After six years patrolling the streets of Regina, Cst. Curtis Warnar is giving up tickets and Twitter for a new role with the Regina Police Service.
As part of the traffic safety unit, Warnar has issued hundreds of tickets with his most noteworthy violations highlighted on his Twitter page.
“Traffic is always a very interesting and very lively discussion, so I was happy that I was able to help get that kick started,” Warner said.
And his tweets don’t hold back, giving the public an honest look at a day in the life.
“It definitely brought a different perspective to my job,” he said. “Trying to show people what we do day in and day out and kind of breaking through some of the stereotypes of us just being ticket-writers and just trying to ruin people’s days.”
Showing off the constable’s humour while engaging with the public, the page has nearly 6,000 followers. And while it is entertaining, it’s also informative.
“We have so many different provincial acts, our traffic safety act and our vehicle regulations and a lot of people simply don’t know what they are doing or if a modification they made to their vehicle is illegal.”
The tweets are also a reminder of life-threatening consequences of dangerous driving.
Warnar recalls when he pulled over a father driving his children to school with a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit.
“I’ll remember that one until the end of my career,” he said.
A career taking a different turn after six year, he is moving to the forensic identification until, taking a break from the negativity that comes with issuing tickets and putting his skills to good use elsewhere.
A different officer will now take over the traffic unit’s Twitter page, but Warnar isn’t ruling out a new use for his online skills.
“If there is an opportunity down the line that’s definitely something we could explore.”
