The initiative, which began Friday, May 13, will be running throughout the summer. EPS members are partnering with the City of Edmonton’s Safe Mobility Sectionand Community Standards Peace Officers on Project TENSOR (Traffic Enforcement Noise/Speed Offence Reduction).
“In 2021, EPS received more than 700 traffic complaints specific to vehicle noise and speed, an upward trend exacerbated by the pandemic,” says EPS Const. Clint Stallknecht, of the EPS Traffic Safety Unit.
“This issue continues to be extremely aggravating and disturbing to the peace and enjoyment of the citizens in Edmonton and surrounding communities,” explained Stallknecht. “This problem is not limited to the City of Edmonton, it is a province-wide issue, and there has been an identified need for increased vehicle noise enforcement in the surrounding communities. That’s why the Project TENSOR model has expanded to other communities in the Edmonton region.”
From May to September of 2021, Project TENSOR officers issued more than 1,800 tickets and Notices of Direction documents to Edmonton motorists to have deficiencies corrected.
“This is a joint effort, along with city Peace Officers and surrounding communities to address this problematic trend, and to send a strong message to those who continue to consistently disturb the peace and quiet as well as place other citizens at risk,” Stallknecht says.
Project TENSOR will focus its enforcement resources on “hot spots” around the city, problem areas about which police continue to receive complaints from citizens.
Project TENSOR will target most traffic offences including but not limited to:
- Noise related offences
- Speeding
- Stunting
- Helmet violations
- General equipment violations
- Occupant restraints
- Other hazardous moving violations
- Suspended drivers
- Document offences
- Criminal Code offences
“Excessive vehicle noise bothers everyone,” said David Jones, Branch Manager, Community Standards and Neighborhoods. “City of Edmonton Peace Officers and our partners at Edmonton Police Service will be out looking for noisy vehicles, and drivers who needlessly rev their engines and have modified exhaust systems in an effort to address this problem.”
Motorcycle amnesty testing events, which were put on hold during the pandemic, have yet to be resumed at this time.