Photo courtesy RCMP of St.Pierre area last weekend

If you drove through St.Pierre last weekend, you may have noticed an increased police presence.
    
RCMP Media Relations Officer Tara Seel says officers from across the province were deployed from their regular duties in order to take part in a three day traffic blitz in the St.Pierre area. St.Pierre RCMP deployed the D Division Action Response Team (DART), where multiple officers focused on traffic enforcement in the area.

"St.Pierre had identified the fact that they would like to do some targeted enforcement on traffic concerns in their area such as impaired driving, speeding, distracted driving, those types of things," explains Seel. "That was something that they felt was important for their community to have the police out there and enforcing these types of infractions."

By the time the weekend was over, nearly two hundred charges were laid.

* 3 people charged with Impaired Driving

* 8 24-hour alcohol-related roadside suspensions

* 99 people charged with speeding under the Highway Traffic Act

* 22 people charged with not wearing seat belts

* 12 people charged with use of a handheld device

* 53 charges for various other Highway Traffic Act and Liquor and Gaming Control Act infractions

"We consider it a success," admits Seel. She says if three people are charged with Impaired Driving, that's three drivers taken off the road. If ninety-nine people are charged with speeding, Seel says police are preventing collisions from potentially happening.

"Every time that we're able to stop and not only enforce but also educate as to the dangers that certain behaviours are causing on the road, we consider that a success," she says. "Ultimately safe roadways are a priority for the RCMP and really if everyone does their part we can all get home safely to our families."

The DART initiative in St.Pierre fell during the Frog Follies weekend. Seel says this was more than just coincidence.

"When you have such events that draw people to the area, more people in the area means the possibility of more people committing these infractions," she says.

Seel says they don't release numbers on how many RCMP officers take part in DART on a given weekend.