When you are upset enough about the way someone is driving and you call the police to make a complaint about it, the last thing that you expect to happen is to be discouraged by the complaint taker. Worse still, when you insist and get to speak with a constable they tell you that there is nothing to be done as well.
The gentleman telling me this story had the licence plate number of the offending vehicle, dash cam footage of the incident and was willing to attend court as a witness. After making the call to the police force responsible and facing this kind of response, he wanted to know what else he could do. Needless to say, he was very discouraged.
The Complaint Taker
The complaint taker's job is to listen to what you have to say, record the information and pass it along to an investigator for follow up. Aside from the occasional retired officer that takes this job, they have no legal training and should not be telling you what can and cannot be done with your complaint.
Having said that, they will do some triage to decide how to handle the complaint. If information is obviously lacking or the person complaining is not willing to attend court the report can be written and terminated with the call.
That was not the case with this complaint. There was more than enough evidence to justify an investigation.
The Officer
From the gentleman's story it appeared that the officer assigned to the investigation was not a traffic officer. He reiterated the call taker's advice that nothing could be done because the gentleman could not identify the driver.
The officer is a little ahead of himself here because identifying the driver was his job now. The licence plate number and the Motor Vehicle Act give him what is necessary to do this.
This Situation is Not Uncommon
Based on my own experience and correspondence with others, this is not an uncommon situation. Is it a symptom of insufficient training, lack of oversight or a deliberate attempt to avoid having to provide a service?
Escalate your Complaint
If this happens to you the next step is to contact the local officer in charge and discuss the situation. If the resolution is not reasonable at that stage, then consider complaining to your local government if it is a city police service or your MLA if it is the RCMP.
There are also civilian oversight agencies for complaints against all police forces.
Learn More
Share This Article
- Log in to post comments