Edmonton councillor calls on minister to reverse photo radar cuts after 20th traffic fatality of 2025
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Edmonton police on Thursday announced a motorcyclist was killed earlier this week by colliding with a concrete barrier in a south Edmonton industrial park near Highway 2 and Highway 19. The 40-year-old's death brings Edmonton to 20 traffic fatalities for 2025, approaching the total deaths in all of 2023 (27) and 2024 (26).
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'The unfortunate reality is that 20 individuals have died on our streets this year alone,' Interim Chief Devin Laforce said in a news release. 'These are our friends, our family, our coworkers.'
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The grim milestone comes less than one year after provincial Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen reduced the number of photo radar speed enforcement locations by 70 per cent. The announcement — made at an Edmonton barbecue restaurant, where an aproned Dreeshen decried the tool as a 'cash cow' — prompted concerns from Edmonton city councillors and Calgary's police chief, who accused the minister of being 'unprofessional' and making light of road fatalities.
On Thursday, Edmonton Coun. Ashley Salvador said the changes — which banned city-operated photo radar in all but school, playground and construction zones — effectively eliminated photo radar as a speed enforcement tool. The City of Edmonton ended photo radar enforcement in school zones effective July 1, citing the cost, which was subsidized by revenue from photo radar on roads where it is now banned.
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'Given what we've been seeing on our streets, given the surge in fatalities, I do think the province needs to reconsider their approach,' Salvador said. '(Photo radar) is a known tool that is backed up by data and evidence to help support traffic safety as part of a larger suite of tools. As a growing city, we need all the tools we can get to support safety in our neighbourhoods.'
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Edmonton police were not able to provide statistics Thursday on how often speed was a factor in this year's traffic fatalities. In May, police said speed was a factor in nearly half, including three people killed on Edmonton roads in a single weekend.
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Laforce said Thursday that police are focusing 'significant resources' on traffic safety, including education campaigns 'to remind Edmontonians that speeding on our roadways is not without immense risk and potentially tragic outcomes.'
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Edmonton police warn South Asian community of extortion resurgence
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Edmonton Journal
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Edmonton police put focus on repeat offenders
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Edmonton Police Service Interim Chief Warren Driechel provides an overview of the 2024 StatsCan police-reported crime statistics in Edmonton on Monday, July 28, 2025. Photo by David Bloom / Postmedia A new report suggests repeat criminal offenders and acute social disorder are contributing to concerning numbers showing more Edmontonians don't feel safe in their city. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors There seems to be two problems between arrest and conviction — arrestees on bail are committing crimes, and other arrestees will never be prosecuted at all. Repeat offenders slipping through the bail system and social disorder, which is often perceived as crime, are wreaking havoc for Edmontonians and the Edmonton Police Service, according to the 2024 year-end crime analysis released on Monday. A new online dashboard allows the public easy access to data and trends surrounding Edmonton's crime rate, top violations as well as comparisons to provincial and national figures. Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again While a new online report shows efforts to stem gun violence and other violent crimes seem to be paying off, repeat offenders — failures within the justice bail system once they've been arrested or prosecuted — are now one of the top problems the Edmonton Police Service deals with. The gaps between arrest and prosecution and incarceration and rehabilitation are one of the top issues for EPS officers. 'There's a couple things we talk greatly about, bail reform, ensuring that our kind of most dangerous, violent offenders are held accountable and remanded where needed,' Edmonton Police Service Interim Chief Warren Driechel. Chief information technology officer Ron Anderson suggested a disconnect between EPS arrests and what the Crown can prosecute. 'We do see a large number of our files get withdrawn prior to trial. Some of those are related to quality and completeness of the evidence that we have. 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'Oftentimes they'll withdraw a charge, and we don't actually know why, right? So we can actually say, is there something we can improve upon, or is there something that was a failure on the service, or something that we didn't do right, that caused that to be withdrawn?' Driechel said. That calls for introspection, understanding what prosecutors are dealing with, maybe modifying case work. 'Is it a capacity issue and ensuring that those that are going through those systems are being remanded when need be?' he said. The mathematics may force a change in the outcome of some police calls. 'There may come a time where we say that we will not go to charges on certain events because the reality of them hitting prosecutions will not happen, and then they can therefore focus on the more important things. But at the same time, we can't ignore our responsibility,' Driechel said. 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The numbers show an overall five per cent reduction in Edmonton's total crime severity index, which measures the volume and severity of crime. In 2024, Edmonton's violent crime severity index saw a 10 per cent decrease, compared to 2023 levels. Violent crime is trending to a five-year low, with the violent crime rate decreased by three per cent in 2024 — and lower than both the national and provincial average. 'These figures demonstrate encouraging results that are a direct product of targeted police work that dedicates the right resources to the right places, through initiatives like our Transit Community Safety (TRACS) teams and our guns and gangs strategy,' Driechel said. Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.
Edmonton Journal
26-07-2025
- Edmonton Journal
Edmonton 'ground zero' for South Asian community extortion plots: RCMP
Edmonton appears to be ground zero for extortion plots that have criminally extracted millions from successful business people within its South Asian community, says a Surrey, British Columbia-based senior law enforcement leader with the RCMP. Article content 'Edmonton was probably the first place that started to see the series of extortions in the fall of 2023 really. And then, of course, we saw extortions here in the Lower Mainland, as well as in Peel Region in Ontario,' RCMP Superintendent Adam MacIntosh told Postmedia in a phone interview this week. Article content Article content Article content 'In January of 2024, the RCMP said, 'Obviously, there's connections across the country. We need to look at how we might be able to support the police of jurisdictions across the country.'' Article content Article content In addition to being in charge of NCST, MacIntosh wears the hat of leading the Cyber and Financial Investigation Teams (CFIT) in British Columbia — both high stakes, high accountability roles, generating intelligence and evidence through investigation, looking for inter-relation of crimes across the country, and internationally. Article content Edmonton as incubator Article content The NCST supported the Edmonton Police Service as a ring of extortion emerged in the Project Gaslight investigation where South Asian home builders were being targeted via arson, and continues to probe other organized crime, including transnational events, drug trafficking, cyber security and national security,. Article content Article content 'You should be very proud of the work done by the Edmonton Police Service in Project Gaslight. They've done some fantastic policing which has resulted in positive outcomes of suppression through enforcement and charges,' said MacIntosh. Article content Article content 'They stood up another new task force, and there's simply some really great work going across this country with police agencies around a very complicated, sophisticated group of organized crime related to these extortions.' Article content The suspected kingpin charged in Project Gaslight, is still in Dubai. Canadian authorities are planning to extradite Maninder Singh Dhaliwal, who has an Aug. 1 Edmonton court date, along with four other Edmontonians charged in the case.
