Posts Tagged ‘Medicine Hat Police Service’
I’m not sure how I haven’t seen this before, but supposedly the Medicine Hat Police Services, partnered with Medicine Hat Crime Stoppers has a page on their website dedicated to people caught on camera during crimes. I haven’t heard of most of these crimes either, well until I seen this page, that is. This is a pretty great and unique service in effort to catch local “bad guys”. Lots of them seem unaware that they are even being recorded at all. So the question is, are you a bad enough dude, to catch bad dudes?
http://www.medicinehatpolice.com/caught.html
Below is the latest person caught on camera doing a “gas n’ run”. Police are currently requesting public assistance in identifying the person. Maybe he just forgot (unlikely)!
As described in a recent Medicine Hat News article, distracted drivers in Alberta could now be fined under a new law introduced by the Alberta Government on April 21, 2010, if their driving is deemed to be suffering from distraction.
The fine, which is set at $172, applies to anyone who is talking on a handheld cellphone (a headset may be passable), texting, reading, writing, grooming, etc. The aim is to lower vehicle collision rates and force people to drive safer. Many people will jump at the chance to agree that talking and driving is not safe. But what about talking to passengers, especially with all the hand gestures usually involved in talking to someone face to face? I have even seen people driving wearing Alain Mikli Shutter Shades, and if there is one thing Kanye West has taught me, it is that you do not look cool wearing Shutter Shades, plus your vision is probably reduced by like 25%. Who needs to see more than 25% of the road anyway?
Previously the only fine the Police could doll out was a hefty $402 for “Driving without due care and attention” plus 6 demerit points to your driving record. With a law being passed to enforce driving without distractions, we can either expect the average driver to be safer, or for people to hide their phones between their legs while texting. Now all we have to worry about are those police officers who often use their laptops while driving. Wait a minute! Are laptops not an even bigger distraction than cellphones and texting? Not to mention the fact that those police radios are kind of like cellphones too. Maybe they should pull over or come to a complete stop while using them, or maybe police officers are infallible, and unlike the rest of us they can safely do two things at once.
I felt myself obliged to weight in as the Medicine Hat Police Service website issued a new poll and article on their site entitled “New Car Decals” with a vote/poll on the new design. While I was strongly wanted to vote “no” instinctively to the whole thing, I felt it in the best interest to issue my opinion in a less “black or white/yes or no” type fashion. To clarify though, I’m not necessarily saying the design and branding is bad or anything subjective like that, rather just bringing up a question about designing for differentiation. To begin, I offer the following comparison in branding and design aesthetic.
Which version of “Police” actually says Police or law enforcement/something important to you:
This town, like a lot others, are filled with businesses and companies doing complete decal and vehicle coverings to promote their business, full of gradients, text effects, backgrounds, photography and whatever else is relevant or (in most cases) irrelevant to their companies. You’ve probably seen the car dealership vehicles driving around city with complete decal coverings advertising themselves. Most cities have keyed into this and designed their Police cars accordingly, using the same typeface treatment as well as colour usage as they have always used to promote recognition but also to signify they are “different”. While most consider the aesthetic boring or “dated”, it works, in a visual communication point of view. Consider this next example:
Obviously I’m stretching a bit here, but my logic, I think, is intact. A lot of the recognition is intrinsic to the car make and model, but, I like to think, in the field that I work in, that design accounts for at least, something. Anyways, what do you think?
http://www.medicinehatpolice.com/feature-new-car-decals.html
Have you ever received a parking ticket that you felt was unwarranted and you do not want to pay the fine? Well with a little research, some photographs and a nicely typeset report, you have a chance to get out of it, but only if you are in the right.
My story begins a couple of years ago. One day I parked in an the alley of a parking lot – a place I have parked many times without consequence – outside Vaughn and Dusty’s place. A few hours later when I left, I had a ticket that stated I was in violation of Section 3.2 of Bylaw 2324, which begins with “No person shall park a motor vehicle in an alley unless he [sic] is actively engaged in:” followed by the summary “(3.2) The loading or unloading of goods or passengers from a vehicle for no longer than 5 minutes as long as the vehicle does not obstruct traffic.”
The thing about the alley I parked in does not 100% conform to the dictionary definitions of an alley, one of which is: “A narrow back street.” It was not narrow enough that my parking was obstructing traffic, as it still allowed people to back in and out of the parking lot spaces and still could allow two-way traffic with ease. Furthermore, there was not a “No Parking” sign to be seen, allowing me to refer to the fact that most urbanites do not have all city bylaws memorized, so there was no way to know that parking was not allowed in that area.
