Kirk930

OPP Officer Charged Under Street Racing Law
Wednesday May 14, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
As the Ontario Provincial Police scan the province's highways from the sky and the ground looking for dangerous and aggressive drivers there's word one of their own is facing charges under the new street racing law.

A 43-year-old Peterborough County OPP constable was allegedly clocked driving at least 50 kilometres over the speed limit on Highway 115, just south of Peterborough, on March 25 according to a published report. The officer was in his cruiser at the time.

Under the street racing law, which went into effect last September, a driver caught speeding 50 km per hour or more above the posted limit can have their licence and vehicle seized immediately. The maximum fine for the crime was also bumped up to $10,000.

On Tuesday police organizations from across the province gathered in Markham to kick off Project Erase (Eliminating Racing Activities on Streets Everywhere). Authorities say 42 people have been killed by speeders in the GTA since 1999.

Since the street racing law went into effect, more than 4,500 charges have been laid.

The officer charged in March has been moved to desk duty at his detachment and is scheduled to appear in court in June.

Lloyd Tapp is facing two charges under the street racing law.


Hopefully not a repost. Oops, missed an "r" in the thread title.

pongobaz

Did his cruiser get impounded and did he have to take a cab home like all the rest? Did he have to pay for the towing and impound fee too?...Hmmm, somehow I doubt it.

Crazy Canuck

No kidding.

I'm sure his charges will be 'reduced' when he goes to court.

jumper5836

That is bs. When are they going to wake up.

RyeHigh

Who would pay the fine...the cop as a private citizen or the OPP detachment?
I bet Fatino is not very happy with this.....it looks good on him...Now Im just waiting for one of his family members to get pulled over and ticketed ....

Crazy Canuck

I think that would fall under an officer's discretion. Unlikely to happen.

Ronan

He could have been on an emergency call..another Tim Hortons employee discovered giving away a free Timbit.....

RyeHigh

Then what happen to Officer's discretion in this case...getting one of their own?
Seems to me if they can bust one of their won, they would have no problem busting a family member.
It will happen one day....and I for one can't wait to hear what Fatino has to say.

Mark Lue

I can't believe that he got charged... my understanding is that they usually don't charge one of their own... some unwritten law about professional curtesy.

Several years back I was traveling with a buddy who was Metro Constable, he got stopped in Michigan doing 90 mph on I-75. He showed the officer his badge and the officer just told him to slow down and be careful and sent us on our way.

RyeHigh

Yeah Mark, I surprised too that they would charge one of their own....I wonder if there is more to this story then what we're being told?

911 Rod

Bogus.
This would never happen.
They aren't telling us something.
Maybe he was banging the wrong woman.

AllanJ

If the "infraction" was being recorded automatically then there is no way the ticketing cop could ignore it.

As far as cops not giving other cops tickets.....it depends. Don't know about OPP policy, but out here in BC the RCMP often hand out tickets to other cops (I have friends on the force and hear about it). Not as often as they should in the public's eyes though.

Cheers,

justinsrx7

Another possibility is that this is all a set up by Fantino. That way, when he is questioned, he can tell reporters that this law applies to everyone and "even our own aren't immune". Then he shows he is not picking favourites.

The math is pretty amazing. 4,500 convicted at a minimum of $2k per person. Wow, 9 million dollars. How long has this law been in effect? I work with companies that have been in business for 35 years that have never seen annual revenues like that. I guess I am in the wrong business. Maybe I can outsource ticketing services to the cops and help them rape the good people of ontario by taking away their presumption of innocense before being proven guilty. Let see, I could join a pyramid scheme, join Amway, gamble...wait, Fantino has the best get rich quick scheme in the world. Welcome to the birth of Ontario, Canada's Police state.

By the way, only 42 people killed since 1999. I wonder how many were killed by drunk drivers or just drivers that can't drive. My friends wife was killed by a tow truck driver in the middle of the day by backing up to tow a car. I think there should be a law about people that back up cars wrecklessly.

YYC930

He should be tasered until dead.

Just like the rest of us are exposed to.

webbie

Officer charged with racing; OPP constable taken off road
Posted By SARAH DEETH
Posted 12 hours ago
A Peterborough County OPP officer has been charged with two counts of racing a vehicle while on duty in a police cruiser.

Const. Lloyd Tapp, 43, was charged April 8 after an investigation into a March 25 incident.

Tapp is charged with driving at least 50 km/h over the speed limit on Highway 115 in Cavan Monaghan Township, court records state.

Const. Gord Klingspohn, media relations officer for Peterborough County OPP, said the public wasn't told about the charges because of the time lapse between March 25 and April 8.

"Due to the fact of the time lapse between the date of the offence and the actual date of the charge, a press release was not issued," Klingspohn said.

He said he couldn't get into specific details about the charges because the case is before the courts.

"It was relating to the on-duty operation of a police cruiser on March 25," Klingspohn said.

Tapp was charged by the OPP central region traffic and marine unit, he said.

The OPP cruiser wasn't impounded for seven days, he said.

"Roadside impoundment is only applicable if the charge is laid at the roadside," Klingspohn said.

He said he wasn't sure if Tapp's driver's licence was suspended for seven days, again citing the lapse in time between the alleged incident and the day charges were laid.
Under Ontario's new street racing laws, drivers face having their vehicles seized and the driver's licence suspended for seven days for speeding at more than 50 km/h over the speed limit.

Tapp has been moved to administrative duties at the detachment, Klingspohn said.

Insp. Mike Johnston, detachment commander of the Peterborough County OPP, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Tapp made an appearance in Provincial Offences Court yesterday dressed in his OPP uniform, provincial prosecutor Alan Staples said. His next court appearance is June 9.

If convicted, Tapp faces a minimum fine of $2,000 and a possible jail sentence of six months

The spokesperson was quoted as saying:

"Roadside impoundment is only applicable if the charge is laid at the roadside," Klingspohn said.


Note the law says:

Police to require surrender of licence, detention of vehicle
(5) Where a police officer believes on reasonable and probable grounds that a person is driving, OR HAS DRIVEN, a motor vehicle on a highway in contravention of subsection (1), the officer shall,
(a) request that the person surrender his or her driver's licence; and
(b) detain the motor vehicle that was being driven by the person until it is impounded under clause (7) (b). 2007, c. 13, s. 21.