Taber ban on swearing, spitting for extreme cases only, chief says
Bylaw cut and pasted from other communities
A bylaw in an Alberta town that bans spitting, swearing and hanging out would be enforced only in extreme circumstances, says Taber’s police chief Alf Rudd.
“It’s certainly not the intention of the police to go out and enforce this thing when somebody swears,” he told CBC's Mark Connolly.
“There is a place for it and that’s the place where it will be used.”
Police will not apply the bylaw to “innocent scenarios,” but only where necessary, he said.
“I think we will all know where that is and when that line is crossed, he said.”
“If you’re taking your children down to our fabulous new spray park and you’ve got a group of people cussing and swearing up a storm, I think you’re going to want that managed.”
Rudd is quick to assure people that the town is not under threat by hooligans.
“I don’t want people to get the idea that we’ve put this bylaw in because these types of issues are out of control in Taber, because they’re not.”
Rudd said he’s been caught off guard by the reaction to the bylaw.
“I think some of the sentiment that’s going around out there is a little bit, not exactly accurate as to what the intention of the bylaw is.
“I’m a little surprised. There’s not much in here that can’t be found in law anywhere else across the country.”
Rudd said the bylaw is not revolutionary, rather the town merely cut and pasted laws that exist on the books in other Alberta municipalities.
“Generally … these laws have been in existence since the inception of the nation.”