CANMORE – Being on your best behaviour might get you pulled over this summer.
Positive ticketing is coming back to Canmore for its third year from July to September to create positive interactions between law enforcement and the community as well as to increase personal safety.
RCMP and Canmore municipal enforcement will be on the watch for people, demonstrating personal safety tips such as wearing a bike helmet, wearing a personal flotation device on waterways and following the rules of the road. Tickets can also be issued to those who demonstrate community stewardship or by doing a good deed.
“It’s a really good way to show that when a peace officer or police officer talks to you, it’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes you can get a free ice cream out of it,” said Caitlin Miller, the Town of Canmore’s manager of protective services and director of emergency management.
While the initiative mainly focuses on youth, law enforcement warns adults that they will be keeping an eye on them as well.
“I met another person in town, and he said 'oh, I remember I met you last summer you gave my son a positive ticket' and that’s all he talked about for a couple of weeks. So those things are pretty amazing,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Singleton, detachment commander of the Canmore RCMP.
A coupon or gift card for food, ice cream, or drinks from local sponsors will be awarded upon a positive ticket being issued. This year RCMP and municipal enforcement had to double up on the coupons after running out last year.
Additionally, they have grand prizes up for grabs in a draw on Sept. 18, which can be entered by sending a photograph of yourself and the ticket to the email address on the bottom of the ticket.
In previous years, police and municipal enforcement not only noticed the community enjoyed the initiative, but so did officers as it gets them out on their bikes, interacting with the community, and gives them a mental break from a job that can be high stress at times.
“Even some of my members that weren’t really interested or highly motivated in doing this, they went out for a day or two, and they became my biggest proponents and supporters of this program just because of the true positive interactions and changes that we're making,” said Singleton.
Miller said it’s an opportunity for both police and municipal enforcement to connect with community members and visitors out and about in Canmore.
“Watch out for those RCMP members and community peace officers when you’re on the road or on the trails because if you're using them safely you might be rewarded for it,” said Miller.
