By Liam Verster

Rural Policing

RCMP forces increased in rural Alberta communities

Jul 13, 2020 | 8:50 AM

As of Friday, July 10, more RCMP officer and civilian support staff jobs have opened in rural Alberta communities.

The first phase of the five-year, $286-million investment into rural policing is seeing 76 additional Mounties and 54 civilian support positions added to the province, effective immediately.

“46 positions have been filled so far, of the 76” said Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, Doug Schweitzer. “So there’s going to be more recruits coming in as the year goes on. So expect to see kind of a continuous flow of new officers coming into communities over the next three to five years as we get to that full compliment.”

The goal of the investment is to bring 500 more law enforcement personnel to rural communities by 2025. Those personnel include 300 front-line officers, and 200 support staff.

“The support staff are really important, because they keep our police officers on the ground. So they, instead of having to drive an hour back ot the police station, they can call in reports and they can get the supports they need to get back out on the streets.”

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This first phase includes increasing the number of positions in the region that encompasses Grande Prairie and Northwestern Alberta by five right away, and five later in the year. Included in those new positions is a new officer and support staff for the Beaverlodge detachment, and a new officer position in Valleyview.

Some of the new positions are being filled with brand new officers out of Depot in Regina, while others are experienced officers who are being transferred to rural communities.

The funding for the new positions is coming from an on-going, multi-level-government partnership.

“Under the new Police Funding Model that we negotiated with the municipalities, over the next five years [municipal contributions] slowly increases from about 10 per cent to about 30 percent. The Province is the major contributor of funds for policing in rural communities, but it’s a blend of the Federal Government, Provincial Government and Municipalities, all contributing to law enforcement in rural Alberta now.”

Schweitzer adds that, prior to this agreement, close to 20 per cent of Albertans were living in communities that were not contributing to policing costs, but this new deal now sees those municipalities help cover the costs of law enforcement.

It’s through that agreement that the Province is able to afford the $286-million investment to increase police forces throughout Alberta. That cost may be reflected back on taxpayers, but Schweitzer says that’s up to municipalities to determine how to fund its portion of the police force.

Though rural crime continues to be a top priority for the government, the rates have seen a decline recently.

“During the [COVID-19] pandemic we’ve actually seen a little bit of a dip in rural crime, I think just more people have been home and on their properties, versus situations where everybody is out at work all the time.

“So we’ve seen some positive trends, hopefully we can keep that trend going in the right direction after people get back to their more normal lives. But again, we have to take this issue so seriously, we have to make sure we’re diligent and getting these police officers out into the community.”

Before the launch of this plan, there were 1,600 police officers in rural Alberta communities, and this plan is designed to increase that number to 1,900 by 2025.

Through a Rapid Force plan, the Province also plans on enhancing the power of the 400 Sheriffs in Alberta to be able respond and support police in emergency situations. More details on the plan will be released at a later date.

Rural crime was also added to the National Agenda through a meeting of Canada’s Justice Ministers, who are working together to put together a National Strategy to Combat Rural Crime. While most action is taken in big centres with lots of drug, gang, and other criminal activity, Schweitzer says more resources need to be allocated to protecting people in rural areas.

He also advocates for changes to the criminal code on a federal level, to help deter someone from targeting a person based on the remoteness of their property.