Tyler Shandro, Minister of Justice. (The Canadian Press)

By The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

Alberta promises more officers for rural municipalities with provincial police plan

Aug 16, 2022 | 4:34 PM

CALGARY – The Alberta government continues to make its case for a provincial police force, saying it would add hundreds of front-line officers to small detachments.

The United Conservative government outlined its blueprint for more police in rural Alberta today.

It says 275 front-line police officers would be added to Alberta’s 42 smallest detachments.

Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the proposed model would have 65 to 85 community detachments that would have a minimum of 10 police officers and a maximum of 80 officers working in them.

The plan also includes service-hub detachments with between 48 and 192 officers, as well as three urban detachments to serve larger communities and function as regional headquarters.

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Earlier this year, the Rural Municipalities of Alberta said it supports keeping the RCMP and opposes the idea of a provincial police force because it fails to demonstrate how it would increase service levels in rural areas.

NDP Justice Critic Irfan Sabir issued the following statement in response on Tuesday:

“The UCP will spend hundreds of millions of dollars just to set up a new police force when what Albertans want is better policing focused on addressing crime and its root causes. That’s what I hear in Calgary, where Albertans are concerned about the rise in gun violence.

“Alberta Municipalities and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta have both passed resolutions against this plan. Rural leaders in more than 70 communities have sent the government a letter saying they don’t want this for their residents.

“Alberta can invest in better policing without blowing up the RCMP. Also, the UCP should not be able to dismantle the RCMP while under investigation by the RCMP.

“No one is asking for this and the UCP needs to start listening.”

Alberta Municipalities, meanwhile, says it remains with outstanding concerns regarding the government’s plan.

“To start, we do not believe enough consultation and engagement occurred between the Government of Alberta, local governments and key stakeholders like us since October 29, 2021, when the provincial government released its Alberta Provincial Police Service (APPS) transition study final report,” reads a press release from ABmunis.

“Alberta Municipalities has a set of three principles for a provincial police service that reflect the needs and priorities of local governments in Alberta, and that apply to any provincial police service, regardless of the service provider,” says the organization.

ABmunis says the principles address:

• Police governance and oversight – Meaningful local input, municipal representation and regular reporting to the communities they serve are required.
• Police service levels – Minimum standards for infrastructure, supervision, administration and front-line services, better performance than current RCMP delivers, metrics and public performance reporting are needed.
• Policing costs – municipalities should not bear any of the costs associated with implementing and transitioning to a provincial police service.

“We will be looking closely at the provincial government’s report to see if the deployment plan aligns with our provincial police service principles,” the release continues.

“Fundamentally, we believe the creation of an Alberta provincial police service should be driven by the real public safety needs of the communities it will serve rather than by political motivations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2022.

The Canadian Press (With files from rdnewsNOW)