We all have an opinion on the Medicine Hat Police Service, but what happens to our opinion of the organization and its chief, Andy McGrogan, when they get called to deal with a potentially live artillery shell that happens to be in a school? No hype intended or required, they accomplished this all on their own:
The story starts out with James Chatfield, an electrician and a former British Army soldier, doing work in CAPE School. He stumbles upon an artillery shell in a storage room above the stage of the gymnasium that is rarely used. Though it is kind of random that it was there, anyone would understand that the principal, teacher, students and parents would definitely treat this as a threat; anyone but the Police, it appears.
The Principal immediately called the Medicine Hat Police, who responded that they were “too busy” to deal with it right away. The Canadian Forces Base in Suffield was then called, but the school was out of their jurisdiction, so the Police were called a second time. At length, an officer was sent to remove the shell in a fairly unprofessional manner. As the unofficial story goes, the officer knocked on the shell and apathetically tossed it into the back of his cruiser before taking off. Does Medicine Hat have a bomb squad? I cannot see the need for one, but having an experienced individual probably would not be such a bad thing.
Obviously the shell had been sitting there for over half a century and is probably a dud, but as the former soldier, James Chatfield says: “As soon as that outer shell starts to rust and corrode, these things can be dangerous,”
The Police Chief, Andy McGrogan, then followed up with:
“We wouldn’t have made it a priority call, because as I said, we get so many of them. We don’t get calls about them every day, but it’s not uncommon for us to get calls about shells, and in most cases, we find they’re basically duds or they’ve been expended,” McGrogan says.
“It was a shell from 1940 — it’s been there for decades. I’ve got to wonder what’s the rush sometimes.”
Pretty witty, but concerned parents and teachers do not like wit, and probably like Andy McGrogan and a seemingly unconcerned Police Service even less. What is more important than a possibly explosive artillery shell sitting in a school? I bet if the Police Chief’s children went to that school, they would have been there as soon as possible.
The official story can be found on The Medicine Hat News
Although many Hatters probably are already aware of the service, I just stumbled on the Medicine Hat Police Service’s website section entitled “Caught On Camera“.
The service in most cases offers numerous screen shots of a suspect, or sometimes a video of them in action, their offense, the date and location of the offense, and the Police generally ask for anyone who has any information or can identify any of the offenders to call in at 403-529-8400; otherwise, call in to Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
This service is pretty great for local businesses and in helping the community, because no one wants to be robbed or victimized.
http://www.medicinehatpolice.com/caught.html
The Medicine Hat Police Service: 403-529-8400
It sounds kind of far fetched to hear it, but without naming names, I have recently heard some stories about bullying going on at a local high school in Medicine Hat.
Most high school’s these days claim zero tolerance, dress codes to some extent and safe learning environments, but what about bullying? Personally, I cannot relate, because as far as I know, bullying never went on in my high school, or at least never to such an extent as to cause much emotional or physical harm. Still, I guess it happens every now and then these days by super tough teenagers that think they are all that.
The story I heard is that a kid in high school, after being a victim of prolonged bullying, finally had his arm broken by said bully and the school cannot (or will not?) do anything about it because it took place inside the gymnasium’s change room, where teachers apparently are not allowed to go while students are changing. In this case, the bully seems to have not even received a temporary suspension from school, but probably should have received an expulsion.
The natural instinct is for a parent to call the school and ask why their child was bullied and what is to be the repercussion for the actions of the bully, but if nothing is to be done, what then?
One alternative is to talk to the school Resource Officer, which according to the outline on the Medicine Hat Police website, will: “Identify and resolve problems involving student, school and the community.”and “Maintain open lines of communication with staff, students and parents, the community and police members.”
The second alternative is that as high school is the preparation for real life, give the bully a potent dosage of reality and call the Police.
No one wants to be a victim, so if victimized, why not stop it in its tracks?
The Medicine Hat Police: 403-529-8400
http://www.medicinehatpolice.com/
Getting your local news and stories is getting easier and easier in Medicine Hat. We are also tooting our own horn by saying we’ve been helping in this very field; however, there is a couple places you may not be aware of, and others which are second nature to most living in the hat.
Medicine Hat News
This can be filled under the “duh” category. The Medicine Hat News website is a great source of free local news. For a bit more, you can subscribe to the digital or physical version of the paper to get more news and events. Typically, less than half of the news gets put online that is in the actual subscription versions which a lot of people surprisingly don’t know. Some places of relevant interest on the site include:
102.1 The Lounge CJCY-FM
102.1 The Lounge’s news section on their new website features local news stories as reported by a small team of four including: Joe McFarland, Christy Mitchell, Steve Krysak and Harv Speers. There is quite a few good stories posted every so often and typically 2-3 stories go up every workday. They are usually pretty short, but nice and to the point. As of right now I can’t figure out how to see previous news stories as the news page only shows the 15 last news stories with no option of going further back. Either way, a good free news resource.