Harsh new drunk-driving laws mean police spend too much time dealing with drivers who’ve had a few drinks with dinner, rather than going after problem drunk drivers, says Vancouver Police Union president Tom Stamatakis.

“Ultimately, from a front-line police officer’s perspective, we’re ending up not targeting the person that’s responsible for the very serious tragedies that we deal with on an ongoing basis,” said Stamatakis.

And Stamatakis is concerned that the new laws mean that police now decide guilt or innocence.

“Even if you support the change of regulations, I don’t think any of us support the fact that we’ve now become the judge and the jury.

“Our job is to enforce the law, and another part of our criminal justice system should be dealing with the guilt or innocence thing and imposing what the penalties should be.”

Stamatakis said the heavier penalties on drivers with a breathalyzer reading of between 0.05 and 0.08 is targeting people who have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner rather than problem drinking drivers.

The higher penalties are leading to increased tension between police and drivers, and extra officers may be needed for backup, at a time when police are already short-staffed, he said.

Cops now face the potential for more pursuits and are wasting time waiting for tow trucks and taxis after vehicles are impounded, he said.

“There’s no question that speeding and drunk driving cause a lot of carnage on our roads,” said Stamatakis, who’s also president of the B.C. Police Association.

“In this country, at least, it’s not illegal to consume a glass of wine with dinner and it seems we’re creating a situation where we are put in the unenviable position of having to enforce these regulations.”

Stamatakis said his members weren’t consulted before the government brought in the new laws. He said he plans to talk to Solicitor-General Mike de Jong.

“There’s a significant fine attached for both speeding and lower blood-alcohol limits,” he added.

“Is that revenue going to be poured back into public safety or going to end up in general revenue? My view would be if we’re going to create these regulations that have a considerable impact on police capacity, then the revenues should come back to policing.”

Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd said Wednesday he agrees with Stamatakis.

“When you institute these kind of changes, there may well be consequences that were not what was intended, in terms of the use of scarce police resources,” Boyd said.

“This is new territory. Do we have a lot of evidence that people at 0.05 are the people that are creating more than 1,000 impaired-driving deaths that we get in Canada every year?”

But Cpl. Jamie Chung of RCMP traffic services said Mounties haven’t experienced any extra problems since the law came in Sept. 20.

“Police work comes with risk,” Chung said. “If we have to impound people’s vehicles, there’s always a potential for them to get irate.”

Manon Groulx, Vancouver vice-president for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, was reluctant to comment on Stamatakis’s views.

“If the new laws stop impaired drivers and reduce the amount of victims, we’re happy,” Groulx said.

De Jong didn’t return calls from The Province but is due in Richmond today to announce figures on tickets and fines issued under the new law.

Source: The Province