Fort Macleod withdraws from Community Peace Officer program due to rising policing costs
FORT MACLEOD, AB – Effective immediately, the Town of Fort Macleod has withdrawn from its agreement to have Community Peace Officers (CPO).
In a media release, the town’s Chief Administrative Officer Sue Keenan says this was not a decision that was made lightly and is difficult when the livelihoods of staff would be impacted.
“Given the changes implemented regarding the CPO program and the fact that small communities will now be forced to pay for policing costs puts an unnecessary burden on smaller municipalities to ensure basic service levels are being provided in all areas for the benefit of our taxpayers.”
The provincial government announced in December 2019 that they are bolstering funding to rural policing by $382-million, but communities will have to pay a larger percentage of their total policing costs.