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Edmonton police officers who run red lights without a good reason or speed unnecessarily are increasingly finding themselves in front of the police service’s disciplinary branch.

A report to the Edmonton Police Commission on Thursday found traffic complaints against officers — including those caught on red light cameras and other traffic photo systems — drove a small but notable increase in complaints about police officer conduct in 2017.

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While police officers are allowed to speed and run red lights when responding to an urgent call, police Chief Rod Knecht said sometimes officers don’t have a good reason for aggressive driving.

“We’re not exempt,” he said. “If we’ve got no legitimate reason to be going 160 km/h on the Henday when the speed limit’s 100 km/h, we’re going to have a conversation with that police officer and sometimes they get a ticket.”

The head of the local police union says the policy is controversial with members, some of whom say they’ve been penalized for trying to get to potentially life-and-death calls.