Delta Police Department

Media Release

4455 Clarence Taylor Crescent . Delta, BC . V4K 3E1 www.deltapolice.ca

Release date/time: April 27, 2011 / 1500 hours Media Contact: Incident: Commercial Vehicle Inspection JFO Blitz A/Sgt. Paul Eisenzimmer Date/Time: April 19 – 21 Media Relations Location: Various locales throughout Delta 604.595-2125 DPD file: [email protected]

Delta Police Address a Strategic Goal with Fifth Annual Commercial Vehicle Inspection

Last week, the Delta Police Department Traffic Section enlisted the support of Policing and regulatory enforcement agencies from across British Columbia, for an annual 3 day Commercial Vehicle Safety Initiative. The combined team of officers/civilians included representatives from the Delta Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit, the Provincial Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Unit(CVSE), the Integrated Road Safety Unit (IRSU), Surrey RCMP, Richmond RCMP, Surrey Bylaw Office, Deas Island RCMP (Traffic Unit), New Westminster Police Department, Vancouver Police Department, Integrated K-9, the Ministry of Finance, Transport Canada, Worksafe BC, and the Corporation of Delta mechanical staff, and volunteers from the Delta Community Police Offices, for a total of 115 participants.

One of the Strategic Goals of the Delta Police Department is to make Delta’s roads the safest in BC. Delta has one of the highest, if not the highest, ratio in BC of commercial vehicles transiting its roads. This was the largest initiative of its type in the Province. The focus of the blitz was business vehicles that are not property maintained and pose a danger on our roads.

The Inspectors examine vehicles using a “three criteria” reporting system; 1) “Pass” 2) “Violation Present”(VP) 3) “Out Of Service” (OOS). If a vehicle has been given an out of service designation – the vehicle cannot turn another wheel before fixing the deficiency that put it out of service. The inspectors had a variety of repair businesses; tire companies and tow companies on standby to assist and conduct mobile service.

Targeting visibly defective container trucks, dump trucks, and commercial trades vehicles, the initiative yielded the following results:

Categories Total Inspections Container and Dump Trucks: 195 Vocational 170 Highway Trucks 119

Total number of Inspections: 474 Overall Out of Service (OOS): 186 Out of service Rate: 38%

These numbers do not reflect the status of the business/commercial transport industry. Our percentages of Out of Service Orders will be higher due to our targeting strategies.

Delta Police Department – Media Release Page 2 of 2 A year to year comparison shows a relative consistency of vehicles taken Out of Service, with a slight decline this year.

Comparison 2006 2007 2009 2010 2011 Vehicles Inspected 544 612 580 448 484 Number Out of Service 154 249 228 188 186 Out of Service Rate 28% 41% 39% 42% 38%

The Delta Police Department is one of very few police departments that maintain a dedicated team of Commercial Vehicle Inspectors. The DPD Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit would like to thank all of the officers, their organizations, and the volunteers that participated in this initiative. This is a great example of Federal, Provincial, and Municipal agencies working together with community support to decrease the danger level on our roads.