Local officers added to Alexa's Team

By Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star Published: May 17, 2013 1:00 AM Three North Okanagan RCMP officers have joined an important provincial team.  Constables Eric Beaulieu, Ryan Fletcher and Steven Schenkeveld have been inducted onto Alexa’s Team, joining fellow provincial police officers who helped remove nearly 8,000 impaired drivers from B.C.’s roads in 2012. The team is formed annually in memory of Alexa Middelaer, a four-year-old killed by a drunk driver in the Lower Mainland in 2008. “I would like to take this opportunity to let the people in the Vernon-North Okanagan detachment area know about the outstanding work this trio of officers do in keeping the roads safer in our communities,” said RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk Monday morning. The minimum criteria for nomination to the 2012 Alexa’s Team is a total of 12 impaired driving investigations that resulted in either a Criminal Code impaired driving charge or a 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP).

In its first year, 2008, Alexa’s Team inducted 26 members. That number jumped to 177 in 2009, 216 in 2010 and 355 in 2011. There were 228 officers added to the team in 2012. Since its inception, Alexa’s Team officers have removed more than 41,000 impaired drivers from B.C.’s roads. (more)