Get behind-the-scenes look through live ride-along with WRPS

It's your chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at what local officers have to deal with day in, and day out on our roadways. 

Sgt. John Nymann is with the WRPS Traffic Division, and said one of the key issues they're focusing on this time of year is impaired driving. 

“As we know, with marijuana legislation changing – we're focused on drug-impaired driving as well as alcohol impaired driving. And so we're really ramping up the amount of R.I.D.E programs we do, and ramping up that kind of enforcement.”

Nymann added they still deal with lots of other issues too.

“The speeding issue, the distracted driving issue, and folks still not wearing their seatbelts. So all of those four things are things that Regional Police are really focusing on this year.”

When it comes to fatal collisions – it seems speeding still plays a major factor.

“We're seeing those types of things occur over the years – and certainly this time of year, it would be awfully tragic as a lot of families get together to celebrate. So to have these combinations of speed, distracted driving, not using your seatbelt, or even impairment of some sort – they can lead to real tragedies.”

These types of messaging campaigns can certainly be frustrating for police officers, as the information has been out for decades.

“Especially with impaired driving .. and to still see, even during the day as well as at night, our officers are stopping people that have consumed too much alcohol or have taken drugs and are operating their motor vehicles in manners that are unsafe for the public – it is truly frustrating, but that's why we keep going out there to make sure the community is safe.”

To help raise awareness about all the work WRPS does to keep us safe on the roads and elsewhere, the service will be hosting its first-ever live ride-along on social media. 

“The ride-along will last approximately one hour and will be streamed live on Twitter and Facebook. The goal of the ride-along is to highlight some of the work our front-line officers do, as well as provide some recruitment related information to our community. We expect this to provide a small snapshot of what a typical patrol shift involves. We are very excited to have members of the community follow along and engage with us,” said Constable Eric Boynton in a statement. 

If you're interested in becoming a member of WRPS, the next Constable Recruitment Session is taking place on January 16.

You can read more about it below.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service will be hosting another diversity recruitment information session for the Constable position at WRPS Headquarters located at 200 Maple Grove Road, Cambridge. The event will focus on our LGBTQ2S members and community. The session will run from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and will include an overview of details specific to the recruitment and hiring process, as well as a panel discussion by current members of the organization. Afterwards, attendees will be encouraged to break off into small groups where they will be provided with the opportunity to meet with individual officers working in various branches throughout the organization and ask specific questions, not only about the recruitment and hiring process but policing questions in general. Apply here: www.wrps.on.ca/register #lovewhatyoudo