The plainclothes teams will be created as part of an additional $4.3 million in funding for rural crime-fighting initiatives
The Alberta government is creating two plainclothes teams as part of the Alberta Sheriffs that will help fight rural crime by providing extra surveillance to assist RCMP.
“I’ve heard countless stories of home invasions being committed by prolific offenders, or thefts from farms,” said Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis during a news conference in St. Paul, Alta.
“Every property owner has a right to feel safe in their home and a right not to worry about waking up to find their equipment gone or fuel siphoned from vehicles. These are the types of cases that really keep rural Albertans up at night, and they need solving.”
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The provincial government announced $27.3 million for the Alberta Sheriffs under the recent provincial budget.
“A significant portion of this budget increase will allow the sheriffs to hire new officers to provide and perform important functions like traffic enforcement, security at provincial courthouses and additional transportation,” said Ellis.
The plainclothes teams are being created as part of an additional $4.3 million in funding for rural crime-fighting initiatives.
“This expansion of the Alberta Sheriffs is part of a strategy to develop new and innovative ways of working with law enforcement partners,” said Ellis.
It includes adding 20 investigators to the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit, which targets problem properties such as drug houses, said Alberta Sheriffs Chief Farooq Sheikh. Several positions will be based in regional hubs, improving the unit’s ability to investigate complaints from rural communities and providing more options for police in smaller centres, said a provincial statement.
The provincial government is also expanding the Rural Alberta Provincial Integrated Defence (RAPID) Response initiative. RAPID involves members of the Sheriff Highway Patrol and Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services, who have been given additional authority to help fight rural crime.
The patrol is being boosted through funding to train and equip its members to help the RCMP with high priority calls and emergencies. It builds on a decision in 2021 to authorize the patrol to investigate offences such as impaired driving, helping take more than 2,500 impaired drivers off the road, said Sheikh.
Such officers have “enormous expertise in transportation investigations,” allowing them to tackle the importation of illegal guns and drugs as well as human trafficking from the United States, said Ellis. “These folks have absolutely the skill set to deal with a lot of these big rigs and conduct these investigations to tackle some of this crime on an importation and organized crime level.”
Ellis said there has been what he called misleading commentary about such measures being a way of laying the groundwork for establishing a provincial police force by other means.
“And that’s why we’ve been very clear that our focus is on empowering municipalities to make their own choice, and to make sure that the current policing model is meeting the needs of Albertans.”
The provincial government has not acted on calls by Rural Municipalities of Alberta to hold a referendum on whether a provincial force should be created, with the provincial election May 29 representing a suitable opportunity. The RMA fears such a force will burden its members with millions of dollars in extra costs compared to continuing to use the RCMP.
A mandate letter Nov. 9 from Premier Danielle Smith directed Ellis to work under the lead of Justice Minister Tyler Shandro to launch an Alberta Police Service. The force is still an active file for the provincial government, said Ellis during the news conference March 24.
“But we have certainly made a decision to empower the municipalities. As I mentioned in my comments, really, it’s communities, they’re going to know what’s best for them.”
Ellis pointed to police transition grants that can be applied for by any municipality in Alberta.
“A third-party report can be conducted and done, and it can determine what is going to work best for any community, and all options are on the table,” he said.
“If the report comes back saying the existing model works, if the report comes back saying a municipal police service, if the report comes back saying a regional approach or some variation thereof, then, of course, we’re going to work with that community to do what is best for them.”
At least 12 communities have applied for the grant, said Ellis.
Grande Prairie’s city council recently voted to establish its own municipal police force, which will be phased in from the current service by the RCMP during the next five years.
