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“Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watching you,” are classic lyrics from the 1983 hit Every Breath You Take by The Police.
A portion of the timeless tune is also now used as the music bed to a new reel reaching thousands on social media courtesy the Windsor Police Service.
It’s centred around distracted driving and depicts a young person driving and getting caught by officers texting while stopped at a traffic light. As the shots shift the officers get closer, multiply and eventually get inside her car and issue her a ticket.
“We’re looking for a unique way to show drivers that we are watching while you were driving and possibly texting,” said Windsor police Const. Bianca Jackson.
“They are watching every time you pick up that phone,” she told CBC Radio’s Windsor Morning.
Ages 16 to 25 are getting the bulk of tickets in Windsor, according to authorities. In 2026, they say 290 distracted driving traffic tickets were written, and more than 100 warnings given.
Windsor Morning9:20Windsor Police drive home message against cell phone use behind the wheel using video reel
The Windsor Police are driving home their message against cell phone use behind the wheel, by using a video reel that may have hit your feed this week. Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge spoke to acting deputy chief of operations Ken Cribley and Constable Bianca Jackson from Windsor Police.
Tickets for texting while driving start at $615 and a three-day license suspension with three demerit points, Windsor police say. And subsequent offences for the same thing can go all the way up to 30-day suspensions, a $3,000 fine and six demerit points.
“We know that our younger demographic is on the socials quite often,” said deputy chief Ken Cribley, who appeared on Windsor Morning alongside Jackson.
“It is a serious offence. Our social media video, it’s kind of a lighthearted approach to get the message across — maybe hoping to focus on maybe a younger demographic. The statistics would show that most often when we are seeing these offences it is some of our younger demographics.”
Cribley says distracted driving quite often leads to collisions and is avoidable.
“Just try to remove that temptation. It’s so easy when you’re driving your car and you hear your phone ping because you’ve just received an email or a text or you feel that vibrate … to now grab your phone and look at it. Put the phone somewhere not within reach or not within earshot.”
According to Jackson, aside from texting while behind the wheel there are other forms of distracted driving — including a few extreme examples.
“I’ve seen from pets on the lap to people having full breakfasts on their lap. If something spills, something that takes your eyes off the road, that can be very, very dangerous, not only for you, but for whoever is on the road — even pedestrians.”
Cribley says it’s often difficult for distracted drivers to mask what they’re up to — and makes it easier for officers to spot.
“Oftentimes … it’s the same symptoms of following an impaired driver. They may be all over the road weaving in and out of traffic,” he said. “Another telltale sign is somebody stopped at a red light and then when the light turned green, everybody else is proceeding and that car is still sitting there with the brake lights on.”
