Paying up to $25 as an administrative fee for being ticketed for minor traffic violations, like burned out indicator lights, didn't sit well with BayToday readers after the story broke Tuesday.
Now the Police Board has announced it will hold a public meeting, as required by law, to get feedback.
But there's a significant catch.
The meeting will be held at 10 o'clock in the morning at the police station, and you'll have to appear in person to give your opinion.
No emails---no website--- no social media.
"The discussions will happen at the meeting," police spokesperson Marie Lugli told BayToday. "People have to be at the meeting."
A news release this morning said "In accordance with The Municipal Act, 2001, Ontario Regulation 244/02, the North Bay Police Service’s Board is hereby providing the public with the required 21 days notice of a public meeting being held to discuss proposed amendments to the Board’s fee schedule by-law.
The meeting is scheduled for Friday November 7th at police headquarters on Princess Street.
"The NBPS Board proposes to add a fee to the Board’s fee schedule by-law to recover the costs associated with traffic warnings and three-day reports (Compliance Notices)" says the release.
Police Chief Paul Cook wants to recover the costs of pulling you over by charging a service charge, called a "cost recovery program".
“The fixed costs in the lengthy process includes the officer conducting the traffic stop, issuing the ticket; having the police station receive the driver, and then appointing an officer to verify the required compliance such as observing insurance papers or a replaced turning signal bulb,” Cook told a police board meeting this week.
Typically, North Bay police officers issue about 93 traffic violation warnings per month, with most involving vehicle permits, validation tags or mechanical violations like a noisy muffler.
The Compliance Notice Program would recover the projected costs of up to $25,000 per year, back to the North Bay Police Services.
A typical reaction on the comment board is "Recover the costs? The officers are being paid whether they pull you over or not!! This is paying for something we already pay for with our taxes," wrote one reader.
See original story here: http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/details.asp?c=67776
