• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Huntsville Doppler

Huntsville Doppler

Read Local

  • Home
    • All Stories
    • Community Guidelines
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Community
  • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Professionally Speaking
  • Sports
  • Obituaries
  • Lifestyle
    • Contests and Deals
    • Entertainment
    • Extraordinary People
    • Feature
    • This is Huntsville | Videos
    • Wayback Wednesday
    • Our Town with Grant Nickalls | Archive
  • Events
    • Event Listings
    • Add Your Event
  • It’s All Good
  • Speak Up, Huntsville!
  • Subscribe
  • Support
You are here: Home / News / Local seniors unhappy with OPP officer’s close contact; some closeness may be necessary say OPP
OPP cruiser with lights flashing (@OPP_CR / Twitter)
(@OPP_CR / Twitter)

Local seniors unhappy with OPP officer’s close contact; some closeness may be necessary say OPP

By Heather Douglas On April 14, 2020 News

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Email this to someone
email
Print this page
Print

 

It is business as usual for the OPP during the COVID-19 pandemic, with measures in place to ensure the health and safety for all of the community, said Huntsville OPP media relations officer, Lynda Cranney. “That is the top priority for everyone, including ourselves. That is paramount.”

However, that was not the experience two Utterson seniors had recently when they were pulled over on Hwy 11 for having a licence plate sticker on the wrong plate of their pickup truck.

Terri Howell and her husband Kim were out to pick up essentials when they were pulled over on April 6. “The officer did not put social distancing into effect,” she wrote in a letter to MPP Norm Miller that she also forwarded to Huntsville Doppler. “And my husband, trapped in his truck was mere feet from the guy’s mouth.”

Howell said that she and her husband had been socially isolating for 24 days and through this interaction were potentially exposed to any virus he was carrying from his contact with other people.

“Instead of standing back and acknowledging that we should fix the sticker, he gave my husband a written warning,” Howell wrote. “More exposure to this officer’s germs.”

Howell added that they would be “placing ourselves in total lockdown for 14 days. We will not be going out to get groceries. All of a sudden we do not know if we have been exposed and that brings a whole new level of unnecessary anxiety to these two senior citizens.”

She asked Miller to “address this issue immediately so the government gives clear guidelines to the OPP to keep us all safe, including themselves. Protocols that are good for the average person should be used by our enforcement officers as well. We are all in this together.”

While Cranney could not comment on that specific situation as she was not present when it occurred, she said all officers have masks and gloves and sanitizing wipes in their patrol cars and these are to be used where practical. However, not all situations are practical and every situation is at the officer’s discretion. Making an arrest or entering a premise, it may not be practical for the officer to wear a mask, she said.

In the case of a pulling over a vehicle, it is the officer’s sense of smell that is often the first indication of an individual driving under the influence, and in that situation an officer must approach the driver’s window. “There may have to be some closeness,” Cranney said.

The OPP will continue to patrol and make traffic stops for all infractions of the law. While Service Ontario locations may be closed, licence plate and driver’s licence renewals can be made online. “Traffic stops will continue,” she said. “People should be staying at home with no unnecessary travel.”

As of today, no laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported within the Huntsville OPP detachment; on April 13, the OPP said that a member in the West Parry Sound Detachment had tested positive for the disease.

While the OPP as a group had not previously been included in the Province’s criteria for testing, on April 10 the provincial government said that it would be expanding COVID-19 testing, an announcement that included the proactive testing of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics.

Cranney added that the OPP are receiving different types of calls during the pandemic, including the public’s concern about public gatherings that should not be occurring—the Province has prohibited gatherings of more than five people. If it is not an emergency, the public can call *OPP (*677) on any mobile phone or call 1-800-310-1122 to report any concerns. The OPP has some additional COVID-19 information for the public here.

 

Don’t miss out on Doppler!

Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!


