(FORT FRANCES, ON) – The Rainy River District Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) welcomes the Snowmobile Trail Officer Patrol (STOP) program to the Rainy River District. This is a community based enforcement program that uses the assistance of Special Constables with the goals of increasing snowmobile safety awareness, compliance with snowmobile laws and enforcement under the Motorized Snow Vehicle Act (MSVA) and municipal snowmobile bylaws.
STOP officers are designated as Special Constables by the Commissioner of the OPP. They can patrol independently of the OPP or with uniformed officers. For MSVA enforcement purposes, they have the same authority as police officers. The authority for this designation comes from the Police Services Act and is granted by the Government of Ontario. Members of the public can expect to see STOP officers patrolling within the Rainy River District this winter.
The OPP looks forward to working with STOP officers in promoting safe and responsible snowmobiling.
For more information, please go to http://devel.ofsc.on.ca/volunteers/stop/stop-about-stop.html