Three Langley RCMP members are among 246 police officers from around the province named to the 2015 Alexa’s Team for their efforts of taking impaired drivers off the road.
Langley RCMP Const. Naresh Prashad was named an All-Star.
The All-Star distinction is given to the top impaired driving investigators in the province.
Each one took at least 34 criminally impaired drivers off the road in 2015.
Also named to Alexa’s Team are Langley RCMP Constables Thomas Leydier and Cory Kornicki.
MADD Canada, ICBC, the RCMP and supporters of Alexa’s Team gathered on Wednesday, April 13, to recognize the 2015 Alexa’s Team.
Alexa’s Team is a program that recognizes the dedicated RCMP and municipal police officers in B.C. who make an extraordinary contribution to reducing the number of drivers affected by alcohol or drugs on B.C.’s roads and highways. The team is named for four-year-old Alexa Middelaer, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2008 in Delta.
“In the wake of the tragic loss of our daughter, Alexa, this is one event that allows our family to find some needed good, said Alexa’s mother Laurel Middelaer.
“These members are heroes and deserve our appreciation.”
Since 2008, Alexa’s Team members have processed more than 71,300 impaired driving sanctions for alcohol and drug related driving offences.
Tougher impaired driving laws introduced six years ago are making a difference, said Mike Morris, B.C. Minister of Public Safety.
“We’ve seen a 52 per cent reduction in alcohol-affected driving fatalities in B.C. since 2010. And while that is significant, our ultimate goal is to bring the number of alcohol-affected driving fatalities down to zero,” said Morris.
“It’s about saving lives, and we need everyone — most importantly B.C. drivers — to make that happen.”