After two years at ‘K’ Division RCMP headquarters in Edmonton, Sergeant Sonny Kim has returned to Boyle.
Kim was promoted to lead the Athabasca and Boyle Integrated Traffic Unit (ITU).
“The reason we call it ITU is because we have sheriffs working with RCMP and that makes an integrated traffic unit,” Kim explained.
“I have been around this area for 11 years. I worked more than five years in Athabasca and more than five years in Boyle prior to going to Edmonton head office for the last two years under the organized crime unit.”
Kim said when this position became available, he thought he would be a nice fit for the job.
“I know the players and know the partnerships as well as the area itself,” Kim stated.
“I know what it involves to deal with Highway 63, 881, Highway 2 and 831.”
Kim stated he is very happy to be back.
“It’s a very nice place to work and people are great,” he said.
“I used the media for the last eight years to help solve crimes, as well as to educate people.”
Kim explained he continues to use the media to his advantage.
“I have eight RCMP and eight sheriffs here and we work as a team and Athabasca has its own team,” he said.
The traffic unit has four mandates when it comes to enforcing as a traffic unit.
“One is impaired driving, it is the unit’s priority. We are trying to curb impaired drivers,” Kim stated.
“The second thing is the speeding on Highway 63, 881 and Highway 2 plus surrounding highways.”
The third is seatbelts, as Kim believes they do save lives.
“The last one is distracted driving,” he said. “Those are the four areas that our members will be concentrating on, but we are still going to enforce every other moving violation.”
Kim stated that curbing driving behaviour in these four areas together can prevent accidents and save lives.
“That is our main focus as a traffic unit, education and saving lives,” he said.
Although traffic units are usually small, Kim explained that because of problems on Highway 63, 2 and 881, the government thought the area could benefit from a larger unit.
“When I first came to Boyle in 2007, that year there was 23 fatalities that Boyle RCMP attended,” he said.
“Through the enforcement and education, it went down two on a yearly basis. Last year, there was four or six and in 2012, there was one collision that took seven people’s lives.”
As the sergeant of the traffic unit, Kim wants to see the number of fatalities continue to drop.
“I think number wise, it is a lot less than it used to be. I think the traffic unit can take a lot of credit for that because they are more visible on the highway. You see them all over the place now,” he said.
“I think Twitter and Facebook, and social media in general, plays a major role. People make a comment and people do listen and read about it. If there is a danger about it and maybe they think twice about doing it.”
Kim also wants to see area detachments work together.
“If we work together and have open communication, I think we can be more effective on the road and be more visible,” he said
“Hopefully, we can curb the problems Highway 63, 2 and 881 are having.”
