Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Calgary police begin mandatory alcohol screening at Checkstops

Diemenz · 01-12-2019, 02:26 PM

Wow there is some crazy arm chair lawyers in this thread that don’t quite understand how and what has changed. Just to be clear the police could always do this.......before this law. The only thing that has changed is the 2 hour intoxication window. Please don’t get lead astray from terrible Calgary sun reporting and their inability to properly do research.

Here is a post that might help explain it.

“No - Police are not going to randomly walk into homes or restaurants to conduct breath tests.”
CONSTABLE MARK SMITH·FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2019

Police in Canada can now demand breath samples in bars and at home!
You may have seen the above headline in your social media feed the past few days and I wanted to provide some clarification around this legislation update.
To begin – Police are not going to randomly walk into homes or restaurants to conduct breath tests.
The title and stories basically make it sound like police will be randomly walking into bars and homes to demand a sample of your breath and lay charges if you fail. The wording is designed to be sensational and make it sound like we have sweeping new powers, the fact is we can’t and don’t want to just walk into your home to test you for alcohol for no reason.
Most people are surprised to know that we could always investigate you for impaired driving if we found you sitting at a bar or at home after driving. What is important to note is that we can’t just do a random check without having evidence that you were recently operating a motor vehicle. So we are not, and have no interest in just randomly showing up to your home or bar and testing you. Trust me, we have better things to do with our time.
There is a time and a place for this however, and you may be surprised to know that we could always demand a sample from you with sufficient evidence, even if we found you at home or in a bar. This is called conducting an impaired driving investigation. As police officers we get paid to be suspicious and conduct inquiries to determine whether an offence was committed. The below is an example of an impaired driving investigation where a breath demand after the fact may be requested:
John Doe crashes a car and flees the scene. He runs into a home or bar to try and avoid prosecution and is witnessed by members of the public or police. We find Mr Doe at home or in the bar and through our investigation we determine Mr Doe was operating the vehicle and is under the influence of alcohol. This type of investigation could include gathering witness statements, reviewing security camera footage, and collecting physical evidence found at the scene. In this case we demand a breath sample from Mr Doe as part of that investigation. This process is not new and has not changed.
What has changed is that the law now states that you can’t be over the legal limit within two hours of operating a vehicle. This change was designed to mitigate some of the common defenses utilized by impaired drivers. For example, claiming they were sober when they were driving and got drunk between exiting their vehicle and being arrested by the police. This is often what happens in cases of hit and runs similar to the example I shared above.
These legislative amendments actually changes very little procedurally for Police but still requires the investigating officer to articulate enough grounds to prove the person was operating the vehicle impaired within the past two hours.
In conclusion, police in Canada have always been legally entitled to request a sample of breath after the fact, this is not something new.
Please understand that we will only be enforcing these changes as part of an impaired investigation and all the circumstances for each individual case will be taken into consideration prior to laying of any charges. And no, we won’t be randomly walking through bars or up to homes to request a test. It would only be part of an impaired investigation and even then the evidence needs to be present and significant to successfully lay a charge in this manner.
The best and safest rule still remains: Don’t drink & Drive.
Constable Mark Smith & Constable Chris Martin
Calgary Police Service

01-12-2019, 02:26 PM	#333
Diemenz First Line Centre Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Calgary, Alberta Exp:	Wow there is some crazy arm chair lawyers in this thread that don’t quite understand how and what has changed. Just to be clear the police could always do this.......before this law. The only thing that has changed is the 2 hour intoxication window. Please don’t get lead astray from terrible Calgary sun reporting and their inability to properly do research. Here is a post that might help explain it. “No - Police are not going to randomly walk into homes or restaurants to conduct breath tests.” CONSTABLE MARK SMITH·FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2019 Police in Canada can now demand breath samples in bars and at home! You may have seen the above headline in your social media feed the past few days and I wanted to provide some clarification around this legislation update. To begin – Police are not going to randomly walk into homes or restaurants to conduct breath tests. The title and stories basically make it sound like police will be randomly walking into bars and homes to demand a sample of your breath and lay charges if you fail. The wording is designed to be sensational and make it sound like we have sweeping new powers, the fact is we can’t and don’t want to just walk into your home to test you for alcohol for no reason. Most people are surprised to know that we could always investigate you for impaired driving if we found you sitting at a bar or at home after driving. What is important to note is that we can’t just do a random check without having evidence that you were recently operating a motor vehicle. So we are not, and have no interest in just randomly showing up to your home or bar and testing you. Trust me, we have better things to do with our time. There is a time and a place for this however, and you may be surprised to know that we could always demand a sample from you with sufficient evidence, even if we found you at home or in a bar. This is called conducting an impaired driving investigation. As police officers we get paid to be suspicious and conduct inquiries to determine whether an offence was committed. The below is an example of an impaired driving investigation where a breath demand after the fact may be requested: John Doe crashes a car and flees the scene. He runs into a home or bar to try and avoid prosecution and is witnessed by members of the public or police. We find Mr Doe at home or in the bar and through our investigation we determine Mr Doe was operating the vehicle and is under the influence of alcohol. This type of investigation could include gathering witness statements, reviewing security camera footage, and collecting physical evidence found at the scene. In this case we demand a breath sample from Mr Doe as part of that investigation. This process is not new and has not changed. What has changed is that the law now states that you can’t be over the legal limit within two hours of operating a vehicle. This change was designed to mitigate some of the common defenses utilized by impaired drivers. For example, claiming they were sober when they were driving and got drunk between exiting their vehicle and being arrested by the police. This is often what happens in cases of hit and runs similar to the example I shared above. These legislative amendments actually changes very little procedurally for Police but still requires the investigating officer to articulate enough grounds to prove the person was operating the vehicle impaired within the past two hours. In conclusion, police in Canada have always been legally entitled to request a sample of breath after the fact, this is not something new. Please understand that we will only be enforcing these changes as part of an impaired investigation and all the circumstances for each individual case will be taken into consideration prior to laying of any charges. And no, we won’t be randomly walking through bars or up to homes to request a test. It would only be part of an impaired investigation and even then the evidence needs to be present and significant to successfully lay a charge in this manner. The best and safest rule still remains: Don’t drink & Drive. Constable Mark Smith & Constable Chris Martin Calgary Police Service __________________ PSN: Diemenz