A Sault cab company owner will have a one-on-one meeting with Robert Keetch, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service chief, to discuss concerns he has with police handling of crimes affecting his cabs and drivers.
Chuck Lewis, Cruz Cab owner/operator, and Nikki Bourdage, Cruz Cab manager, appeared before Monday’s Sault Ste. Marie Police Services board meeting.
Lewis and Bourdage said their cabs and drivers have been victims of a number of hit and runs, as well as runners (people who take a cab, refuse to pay the fare to cab drivers and flee the scene).
“They (police) basically tell us they don’t have time for runners or vehicle accidents,” Lewis told SooToday.
That’s not accurate, Keetch told reporters after Monday’s board meeting.
Keetch said police have a priority system in place, through 911, which dictates which crimes and accidents are attended to first.
Bourdage attended Monday’s board meeting with several binders, containing details she has compiled of hit and runs and runner incidents.
Bourdage told the board there have been incidents in which police officers allegedly gave apprehended runners a chance to pay Cruz “at the end of the month, when their money comes in…they (police) are doing it, a lot.”
“That’s not a practice that I support,” Keetch told Bourdage.
“That is not an appropriate response that the officers are suggesting…call us and say you don’t believe the response we provided wasn’t appropriate. If it’s a systemic issue within the service, then we’ll address it,” Keetch said.
Lewis estimated his vehicles have suffered five serious hit and runs, one of which, in January, cost more than $5,400 in damage.
He said he would like to see police attend the scene of all vehicle accidents regarding cabs.
Lewis also told Keetch that calls regarding cabs should be seen to promptly, as they are city-licensed vehicles.
“If there were personal injuries (in a hit and run involving a cab), those would automatically require a police response,” Keetch told Lewis.
“Other than that (if there are no injuries), our accidents are diverted to the Collision Reporting Centre…they will do an accident report, then the traffic sergeant, based on their report, would consider if charges are warranted.”
Lewis and Bourdage said Cruz has had these challenges since they started the company up in 2014.
The two told SooToday they do not know if other Sault cab companies (Union Cab and Yellow Cab) have suffered the same problems.
Constable Henry Jin, in attendance at Monday’s board meeting, told Keetch attempts to locate all hit and run vehicle drivers have been made.
Keetch told Lewis and Bourdage their issues should be brought directly to police, rather than a board meeting.
“To let a series of them (incidents) build up and come to the board, the board is a governance board…but specific deployment and responses are the chief’s responsibility through the police service,” Keetch told reporters after the meeting.
Keetch added he had previously encouraged Lewis to personally visit him regarding cab issues.
In another matter regarding cabs, the Police Services board approved, in principle, a document containing a number of proposed fines to be slapped against cab companies which fail to comply with certain regulations.
The proposed fines are seen as a way cab companies can pay for infractions without having their licenses suspended or revoked by police.
The list of 62 proposed fines include $150 fines for items such as failing to clearly illuminate a taxi meter between dusk and dawn, to $400 for operation of an unsafe vehicle.
“Hopefully we never get to the point where we have to revoke or suspend licenses. There are numerous communities that have offences and set fines associated with their local taxi bylaw,” Keetch told the board.
“We’re recommending the board review this (list of fines) and send it to city council for review by the city’s legal department, and then integrate it within the existing taxi bylaw,” Keetch said.