Additional enforcement cracks down on Main Street racing

Steinbach council gave approval to a plan that would see the Ste Anne Police Department patrol Main Street as part of a crackdown on racing.

Ste Anne had already participated with Steinbach RCMP for traffic enforcement in the community.

However, the new plan, which has the consensus of council, will see them come out alone.

“They’re willing to do some additional enforcement that they would do more independently, and they would do it through funding provided by Manitoba Public Insurance,” Coun. Michael Zwaagstra said.

He explained that policing remains a challenge locally.

“Like many other cities across the country we don’t have our full RCMP complement,” he said. “The RCMP has not been able to get the full numbers that we’ve requested.”

Zwaagstra told fellow councillors that the agreement allows Ste Anne Police to come to Steinbach and patrol, something he argued is beneficial because of the unsafe driving habits of some Steinbach drivers.

“I think we’ve got to do whatever we can to catch these individuals and frankly if you don’t like the fact you’re getting pulled over by a Ste Anne officer while you’re racing down Main Street, I don’t care because you shouldn’t be racing down Main Street,” he said. “So, if your car gets impounded, I don’t care which officer is impounding your car. Tough luck.”

Mayor Earl Funk agreed, saying MPI has long been funding extra policing for things like speeding, distracted driving or gravel road enforcement.

“This is going to be completely random,” he said of when local residents will see a Ste Anne Police presence. “They will not be announcing which evenings, weekends or hours this will be. It’s just going to be driver beware.”

“At any given time, this could be happening in our community.”