'I don't see why the public should pay': City councillor responds to speeding Toronto police cars
Several city councillors say it's important for the Toronto Police Service (TPS) to "get to the bottom of" how many automated speeding or red light camera tickets its officers get – and how many have no lawful excuse.
Toronto-Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher says she was "flummoxed" by the CTV News story that unearthed pictures of police vehicles speeding or running red lights, and said the TPS has to come clean on which of them are justified and which are not.
"How many of those tickets are legitimate because they are going to an emergency, and how many were just because there was sloppy driving or speeding? I don't see why the public should pay for sloppy driving or speeding because nobody pays for my ticket," Fletcher said in an interview.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
City data shows that, in 26 months, TPS vehicles were issued 1,038 speeding tickets and 164 red light tickets. The police force produced copies of 435 tickets in response to a freedom of information request CTV News made in 2021.
Some tickets appear to include snapshots of emergencies in progress, when police are legally allowed to break traffic rules during their duties, including one case of a police car following an ambulance through an intersection.
But others are less clear, including a special constable car ticketed for speeding outside a school during pickup. Several speeding tickets were also issued to TPS parking enforcement vehicles, which typically do not need to speed to ticket-parked cars.
In one case, a parking enforcement vehicle was ticketed $227.50 for going 65 km/h in a 40 km/h zone. The same vehicle received another ticket for $95 two days later for going 45 km/h in a 30 km/h zone.
The TPS has said its officers are asked to justify the ticket, and if they can't, they could be docked pay. But when CTV News asked how often that happens and how many tickets have no lawful excuse, the service couldn't say.
In the city data, the highest number of speeding tickets in any spot was 55, issued at Beverley and D'Arcy streets downtown, located a few blocks west of the 52 Division.
That intersection is in Coun. Dianne Saxe's ward, who said she immediately phoned the 52 Division's complaints coordinator to ask why.
"From what the police tell me, almost all the tickets issued in my ward at Beverley and D'Arcy were issued to police officers who were in the course of their duties accelerating to catch people, offenders. They tell me that is a very high priority because of the schools that are located right there," Saxe said.
The city's 75 cameras have also caught TTC buses and city trucks, which have prompted new measures to track possible problem drivers in those departments.
Saxe said the city should take speeding very seriously and is pushing for more cameras to slow down speeding drivers and a faster administrative program to speed up the paperwork.
She said the tickets to police are a sign the cameras are working correctly because they ticket every car that breaks the rules, even if the driver is a police officer.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.