WESTLOCK — Westlock County is hiring another part-time peace officer peace officer to “assist protecting county roads.”
Interim CAO Rick McDonald told News staff that the decision was made during the 2020 budget process, when $30,000 was set aside for the part-time position, but COVID-19 measures put peace officer appointment services on pause.
“Now that things have opened up a bit we have been able to select another part-time officer and we are awaiting the application appointment from (the) Solicitor General,” wrote McDonald in an email Aug. 31.
They expect “new boots on the ground … in the next few weeks,” said McDonald. The peace officer will be focusing on heavy vehicles driving on county roads.
“County resources for road repair are limited and any damage to county roads by overweight loads creates significant challenges for the annual budget. As you may be aware, rebuilding roads takes millions of dollars,” McDonald said.
“We are hoping that by having another officer on patrol that he will be able to help stop some of the overweight damage before it happens. Our (community peace officers) first try to educate but they will also be ticketing overloads to get them off county infrastructure if possible.”
This is also specified in the 2020 budget, where revenue for enforcement is set to increase to $75,000 from $37,000 in 2019: “the 2020 budget increase is based on additional enforcement of county bylaws with a focus on weight restrictions.”
As for the current peace officer, Darcy DeVos, McDonald said he now has professional administrative support so he can spend more time patrolling.
“With some of the challenges faced with rural crime it is reasonable to have community peace officers out in the county on patrol,” added McDonald.
Currently, the county has a peace officer agreement with the Town of Westlock, which enables both peace officers to operate in either jurisdiction without the prior approval of a supervisor. The agreement, which passed May 25, continues a practice that was already in existence between the municipalities.
Although the agreement means peace officers can work cross-jurisdictionally, the costs associated with operations and potential court attendance still fall on the municipality in which a ticket is issued.
The county is also working on a separate agreement with the Village of Clyde to provide bylaw enforcement there as well.
