I spent an afternoon with the Regina Police Service; what did I learn?

In April, SGI and law enforcement are focusing on suspended drivers and unregistered vehicles.

On Thursday, I got the opportunity to accompany Const. Kevin Bowes of the Regina Police Service (RPS) in a ride-along, getting the opportunity to see how the Automated Licence Plate Readers (ALPRs) work to find drivers who are either driving with a suspended licence or driving with no registration.

Today will be fun…I'm doing a ride along with the @reginapolice !

I'm getting a detailed explanation on how the automated licence plate readers (ALPRs) work.

These expensive pieces of technology scan THOUSANDS of plates in a single day. @CJMENews #Reginapolice #YQR pic.twitter.com/u6EW4hZVxQ

— Logan Stein (@L0ganStein) March 31, 2022

There are 185 ALPRs on police vehicles throughout Saskatchewan, including almost two dozen on RPS vehicles.

The devices cost roughly $25,000 apiece and they scan everything around them, flagging any vehicle that is unregistered or belongs to a suspended driver.

Bowes says it’s a “remarkable” piece of technology, adding it goes a long way in getting some people off the road.

“I started my vehicle this morning (and) my plate reader has read 688 plates already,” he said as he gave me a walkthrough of the entire vehicle.

“We can run several thousand plates in a day. It would be physically impossible for an officer to manually enter and interpret that much data in a day. It just couldn’t be done.”

These licence plate readers pick up everything around the vehicle. There are 185 of these kind of cameras on police vehicles in Saskatchewan.

They aren't cheap either — they cost around $25,000…and are used to scan hundreds of plates in a day. pic.twitter.com/Nt7cGbEowH

— Logan Stein (@L0ganStein) March 31, 2022

Within a half-hour in the vehicle, the cameras had scanned hundreds of plates, flagging a handful in the process.

The first vehicle that was pulled over after being flagged had been driving around without insurance for almost nine months.

Bowes issued a ticket totalling $580 as a result.

“He’s actually saved money in a roundabout way by not paying his vehicle insurance,” he said. “But ultimately, that’s really, really rolling the dice.

“He is very lucky to have not been involved in any kind of collision or incident before today. When you explain that driving without insurance (and) what the potential costs could be, things change.”

Bowes says it’s always worth it to ensure your vehicle, as even a minor accident could mean you are out thousands of dollars or a vehicle altogether.

Not long after the first stop, another vehicle was pulled over. In this case, the driver had a suspended licence after not paying multiple tickets.

“Whatever reason you’re not responding to those letters, it goes on the system here as expired. Our ALPR plate reader really comes into effect,” Bowes said.

“People would get a photo radar ticket in the mail and they would say, ‘Well, they can’t prove it was me,’ and they just chuck it away. Then they get a letter from the courthouse saying, ‘Hey, you didn’t come to court. You didn’t pay anything.’ Then again, they say, ‘Well, they can’t prove it was me,’ and just throw it away.

“All of a sudden they see me behind them with all these lights going off and I’m saying, ‘Hi. According to SGI, you’re a suspended driver.’ ”

As a result of driving with a suspended licence, the woman was no longer allowed to drive and had to wait for someone to come pick up her vehicle.

“If she doesn’t show up for court, then there would be a warrant put out for her arrest,” Bowes said. “There is no voluntary payment option on this; she has to go to court and she has to stand before a judge.”

Drivers caught with a suspended licence may have their vehicle impounded and be given a court summons, as in this case.

Depending on the offence, different additional penalties apply upon conviction, including expensive fines, a long licence suspension, or even jail time.

SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy says more than 2,000 people received convictions for driving while suspended in 2021, and there were almost 9,000 people caught driving without their vehicle being insured.

“When you are driving suspended and when you are driving an unregistered vehicle knowingly, if you cause a collision (and) you don’t have insurance, there’s also very significant penalties,” McMurchy said.

“You may be held liable for not only the damage to your vehicle but the damage to somebody else’s vehicle, and maybe injury benefits that the insurance company will pay to the other driver that they will then look to collect from you.

“If you’re driving on a suspended licence (or) if you’re driving an unregistered vehicle, there’s a real good chance that you’re going to get caught doing so.”