Reader Interactions

11 Comments

  1. Sham. Dowar says

    April 14, 2020 at 2:27 pm

    Congrats to the opp officer for doing their job you did wrong and want to be in the right. If I was a senior I would have a mask and gloves on anytime I leave the house to protect my self and other. you can’t be upset that the opp is doing their job their just keeping out roads safe.

  2. Ray Vowels says

    April 14, 2020 at 3:27 pm

    As for renewing your stickers on line I tried that a few weeks ago did the whole thing and there is a lot of stuff to type in I got right to the end and went to give my credit card number and a sign popped up this site is unavailable try again later so now I have to go to service Ont. to renew my sticker just hope they are open not going to go thought all that crap again. If the site is down tell you that at the start not the finish.

  3. Jim Sinclair says

    April 14, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    I don’t mean to be paranoid, but if an OPP officer makes the decision that he needs to get closer than 6 feet when I’m in my car he is going to be talking through a closed and locked door and window. I will not allow my decision to be safe to be overruled by any police officer.

  4. Nancy Long says

    April 15, 2020 at 8:23 am

    It’s unfortunate that the seniors were out in their truck with a sticker that didn’t match. The OPP have to do their job. Thank goodness the couple are going to self-isolate now.

  5. Evert McIlwain says

    April 16, 2020 at 8:49 am

    Thank you to all the OPP

  6. Travis Milmine says

    April 16, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Just like government – Trudeau going to his cottage when everyone else is told to stay home…..law enforcement will carry out any task as they see fit. Do as I say, not as I do.

  7. Debbie Kirwin says

    April 16, 2020 at 10:20 am

    Sometimes it is just a connection. The form is easy and the info required is the same info needed when in person. Try again, it is worth it.

  8. jim sinclair says

    April 16, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    one prior message here says to wear a mask when out driving to protect yourself, The mask you are wearing, unless it is a proper N65 ? ( I forget the number designation) will not protect the driver from the OPP, rather it will only protect the officer. I am not against the officer doing their job, but make sure you are doing it right. If the officer want s to sniff for alcohol he can ask the driver to step out of the vehicle while he does his sniffing, but then to do it right, he must have reasonable grounds for asking . Look, we are ALL scared, and the more we can tolerate minor missteps without getting up in arms, the better off we will all be. I have never travelled this road before, and I will make up my own rules about what I will tolerate, and demanding a police officer keep his distance is one of my rules if I can’t move away myself. Police are human too and inasmuch as he might be working double shifts and be tired, a little leniency goes a long way. A sticker on the wrong plate can wait I would say. Yes, no?

  9. Bess Coleman says

    April 16, 2020 at 4:07 pm

    For sure the police should keep their distance, as should everyone. No one should be exposed over a sticker while shopping for essentials. Let’s hope this changes right away.

  10. Bonnie Branton says

    April 18, 2020 at 7:59 am

    Thank you for being there OPP 👍

    Could the officers don a mask if they are going to approach a driver? 😷
    Perhaps they would even be able to sniff alcohol thru’ them also.

    Let’s “Calm Down” – Taylor Swift

  11. Jacquie Howell says

    April 18, 2020 at 10:56 am

    Hi Travis Interesting that you comment on Trudeau going to his cottage but do not mention that Scheer put his wife and 5 kids on a government plane and exposed 2 other people who expected to be self distancing as they were doing their civic duty Just a comment!

