Photo Courtesy EverythingGP Staff

By Tanner Smith

Municipal Police Force

City Council to decide on a Municipal Police Force March 6

Feb 22, 2023 | 6:00 AM

The decision to set up a Municipal Police Force in Grande Prairie has been moved to the next City Council meeting on March 6, after long deliberations on Tuesday, February 21.

Council made it clear its main concerns revolve around public safety, tax implications for residents, and total cost, with the transition expected to cost approximately $19 million. A request has been sent to the provincial government for financial support, as the constitution says policing is a provincial responsibility.

The process of transitioning to a Municipal Police Force is still in its early stages and council still awaits many factors inclduding the province’s decision on providing funding, the proposed Alberta Police Force, City Council approval, and then approval from the provincial Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services.

Chris Manual, Executive Director of Emergency Services, says even with council waiting on provincial decisions, it doesn’t change the need here in the city.

Th community of Clairmont and dispatchers for fire and emergency are meeting capacity limit, (Alberta requires any place with a population greater than 5,000 to have their own police force) new police and emergency infrastructure would be needed anyways, along with the ability to change and operate in a way better for the region.

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“We believe the municipal police service offers an opportunity to be locally responsive to the concerns of the community, and not to say the RCMP are not right now, but we would have the ability to pivot our priorities from, let’s say it’s property crime and we’re focusing on traffic… we have the ability to quickly adjust that.”

Manual adds the way RCMP is set up now, policies and strategies are written and planned from a national level and don’t allow Mounties the ability to do certain things at a community level, such as bicycle sting operations, or dealing with increased homelessness.

Training for RCMP officers has also been handled in a similar way, having these officers train all over the country, and being taught federal laws, but there isn’t a focus on provincial laws and by-laws; with a Municipal Police Force training would be completed with these laws in mind.

Manual says lots of positive takeaways have come from this process; learning about issues from residents, including 42 per cent of people who were a part of the community engagement consultations saying they would like to report a crime online and having RCMP implement that.

He also saw a lot of businesses and partnerships tied in with the RCMP, that are tired of the endless cycle of liaison officers.

“One of the things we got in the community engagement consultation was there is some frustration with the transition of officers through roles. You may be the liaison for my organization today, but you are not in that position very long, and then you have a new liaison and then a new liaison. One of the benefits with the municipal service is people could spend their whole careers in Grande Prairie.”

He adds, this helps with the retention of police in the area, allowing them to settle into the region, spread roots, and make connections… improving their quality of work.

The proposed plan would take five years to fully transition to a Municipal Police Force with RCMP members being phased out slowly, with a full municipal force ready by 2027.

However, even five years out from a time when the proposed force would be fully operational; Manual says the timing to get the ball rolling could not be better.

“A lot of things are timing right. The catalyst for us to look at this was a provincial decision to look at this. Now when we looked at it, it was determined that regardless of the provincial government’s decision it may make some sense for us. Well one of the reasons it makes some sense for us is we already have a de-coupling of the municipal RCMP from the rural RCMP, with the requirement of Clairmont to build a police station.”

Manual says that out of all the other large municipalities in Canada, 79 per cent have their own Municipal Police Force and Grande Prairie has reached a point where its growth and diversity has led to updating of certain policies and strategies.

If this reform is approved; all existing community partnerships with groups like STARS and Odyssey House are planned to continue, along with RCMP groups like the Western Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit, which will continue to operate and serve rural areas, as well as work on more in-depth police cases.

The Municipal Police Force is still under consideration, with City Council yet to make a decision about whether to make the transition. It’s expected to be discussed more at the next council meeting scheduled for March 6. It will then be presented to Alberta’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, for a final decision.

For more information about the Municipal Police Force, and to see what was presented at the February 21 council meeting, click here.