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Victoria police chief apologizes for ticket at soldier’s funeral

Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner wants to meet with the Integrated Road Safety Unit after a ticket issued by one of its members led to a storm of reaction on social media and in the community.
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Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner said he apologized to the family of Pte. Steven Allen. "I said, ‘I want to provide you my sincerest apology with no caveats.’ The dad actually shook my hand. He said: ‘That’s all I wanted to hear.’ ”

Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner wants to meet with the Integrated Road Safety Unit after a ticket issued by one of its members led to a storm of reaction on social media and in the community.

Debbi Ferguson, a military veteran of 20 years, was pulled over by an IRSU officer as she and a number of other drivers accompanied the body of Pte. Steven Allen from Victoria International Airport to a funeral home on Remembrance Day. Allen, a 20-year-old Victoria High School graduate, died Nov. 3 in a training exercise in Wainwright, Alta.

The traffic officer, a member of the Victoria Police Department seconded to IRSU, issued Ferguson a $230 ticket for having an obscured licence plate. Rules say that plates can’t be obscured by things like dirt or tinted covers.

Ferguson said her car had a Canadian flag at half-mast as well as its four-way flashers going when she was stopped, but that did not deter the IRSU officer.

“What I’ve done is I’ve asked for a meeting with IRSU to really figure out what their mandate is in and around enforcement, and when they’re in our community,” Elsner said Wednesday.

Elsner said the incident involving Ferguson first came to his attention on the evening of Remembrance Day through social media.

“The next morning, I met with the family,” he said. “This is the part that broke my heart — they lost their son and now they’re talking to the police chief about something that happened.

“So I said, ‘I want to provide you my sincerest apology with no caveats.’ The dad actually shook my hand. He said: ‘That’s all I wanted to hear.’ ”

Elsner said his department responded further by providing a full police traffic escort for Allen’s Nov. 15 funeral.

He said he expects IRSU will look into all the circumstances around the ticket being issued.

“I’m going to do what’s right for our department, and the actual ‘What happened there?’ I’ll leave up to them.”

jwbell@timescolonist.com