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OPINION Police use data to drive impaired enforcement activities Traditional approaches to enforcement represent an opportunity for improvement, says Duraiappah Impaired driving re­ mains one of the three big road safety issues in Hat­ ton Region. Statistics show that im­ paired drivers are much more likely to cause colli­ sions, highway injuries and vehicular deaths than nonimpaired drivers. There really isn't any greater risk to public safe­ ty than this. Impaired driving is the number one criminal cause of death in Canada. We still see drivers choos­ ing to operate a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs. The current envi­ ronment of policing de­ mands that we be more strategic with the resourc- NISHAN DURAIAPPAH Column es we have, in order to fur­ ther reduce the incidence of impaired driving. The bottom line: our service's enforcement ini­ tiatives need to be as tar­ geted as possible. The pathways to an im­ paired arrest are well de­ fined: an impaired driver is identified as a result of RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) ac­ tivities; a citizen calls to report a suspected im­ paired driver; or officers attend a vehicle collision involving an impaired driver. Historically, RIDE ac­ tivities were scheduled to dovetail with the "typical" profile of an impaired of­ fence - Friday and Satur­ day nights, in proximity to the local pub. Police ser­ vices also depended, at least in part, on the vigi­ lance of members of the public calling 911 if they witnessed suspected im­ paired driving. Across the nation, year after year, services have applied the same formula to an escalating problem, with the same result. Recognizing that tradi­ tional ap­ proaches to impaired enforce­ ment presented an opportu­ nity for im­ provement. The Hal- ton Region­ al Police Service le­ veraged its existing database of impaired- related in­ formation and used business intelli­ gence and advanced ana­ lytics to refine its deploy­ ment model, develop inno­ vative tactics and inform our enforcement activi­ ties. In 2014, the HRPS em­ barked on an ambitious and innova­ tive multi­ year initia­ tive to exam­ ine the up­ stream ac­ tivity for all impaired ar­ rests in Hal- ton. Our goal was to data mine the metrics to identify op­ portunities for preven­ tion and early interven­ tion, so we could sharpen the focus of our enforce­ ment activities. re- "Across the nation, year after year, services have applied the same formula to an escalating problem, with the same result." - N ishan D uraiappah , H R PS Deputy Chief Prevention and early intervention are hall­ marks of the joint HRPS and Region of Halton Com­ munity Safety and Well- Being Plan, launched in November 2017. We know from experi­ ence that there are factors that cannot be controlled or influenced, but our ser­ vice has the desire to use existing information on past impaired driving of­ fences to enhance our front line response. More on these strategies next week. - Nishan Duraiappah is a Deputy Chief with the Halton Regional Police Service. This is the first of a three-part column on the HRPS's enhanced enforcement model target­ ing impaired driving in Halton. Farewell foot pain O u r foot care starts w ith education. W e tre a t a ll foot issues so you can live w ith o u t pain & im prove m obility. ■ B e s t C h i r o p o d is t / C l i n ic / • W e p u t ca re O r th o t ic s p r o v id e r s in c e 2004 & s e rv ic e f i r s t ! V. 905 6321414 9 728 Burloak (South of the QEW) Foot & Health Clinic .com Pud by Steve Nease fpUDE, WHAT DID YOU L DO fcR FAMILY DAY? HUM6 AROUMD L WITH MY PARENTS ACOUPLEOFMYOLPER BROTHERS CAME OVER. WE HAP LUNCH/ PLAYED GAMES AMP STUFF WOW LIKE A FAMILY? T my mom insisieel funny .THAT 1 WAY- J Be S afe ty Savvy O akville Hydro is co n d u ctin g a Public Electrical Safety Survey via te lephone in February and March. Learn the answ ers to these safety questions, it m ay save you or you r loved one's life! If you're digging to build a deck, how likely are you to get a utility locate? Definitely- always call Ontario One Call before you dig, it's the law How dangerous is it to try to open, remove contents, or touch electrical equipment located in steel cabinets? Very dangerous How close can you come to a downed power line? Maintain a distance of 10 metres (33 feet) or more How close can you safely come to an overhead power line? 3 to 6 metres What do you do if an overhead power line comes down on your vehicle? Stay in the vehicle until power has been disconnected from the line How dangerous is it to touch an overhead power line? Very dangerous h- | O akville B eaver | Thursday, February 22, 2018 insidehalton.com NISHAN DURAIAPPAH Farewell foot pain Be Safety Savvy