Canadian police officer ticketed driver who called him out for not wearing mask
Officials say public entitled to ask officers about wearing masks during pandemic
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A Canadian policeman was caught on camera ticketing a driver after the officer was called out for not wearing a mask.
In a widely shared video the Winnipeg Police Service officer was questioned by the motorist’s female passenger about his lack of face covering as he talked to them through the open car window.
“That’s not good,” she told the officer, which caused him to go from giving her a warning to threatening them with a ticket.
“If you want to do it that way, I’ll just write a ticket. Is that the way you want to do this?” said the officer, who had explained he did not have to wear a mask outside and was being “polite.”
The video does not show the beginning or the end of the incident and finishes with the officer demanding the driver’s license and registration back.
City officials said that officers are required to wear a mask unless they interfere with duties or impact their safety.
“In this particular instance, it didn’t appear there was an issue of safety or an ability of that officer to do his job,” said Markus Chambers, chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board.
“The individuals in the car could have had a compromised immune system.
“The officers says, ‘I’m outside. I don’t need to wear a mask.’ I don’t think that’s a message that we need to be sending right now.
“We are all in this together. If there is a request for somebody who’s providing a public service to wear a mask, I think it should be honoured.”
The WPS says it is attempting to contact the driver to speak about the incident.
But the city’s mayor said he was unhappy with what he had seen from the officer.
“To be clear, if any resident of the city of Winnipeg wants to ask any member of our public service questions about public health orders, they should be dealt with in a respectful way,” said mayor Brian Bowman.
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