Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro revealed the proposed model for a provincial police service in Alberta on Tuesday, August 16, 2022. (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Drew Stremick

Alberta Government unveils provincial police proposal

Aug 16, 2022 | 7:25 PM

EDMONTON, AB – The Alberta Government has released more details on its proposed plan to introduce a provincial police service. Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro held a news conference on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 to talk about the benefits of moving towards an Alberta Police Force.

During the news conference, Shandro said the current model is too centralized, and the new proposed policing model would provide more services, and officers.

“This report reveals that the current deployment model is bureaucratic and heavily centralized. By moving to a provincial deployment model, we would be able to add 275 front-line police officers to the smallest 42 detachments,” Shandro explained. “We can also make access to mental health, addictions, family crisis services, and other specialized police services more accessible to all communities across Alberta.”

Shandro also highlighted that community detachments would be guaranteed a minimum of 10 front-line officers, potentially adding 275 officers to the 42 smallest detachments across Alberta.

If Alberta were to move towards a provincial police, Shandro said the RCMP would still operate in the province. However, its role would be more closely aligned with a national mandate.

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“The RCMP would still exist in every jurisdiction, and would focus on its core mandate or its core functions of being a federal police service,” said Shandro. “Cyberterrorism, human trafficking, [and] organized crime would be the core functions that it would focus on rather than being distracted by contract policing for the provincial policing and the 47 communities that they provide municipal police services for. So they would still be here and focusing on their core functions.”

According to a news release, the proposed policing model will include 65-85 community detachments, while also creating 20-30 “service hub detachments” that would support community detachments with services such as mental health response.

Introducing a provincial police force is not set in stone, though. Shandro noted the decision on whether or not to proceed is up to the next provincial government.

“No decision has been made about this and we have been engaging with municipalities and First Nations because they’ve asked us to, and they’ve asked us for some further details since the the PwC report, and that’s the context of today’s announcement is for us to be able to answer those for the questions that they’ve asked for us,” Shandro said. “And that’s the point, any decision related to whether or not we as a province proceed with a provincial police service is up to the next government and any future government.”

Despite the government’s intentions, there is plenty of opposition to the idea. Shortly after Shandro spoke, Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis) sent out a news release stating there are a number of issues that need to be addressed.

• 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.

In the release (ABmunis) stated that a provincial police service could be beneficial to Albertans, but only if it’s introduced for the right reasons.

“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,” read the release.

READ MORE: Alberta Municipalities opposed to Provincial Police Service

ABmunis is not the only organization speaking out. Alberta RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said in an email statement that the UCP’s proposed model is similar to the RCMP, and the organization is continuously changing to meet the needs of Albertans.

“The Alberta RCMP is future-focussed and flexible, changing as the safety and security needs of Albertans change,” said Zablocki. “Modernizing our force, leveraging technology and finding new ways of delivering our services more efficiently, combined with collaboration and input from our partners on all levels, drives how we adapt to the needs of the citizens we serve, and respond to modern-day threats and social factors within the province.”

Zablocki continued, saying that the RCMP has served rural communities for a long time, and its organization is a good fit to continue to do so.

“Our employees are skilled police professionals, trained to the highest standard in Canada, based on over a century of rural policing lessons,” Zablocki said. “In addition to these frontline policing skills, our specialized services – including units such Police Dog Services, Forensic Identification, and Emergency Response Teams – are leaders in their fields, know the geographical realities of Alberta, and are strategically positioned throughout the province.”

READ MORE: Lethbridge County opposed to creation of Alberta Provincial Police Force

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.