Lake Country Mountie earns 'all star' honours for taking impaired drivers off roads

Photo: RCMP

Lake Country RCMP have been busy removing impaired drivers from roadways.

Between March 9 and March 12, officers removed seven impaired drivers from the road in the community.

The newest traffic officer on the local beat brings 19 years of experience. Const. Owen Hazlewood joined the Lake Country detachment a year ago as a traffic services officer and has been on the road since.

"Working as a traffic officer for as long as I have, you see too many fatal collisions and so many serious crashes that all came down to one decision, the decision to drink and drive, which could have easily been avoided," says Hazlewood.

Lake Country RCMP watch commander Cpl. Tammy Lobb says officers regularly conduct check stops to locate impaired drivers.

"However, these drivers were all stopped on various roads and streets throughout our community at different times of the day and night. This not only speaks to the volume of impaired drivers who continue to drive while impaired, it also speaks to the effort our officers make to locate impaired drivers and take them off the road."

A typical shift for Hazlewood includes stopping speeding drivers, responding to and investigating collisions, and conducting pro-active check stops.

Hazelwood has also received the Alexa Team Award, which was created over a decade ago in honour of Alexa Middelaer, a four-year-old girl from Delta, B.C., who was killed by an impaired driver in 2008. The program recognizes police officers who work to reduce the number of impaired drivers on B.C. roads.

In order to be a part of the Alexa Team, officers must have taken at least 12 impaired drivers off the road in the past 12 months.

Hazlewood has been honoured as an all-star for taking over 45 impaired drivers off our roads.