Three Ridge Meadows RCMP officers were part of Alexa’s Team, which this year marks its 10th anniversary.
In 2008, four-year-old Alexa Middelaer was killed by an impaired driver in Delta.
Alexa’s Team was formed that year as an anti-impaired driving program to recognize dedicated police officers throughout B.C. who are committed to reducing the number of drivers on the road affected by alcohol or drugs.
Over the years, Alexa’s Team has grown from 26 members to 2,400 new and returning RCMP and municipal police officers from all corners of the province.
All of the officers who earned a place on Alexa’s Team over the years did so because of their diligence in removing impaired drivers from B.C. roads.
Alexa’s Bus, the province’s mobile road safety unit, is another initiative that Alexa’s family advocated for and saw come to fruition.
Provincial anti-impaired driving police initiatives are supported by Alexa’s Bus, which has been deployed 293 times in communities around the province since its launch in 2014 as an education and enforcement tool.
The RID 911 program, supported by communities, police services, MADD Canada and other road safety organizations is another anti-impaired driving initiative that encourages the public to call 911 to report suspected impaired drivers, and has also been effective in helping police remove impaired drivers.
Overall, more than 86,534 drivers affected by alcohol or drugs have been removed from the streets, roads and highways of this province by Alexa’s Team members since 2008.
MADD Canada, ICBC, the RCMP and supporters of Alexa’s Team are gathering this spring at four events held around the province to recognize those officers named to the 2017 Alexa’s Team and to celebrate 10 years of hard work.
Events will be held in Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George, where officers will be greeted and thanked for their work fighting impaired driving by Alexa’s family, road safety organizations and community leaders.
“I want to thank Laurel and Michael Middelaer and every member of Alexa’s Team for working so tirelessly and effectively over the past decade to help prevent other families from experiencing devastating, entirely preventable losses of loved ones on our roads,” said Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.
“Thank you also to every dedicated police officer in B.C. for your unfaltering efforts to remove impaired drivers from our roads. Your actions are vital to ensuring those who choose to drive while impaired face the full consequences of their actions.”
MADD Canada National President, Patricia Hynes-Coates said impaired driving kills and injures people every day.
“It devastates individuals, families and communities. By taking impaired drivers off the roads, the extraordinary members of Alexa’s Team make are preventing those senseless tragedies. MADD Canada is proud to recognize and thank these dedicated officers for their efforts to stop impaired drivers and keep our roads and communities safe.”
Alexa’s Team members have processed more than 86,534 impaired driving sanctions for alcohol and drug related driving offences.
The total number of Alexa’s Team members has grown from 26 to 2,400 and includes officers from all regions of the province.
“As we reflect on the 10 years since Alexa’s life was taken, as a family we were hoping to find some good in the wake of her tragic loss. Alexa’s Team is a shining example of that goodness, and of what can be accomplished when like-minded people band together to honour a young life,” said Alexa’s mother and road safety advocate Laurel Middelaer.
Ridge Meadows RCMP members on Alexa’s Team in 2017 include Cnst. Ali Karhani, Cnst. Jason Rouillier and Cnst. Gurpreet Arora. Together, the removed 51 drivers.