Wadena/Foam Lake RCMP have handed out 1,000 more traffic tickets over the past year than they did three years ago.

The detachment has amped up its traffic enforcement and now hands out around 1,300 tickets per year, up from 200 to 300, Sgt. Burton Jones told Bolt FM.

That includes impaired driving offences, which have risen to around 28 per year from seven or eight, he said.  

Saskatchewan has led the country in impaired driving and impaired driving-related fatalities, but Jones is hopeful increased enforcement will change behaviour.

Police aren’t catching youth driving drunk - the offenders are of older generations, he said.

“The goal of not just our detachment but the entire province is increased enforcement - increase, increase, increase, and hopefully it’ll drive the point home to the point where it starts to go down.”

The force has recently been concentrating on traffic in school and construction zones, as well as Highways 5, 35 and 16 which have seen many car crashes with moose and deer, he said.

The information will be part of a public town hall with residents Thursday night at the Wadena Legion, where Jones will update residents on their work and ask for input.

“We’re going to hopefully get a whole bunch of suggestions from people in the community as to what they feel the RCMP should be concentrating their efforts on,” Jones said.