Ten Langley RCMP were among the 165 Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley police officers recognized by the BCAA Road Safety Foundation and the Middelaer family for their diligence in removing impaired drivers from the roads of Lower Mainland communities.
Four year old Alexa Middelaer died on May 17, 2008 when a vehicle left a residential road in Delta, struck two pedestrians, a parked vehicle and finally came to rest on a power pole. The driver, a 56 year old woman was later charged and convicted of impaired driving causing bodily harm and death.
Alexa’s Team was formed to help bring awareness to the seriousness of impaired driving and to recognize those officers working to reduce the number of impaired drivers on the roads of our communities.
In a ceremony held at Southridge School in Surrey on April 24, the Langley officers were granted membership on Alexa’s Team for taking at least 12 criminally impaired drivers off the road through a Criminal Charge Investigation or the Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) administrative process during the previous year.
There are 355 members of Alexa’s Team throughout British Columbia and in 2011, they recommended charges on 1,078 impaired drivers. They also issued 8,305 – 90 day immediate roadside prohibition. Across BC in 2011, Alexa’s Team members removed 19,515 impaired drivers from the road when all charges and prohibitions are totaled up.
The ten Langley RCMP Officers joining the 2011 Alexa’s Team are: Cst. Alison Lambie, Cst. Robert Johnston, Cst. Hayden Willems, Cst. Brett Henderson, Cst. Sukhwinder Parmar, Cst. Jennifer Szezepaniak, Cst. Veronica Steiger, Cst. Terry Nikopoulos, Cst. Peter Mann and Cst. Saudagar Teja.