A preliminary court hearing began this week in Edmonton, Canada to decide whether officials from Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) should stand trial on charges that the company bribed police officers in order to land a $90 million no-bid photo enforcement contract. Although fourteen witnesses are expected to offer evidence against ACS, a court-imposed gag order will prevent information damaging to the city's speed camera program from becoming public.

What is known already is that ACS sent Edmonton Police Service Sergeant Kerry Nisbet, 51, and Detective Thomas Bell, 49, on trips to places like Toronto and Phoenix -- even flying Nisbet's son to Arizona to attend a baseball game. On at least one occasion, ACS sent a blonde female employee to drive the officers to an Edmonton Oiler hockey game in a Mercedes-Benz automobile. The hockey tickets, including a set for the Heritage Classic outdoor game held on November 22, 2003, had a face value of $147.50 each. The pair also received a lavish, all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas that included perks such as the use of Harley Davidson motorcycles while there.

Within the past few weeks, provincial court Judge Elizabeth Johnson allowed Nisbet to go free and reduced the charges against Bell to a single count of submitting a fraudulent memo on behalf of ACS. Only Bell will stand trial October 26.