Join the discussion (please include your first and last name and follow our community guidelines): Cancel reply

All comments are moderated. Please ensure you include both your first and last name and abide by our community guidelines.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News Stories

Significant multi-residential development proposed for Huntsville’s northeastern urban area now before planning tribunal

January 22, 2021 4 Comments

COVID-19 in Huntsville: the latest updates

January 22, 2021 Leave a Comment

Simcoe Muskoka schools to continue online learning until Feb. 10

January 21, 2021 1 Comment

First round of COVID-19 vaccinations for LTC residents in Simcoe Muskoka now complete

January 19, 2021 4 Comments

Site location for 18 Legacy Lane

Thirty-three-unit bungalow townhouse development on Legacy Lane gets site plan approval

January 19, 2021 4 Comments

COVID in Huntsville/Lake of Bays: by the numbers

January 18, 2021 2 Comments

One new COVID case reported in Huntsville today (Jan. 18), 12 cases are active

January 18, 2021 2 Comments

OPP enforcement under the stay-at-home order

January 18, 2021 6 Comments

One new COVID case reported in Huntsville today (Jan. 15), 11 cases are active

January 15, 2021 Leave a Comment

Photo of Kevin Cameron posted in 2018 on his Facebook page.

Man charged with luring of minors through telecommunication was convicted of similar crimes in 2015

January 15, 2021 1 Comment

  • Recent Stories
  • Popular
  • January 3, 2021 18 Rod Phillips in a video posted to his Twitter account on Christmas Eve, while he vacationed in St. Barts (Rod Phillips / Twitter)

    Listen Up! Partisanship should not be blind | Commentary

  • January 8, 2021 15

    Indigo Rain Flower Farm to provide local, ‘grown not flown’ cut flowers

  • January 13, 2021 12

    Our political discourse is drenched in rage; it doesn’t have to be: MP Scott Aitchison

  • December 27, 2020 11

    Third time’s a charm for Ben Carlin

  • January 10, 2021 11

    Listen Up! Some hard truths | Commentary

  • January 24, 2021 0 Former Governor General Julie Payette in Ottawa on Sept. 23, 2020 (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

    Listen Up! A week packed with issues | Commentary

  • January 24, 2021 1 "Grandad" in process, by Zoë Valentine

    Art Fx #4: “Grandad” by Zoë Valentine

  • January 23, 2021 0

    Local anti-racism advocacy group responds to George Floyd comment made at District meeting | Letters

  • January 23, 2021 0 Firefighters do more than respond to structure fires (supplied)

    Fire department looking to add new recruits

  • January 22, 2021 4

    Significant multi-residential development proposed for Huntsville’s northeastern urban area now before planning tribunal

  • A Sponsored Profile (286)
  • Around Muskoka (1)
  • Art Fx (4)
  • Breaking (25)
  • Business (212)

Footer

About Doppler

Established in 2015 by a bunch of local news hounds, Doppler strives to be the go-to source for people wanting to know more about what is going on in Huntsville and the surrounding community.

We strive to provide local news that is relevant and timely. We also look to tell local stories that inspire, inform and engage.

Notice the persistent use of the word local? Our mantra is local. From features on local people doing extraordinary things, to local business spotlights, news and sports coverage, all supplemented by provocative opinion pieces on topics near and far, we are working hard for you.

Feel free to drop us a line at huntsville@doppleronline.ca and tell us how we are doing, what you would like to see more of, or to just say ‘Hi’.

Thank you for reading Doppler.

Huntsville Doppler – READ LOCAL

Recent Comments

  • Bev Belanger on Art Fx #4: “Grandad” by Zoë Valentine
  • Sandy McLennan on MTO seeks feedback on rail and bus service between Toronto, North Bay and NE Ontario
  • Bess Coleman on Local resident delighted by unusual cloud formation
  • Bill Beatty on Significant multi-residential development proposed for Huntsville’s northeastern urban area now before planning tribunal
  • Ron Baker on Significant multi-residential development proposed for Huntsville’s northeastern urban area now before planning tribunal
  • Peter Crozier on Significant multi-residential development proposed for Huntsville’s northeastern urban area now before planning tribunal
  • Wayne Sinclair on Committee turns down moratorium on new development in Huntsville’s northeast urban area
  • Anna-Lise Kear on Speak Up, Huntsville!

Copyright © 2021 ·Doppler · Log in
  • About
  • Support Local News
  • Community Guidelines
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Subscribe