An Abbotsford police officer has been named an "All Star" with Alexa's Team, consisting of RCMP and municipal officers committed to reducing the number of impaired-driving deaths in B.C.
Const. Pat Kelly was among 313 officers who formed the 2013 Alexa's Team and were honoured at recent events in Surrey, Greater Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George.
Alexa's Team is named for Alexa Middelaer, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2008 when she was four years old.
In 2010, the Middelaer family challenged police departments and the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General of B.C. to reduce the number of deaths caused by impaired driving by 35 per cent by the year 2013.
That goal was surpassed, when a 52 per cent decrease was noted as of February 2014.
Alexa's Team members were responsible for almost 50 per cent of the impaired-driving enforcement in B.C. in 2013, according to a media release.
The team included eight officers in Abbotsford, who removed a total of 293 impaired drivers from the road.
In addition to Kelly, these officers, all constables with the Abbotsford Police Department, were John Courtney, Chris Froese, Dan Baldinger, John Davidson, Don Ridder, Ken Wilson and Renae Williams.
"All Star" members are the top impaired-driving investigators in the province. Each took at least 34 criminally impaired drivers off the road in 2013.