a crash while going through a red light.

For instance, in 2024, a Winnipeg police officer pleaded guilty after causing a two-vehicle crash at an intersection when responding to an emergency.

Rice said there are forms of accountability that officers face when that happens — including internal reviews, and scrutiny by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit and the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency.

“That’s the goal of it. The officer has to come up [to the intersection] — they use discretion and judgment,” said Rice.

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[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Surely there must be a way to look up whether an emergency vehicle running a red light was responding to an emergency at the time?

[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

The article makes a mention of the systems and review period in place for TPS.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) said discipline isn’t automatic for officers captured speeding by red-light cameras.

An internal review is conducted “to determine if an exemption is justified,” said Stephanie Sayer, manager of corporate communications.

“If it is determined that no exemption applies, prescribed hours are docked from the officer’s pay as a penalty."

There's even a bit about fire trucks as well.

But fire trucks were equipped with technology in previous years to turn traffic lights green, so those infractions don’t happen often, said chief fire prevention officer John Smith.

And I think the following bit is worth mentioning.

Rice said he’s learned some officers do come to a complete stop at the white line and are still disciplined. That's because police cruisers can accelerate quickly in large intersections, which triggers the red-light camera infraction.

Under Ontario's Highway Traffic Act, police are allowed to go through a red light, with lights and sirens activated, after coming to a stop and when it’s safe to do so.

So at the end of the day, it's legal, there's a review process, and there's unbiased accountability. Seems like the system works as intended TBH with a few little rough ended to be smooth out.