The United Conservative government outlined its plan for more police in rural Alberta today. He says 275 frontline police officers will be added to Alberta’s 42 smaller detachments. Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said that as it stands, there is no minimum number of officers in RCMP detachments. He said a police force built in Alberta would provide better policing for all regions, including improved response times. “I’m often asked why the government is considering the idea of a provincial police service and the answer is simple… We have a duty as an Alberta government to consider whether new and innovative approaches to policing can make our community safer,” Shandro said. “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 said the proposed model would have 65 to 85 community detachments that would have a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 80 officers working in them. The plan also includes hub detachments with between 48 and 192 officers, as well as three urban detachments that will serve larger communities and act as regional headquarters. The report also outlines how an Alberta Police Service will extend dedicated support to First Nations self-governing police services through service hub detachments, making it easier for them to establish and maintain their own forces. The Alberta government’s provincial police plan could replace the RCMP, which will cost hundreds of millions to launch, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. (David Bell/CBC) Shandro said the idea of a provincial police force is nothing new nor should the public be concerned. “The biggest point I’d really like to drive home to all Albertans is that both Quebec and Ontario have their own provincial police service and it seems, their provinces haven’t collapsed,” he said. Shandro said the RCMP, as in Quebec and Ontario, will continue to exist, but will focus on federal policing responsibilities as opposed to handing out speeding tickets in rural Alberta. “Cyber terrorism, human trafficking, organized crime would be their core functions instead of focusing on contract policing,” he said. “The RCMP, they’re kind of like the FBI, but they wear other hats, but that would be a good analogy.” The government is deciding next steps after releasing a third-party analysis last fall of the proposal for a provincial Alberta police force instead of using the RCMP in rural areas and some smaller towns.
The plan would cost $735 million a year, the report says
The PricewaterhouseCoopers report said it costs Alberta about $500 million a year for the RCMP. Ottawa chips in $170 million under cost-sharing deal. That report said if Alberta decided to go it alone, it would cost about $735 million each year, on top of $366 million in start-up costs. But he said there was scope for more cost-effective law enforcement by using existing human resources and the government’s financial services to save money and by drawing up deals with municipal forces to share specialist police services, including dog units, air support and tactical units. Alberta has yet to make a decision on whether to proceed, but wants to have a transition plan in place if Ottawa decides to end financial support for contract policing. “I think we have to remember … the federal government has wanted to get out of this liability since the 1960s, and the opportunity to continue to receive this subsidy, frankly, is a lifetime,” Sandro said. Alberta NDP justice critic Irfan Shabir says the UCP should abandon the provincial police plan or put it to a vote in the next provincial election. (CBC) Provincial governments in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are also studying the feasibility of replacing the RCMP. Earlier this year, the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) said they support keeping the RCMP and oppose the idea of a provincial police force because it fails to demonstrate how it would increase service levels in rural areas. Alberta Municipalities, formerly known as the Association of Alberta Urban Municipalities, was briefed on the plan, but said it needed more time to digest the information. But he outlined some concerns about cost, if there had been enough consultation, and that a provincial force should be driven by real public safety needs rather than politics. Paul McLauchlin, president of the RMA, said the plan announced on Tuesday raised many questions. McLauchlin said he questions where the money to fund the police force would come from if the province were to leave behind $170 million in annual federal funding. There is also the issue of hiring hundreds more officers. “This would be one of the largest manpower recruitments in North American history. … You can really pull this off knowing that across North America right now people are not moving and joining police forces.” McLaughlin said Sandro’s comments about the cost of moving to the province don’t allay his concerns. “We don’t want to spend money. We don’t need to. What I’m hearing from my members, we want to use the existing RCMP and the extra resources that are supposed to be available should go to these root causes of crime: substance abuse, poverty, mental health and judicial reform,” he said. The RMA president said the province should consult more with rural communities to see what kind of change they really want in policing and be more clear about the exact cost of the plan.
Provincial police plan is “a sham”, NDP says
Alberta NDP justice critic Irfan Shabir said Tuesday the government’s provincial police plan “is not a plan. It’s a travesty.” “Albertans want better policing in Alberta and they want their government to focus on crime prevention and addressing the root causes of crime. And what the minister has presented, no one is asking for that,” Shabir said. The NDP MLA said the strategy would cost taxpayers millions and the UCP should abandon the plan. “If they really want this … they can put it on the ballot for the next provincial election.” Shabir said the UCP should not be able to disband the RCMP while under police investigation, referring to the police investigation into the party’s “kamikaze” campaign where donors were potentially defrauded.
