The Weyburn Police Service held a High-Visibility Enforcement Project (HEV) last week during the Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Show.

Chief Jamie Blunden said he was happy everyone was so well behaved.

"We know people are out and indulging, which is good. People are going to go out and indulge, as long as they get safe ride home, and I'll tell you, the community came together and they rallied together. A lot of our members were saying how a lot of the vehicles were left at some of the local establishments and taxis or some of the transportation was provided by those local establishments. So hats off to the community for a job well done there."

He said they didn't have a lot of incidents with respect to impaired drivers. 

"We had our members out, but everybody was well behaved. So a pat on the back for all the Weyburn community, I think it was really good," Blunden commented. "I think the community came together. Especially when we have these big events that are planned, we try and get on board and try and make notification that we're going to be out there in full force."

"Everybody did a very, very good job. So we always have one-offs here and there, and this was one of them, but it does not take away the the commitment of the community when it comes down to impaired driving and making sure everybody's getting home safe."

Blunden said the WPS is planning a two-day Selective Traffic Enforcement Project (STEP) on June 26th and 27th, which will bring members of other agencies to Weyburn on one of those days, including members of the Estevan Police Service.

"It's going to be very busy, and I know sometimes our community gets up in arms a little bit when we see that many officers in town," he noted. "With that many officers in town, sometimes the balancing act between the community engagement and traffic enforcement is sort of blurred. They don't have a connection to the community like some of our members do. So we want to emphasize to the community that when that STEP program is on, we've got everybody here from everywhere, and we expect everyone to be driving cars that are of good working order and expect them to obey the rules of the road, because when you have all these other officers in, the likelihood of that engagement warning is a lot lower.

Blunden added that during STEP or not, everybody should at all times drive safely and have working conditioned cars. 

"But we also know that when things get stepped up with the STEP program, there's a lot less leniency when it comes down to enforcement."