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.
Neat how this doesn’t happen to ambulances or fire trucks.
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
It does happen to them as well and the article breifly addresses that.
Yeah but that doesn’t fit my narrative so… >:(
I’m confused why police don’t have the same ability for emergency response.
My guess is municipal budgets. They likely have more police crusiers than they do fire trucks or ambulances. The police cruisers are also smaller than fire trucks so they may be able to navigate more intersections without needing a green light to clear some traffic.
said chief fire prevention officer John Smith
Yeah, that guy’s totally made up… just look at his name!
Does he happen to look like David Tennant at all? Lol
How are they being penalized? They’re allowed to do it? If they do it unsafely, that’s always going to be on them.
The article says the punishments are triggered sometimes even sfter they stop in front of the light because of how fast they can accelerate when leaving. And punishments aren’t handled evenly across the province. Officers in Windsor are docked 6 hrs pay for a first offence and 12 more for a second.
It sure seems like there should be room for discussion.
Sounds like a problem with governance not the cameras existing
Correct. That seems to be the article’s point too.
Lots of times my local cops (small Ontario town) will flash the lights to go through a red light they don’t want to wait for, then then them off once through and on the other side.
You can always tell the real emergencies by their speed.
Some cops don’t seem to have gotten the message yet that the system needs to be blunt and dehumanizing. It’ll gladly cannabalize its own to get that message across.
And also, ACAB.
ACAB
