Police use help of volunteer workforce in weekend check stop

Saskatoon police spent Saturday night running check stops, looking for people that shouldn’t be behind the wheel.

Officers had some extra help from Linda Van de Vorst to inform motorists to always drive sober.

Van de Vorst, who spends time volunteering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada, lost four members of her family in a crash caused by a drunk driver just north of Saskatoon in January of 2016.

She was alongside police officers at a check stop in Saskatoon and appeared in a video tweeted out by the Saskatoon Police Service traffic unit Monday morning.

Meet Linda. In 2016, four members of her family were killed by an impaired driver. Linda now volunteers with @maddcanada here in Saskatoon. Volunteers were out at a checkstop and we asked her why it was important to be there. #SPScheckstop @SGItweets pic.twitter.com/rVmZ6ryq8M

— SPS Traffic Unit (@SPSTraffic) December 17, 2018

“It’s really important, so that we can tell people — if they’re driving sober — to say, ‘Thank You’ to them,” she said. “It means a lot to know they’re taking the initiative to find a safe ride home, or not to drink.”

The 30-second video starts with the question “Why is it important for you to be at checkpoints?”appearing on the screen.

“We lost our kids, our family — it will never be the same at all,” Van de Vorst said. “We don’t want anyone to go through what we go through on a day-to-day basis, and that’s why we’re out here just to get that message across to everyone.”

As part of the many checks stops, officers found two impaired drivers, one by alcohol the other by cannabis.

In a post on Twitter, the traffic unit said a driver with arrest warrants tried to get through the check stop.

Officers at last night’s #SPScheckstop dealt with a variety of situations: 2 impaired drivers – 1 by alcohol the other by cannabis, a driver with arrest warrants and another from whom they seized crystal meth. A ticket was also written to a mom holding her unrestrained baby! pic.twitter.com/0KmYglPIzl

— SPS Traffic Unit (@SPSTraffic) December 16, 2018

Someone was also caught with crystal meth.

To wrap up the busy night, a woman was given a ticket for holding her baby instead of having it in a car seat.