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About the CPS
Our Mission:
"To optimize public safety
in the City of Calgary"
Let's Take A Ride
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A real police motorcycle sits in the centre for visitors to sit on.
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As you're walking through the Interpretive Centre, you'll want to stop in the traffic area. You can't miss it because of the real police car and traffic motorcycle in the middle of it all. Visitors love to 'ride' in the car or sit on the motorcycle. You'll discover many interesting facts in the display, such as how police use radar and cameras to catch speeders.
You can also try a breathalyzer if you like. That is the instrument used by police to determine if a driver has consumed enough alcohol to affect his judgment and motor coordination while driving. The breathalyzer will help police determine if the driver is drunk.
The police cruiser
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Get in, turn on the lights and feel what it's like to ride in a real police car.
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The car contains many of the gadgets officers have in their cars when they are on patrol. There is also a laptop computer that simulates the computer the police use to track down information. For instance, if an officer types in a licence plate number, he or she can immediately get information about the car's owner, including the person's name and whether or not he or she has a criminal record.
To drive some lessons home, the laptop computer in the display can take visitors through several traffic calls. Each of the six calls demonstrates the communication between the officers and the dispatchers.
Traffic - always a concern
Traffic has always been a concern for police. In 1885, there were already rules in place. Those old rules have been posted in the display. They are quite a bit different from today's traffic rules and regulations:
- NO riding horses or carriages on sidewalks.
- NO fast riding or driving allowed.
- NO horse or wagon can be left obstructing ordinary traffic.
- NO vehicle without a horse can be left in the street.
- NO vehicle is allowed on the sidewalk.
The dawn of the automobile
In the early 1900s automobiles began turning up on the streets. Many photos and other memorabilia from these days can be found in the centre's traffic display. An article that appeared in the Calgary Herald on July 25, 1906 describes a car this way:
"A terror to the old ladies - a source of wonder - an object of curiosity - a thing of beauty - a joy forever to its owner - the automobile is in Calgary to stay"
With the arrival of the automobile came new traffic concerns. Fines and jail sentences were the community's first ways of handling traffic problems, but that failed to bring safety to the streets.
Eventually, police used officers to direct traffic at busy intersections. They called them point-men and they were the only means of traffic control for most of Calgary well into the 1930s.
As time passed, new approaches to traffic control included:
- educating children,
- regulating the flow of traffic with speed limits, and,
- improving the roadway environment by adding signs and traffic lights.
In the late '40s, pedestrian deaths were extremely high, and by 1952, jay-walking tickets were introduced to persuade walkers to cross at controlled intersections.
And since the early 1950s, specialized officers have analysed the city's traffic to pinpoint problems and recommend new ways to improve safety. By analysing the cause of accidents, they can suggest solutions such as changes to traffic lights, improved signage or reduced speed limits.
Radar traps first appeared on our roads in 1960, making it possible for police to determine how fast a car was travelling. And in 1988 we saw the introduction of the Multanova camera, which takes photographs for evidence of speeding vehicles. Some of this equipment is part of the display.
Children and traffic
Early on, the Calgary Police Service realized that controlling drivers was only part of the solution for making the streets safer. There was also a need for education of pedestrians, especially children. So, in 1930, the police began teaching children about traffic safety and in 1938, a formal School Safety Patrol program was introduced in 15 schools. It's the same program that continues today.
For a while in the 1960s, there was a School Safety Patrol marching band that appeared regularly on a television show called Safety Roundup. Come down to the centre and you can see some of the memorabilia from the early days of the school patrols.
Drinking and driving
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Drinking and driving display shows the devastation of this crime.
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Impaired driving became a huge concern for police. Deaths and injuries were often the result when people mixed drinking and driving.
The centre, you'll see photos of serious accidents that have been caused by drunk drivers. Many people find the display disturbing, but as it does in all displays, the centre does not hide the ugly reality of crime. The photos are there to help visitors realize the importance of safe driving.
Here are several facts about drinking and driving that you can learn from the centre's traffic display.
- Blood alcohol levels can be measured by sampling the breath.
- If the proportion of alcohol in your blood exceeds 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, you are legally impaired. This level is also known as .08 or "point zero eight."
- It is a criminal offence to operate a motor vehicle in this condition.
- It is a criminal offence to refuse a breathalyzer.
- Alcohol severely reduces a driver's ability to drive safely.
- Calgary police began using the breathalyzer in 1969, and impaired driving charges jumped 51 per cent. The next year they jumped another 27 per cent.
- Police have continued to attack the problem with publicity, CheckStops and educational programs for young drivers. In Alberta, when police stop cars to check for impaired drivers, it is called a CheckStop.
- In the 1990s, thanks to the determined efforts of police, society has seen a shift away from excessive drinking. This has helped to reduce the death toll from impaired driving.
Try our traffic crossword
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