Edmonton police have damaged or destroyed 171 cruisers this year mostly in collisions that could have been prevented, according to a recent article in an internal police newspaper.

"This poor driving has to stop," Supt. Brad Doucette says in the Oct./Nov. 2011 issue of EPS Connect. "We are putting our safety and the safety of other road users at risk through our bad habits."

According to the article, the majority of these collisions were not caused by officers responding to emergencies. Instead, the blame is placed on poor behavior like "inattentive driving in regular conditions" and a failure to follow traffic regulations.

Officers caught breaking traffic rules or driving carelessly will be ticketed or charged and will have to pay fines out of their own pockets, the article states.

"We are expected to be the best drivers on the road and, when a citizen sees us breaking the law in normal driving conditions, that reputation is destroyed," Doucette says in the article. "In too many cases, the police car is destroyed as well."