Over half of collisions involving WRPS vehicles last year deemed officers’ fault

A damaged Waterloo Regional Police vehicle is seen following a serious crash outside Cambridge on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015. (Dave Ritchie)

Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) officers were at fault in more than half of the 49 collisions involving a police vehicle in 2022.

Waterloo regional police officers were deemed to be at fault in 29, or 59 per cent, of the motor vehicle collisions.

This comes from a report heading to the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board meeting on Wednesday, which says the 2022 figure is slightly below the five-year average of 50 annual collisions involving service vehicles.

“Of the 29 motor vehicle collisions where members were deemed to be at fault, 14 collisions occurred on private property, and the Ontario Highway Traffic Act did not apply,” the report says.

In 15 roadway collisions, five members were charged under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act.

According to the report, when it comes to police at fault crashes, 14 involved an officer striking an object in a parking lot or on private property, eight happened while driving to a destination and seven occurred when officers were reversing.

Of the collisions, 39 occurred while on patrol, the report says.

When asked if any of the collision involved injuries, WRPS said they were unable to comment ahead to Wednesday’s meeting. They similarly declined to comment on the dollar figure of the damages to vehicles.

“The training and education branch is conducting an ongoing evaluation of the collisions involving service vehicles that were observed in 2022,” the report reads. “This undertaking includes a detailed analysis of the WRPS Safe Driving Program and an evaluation of our in-house Police Vehicle Operations program and the training offered at the Ontario Police College. An ongoing review of our current fleet of operational vehicles occurs to evaluate any meaningful trends.”

Compared to the previous year, 2022 saw nine fewer collisions involving WRPS vehicles. In the last five years, 2018 saw the highest number of police service vehicles involved in collisions at 56.

The year with the fewest accidents in the last five years was 2020, when police were involved in 40 crashes.