ATHABASCA/BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - A potential Alberta Police Service would provide more officers in rural areas and more local accountability, if it were to take over aspects of the RCMP’s current law enforcement responsibilities in future years, Alberta Justice Minister and Solicitor General Tyler Shandro revealed last week.
In the year 2035, Alberta’s policing agreement with the federal RCMP will expire, and while there has been much talk about the prospect of an Alberta Police Service to replace the federal force in recent years, the minister finally released a report with details about what that might look like at a press conference Aug. 16.
“We have a duty as Alberta's government to consider whether new and innovative approaches to policing can make our communities safer for everyone in the province no matter where they live,” Shandro said. “This is a model which addresses the realities of policing in the wide open and remote spaces in many parts of our province. It has practical ideas, which will put more boots on the ground and reduce response times in rural Alberta.”
Shandro indicated the Alberta Police Service (APS) model would see a minimum of 10 officers employed at every existing detachment in the province. The APS model would see more boots on the ground by enabling officers to step out of administrative positions that would instead be held by civilians.
“This report reveals that the current deployment model is bureaucratic and heavily centralized. By moving to a provincial deployment model, we would be able to add 275 front-line police officers to the smallest 42 detachments. We can also make access to mental health, addictions, family crisis services, and other specialized police services more accessible to all communities across Alberta,” the minister said.
The APS model summary proposes establishing four detachment types.
Approximately 65 to 85 "community detachments" would be located in smaller urban and rural communities across the province and would be subject to a minimum detachment size of 10 officers. In larger locations, this ratio could see as many as 80 officers and 33 civilians.
According to the province, this move would increase staffing levels in 42 of Alberta's 117 detachments.
"Service detachments" would provide the same standard services as community detachments but will also have access to specialized resources like mental health and addictions response, forensics, canine units, tactical teams and air support to provide to surrounding communities. The Province said there will be 20 to 30 such detachments in medium-sized urban and rural communities, requiring anywhere from 48 to 192 police officers and 20 to 80 civilians.
Three "regional (urban) hubs" would be established in the province's largest centres and would be responsible for providing strategic services for their region as well as all necessary community policing and specialist services. Estimates from the Province indicated that 200 police officers and 83 civilians would be required to fulfill the needs of such units.
APS would also see the creation of detachments specifically designed for providing services in indigenous communities, according to the Province.
Additional money from the Provincial Police Service Agreement has allowed the RCMP to add 450 positions since 2020 — 245 officers and 207 civilians — according to the report. Using the same funding model, the Province said APS would be able to add 553 positions — 383 police officers and 170 additional civilian workers — 95 of which would be mental health and social workers.
Local reaction
The Village of Boyle has remained neutral in the provincial police debate, opting to wait for more information before taking a definitive stand. Minister Shandro’s announcement still left a lot to be desired for mayor Colin Derko, who said he’s not ready as a mayor, or as Albertan, to take a stand yet.
“I need to know more,” Derko said after perusing the details released by the ministry last week, adding he’s looking forward to an upcoming webinar he hopes will reveal even more.
"My official position as the mayor is saying that we need more information before we can give an official position because they're really not telling us anything new, they're just coming out and saying that it's not good and the other ones are saying it is good.”
The Boyle RCMP detachment operates with fewer than 10 officers, so would likely benefit from the proposed changes, but Derko isn’t 100 per cent convinced the costs won’t fall back on municipalities, as the costs haven’t been determined. There are only estimates, and the contract with RCMP will be in place for another dozen years.
“I do believe that it probably will come back on municipalities,” Derko said.
Athabasca mayor Rob Balay said that having any cost for implementing and transitioning the force come back to municipalities would be a deal-breaker for him, and had a couple other concerns as well, but liked the idea of more input from the communities.
“I am willing to support what the province is proposing as long as there is meaningful local input, guaranteed municipal representation and that there be regular reporting to the communities they serve,” he said. “There will have to be minimum standards for infrastructure, supervision, administration. To make the whole transition make sense, the front line services would have to be better than what the current RCMP delivers.”
Shandro stressed that the biggest concern he’s heard about forming a provincial police force from municipalities is the potential cost.
"I think any criticism or any of this debate about cost is a red herring," he said.
He said the government will cover any costs associated with the transition, calling them "marginal in the context of a large provincial budget." The federal government contributes 30 per cent to policing costs in Alberta — about $200 million — under the current agreement.
“In 2019 there was a new model for how policing is funded in the province where we made a commitment to municipalities that if there is a transition to provincial police, this will not result in costs being downloaded onto those municipalities,” Shandro said.
Another advantage would be the addition of more local oversight into recruiting, said the minister.
“We could then be responsible for and have a say in how folks are recruited. And we have to be innovative in how we recruit people to our communities, in particular rural communities,” said Shandro during the press conference.
That’s something Derko said he can get behind, but again, awaits more details.
The PricewaterhouseCooper Transition Study Final Report, commissioned by the government, projected transition costs at approximately $366 million over six years.
A campaign to oppose the formation of a provincial police force by the National Police Federation, the union that represents the vast majority of RCMP members in Canada, has been in full swing since 2021, appealing to municipal councils to sign on to its cause, some of which have officially remained neutral, like the Village of Boyle, and some that did so, like the Town of Athabasca, which signalled its support with a July council vote, and others, like the Town of Westlock, which got behind the RCMP very early on in the discussion.
Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis), which represents 275 of the province's 334 municipalities, responded to the plan following the conclusion of the press conference, acknowledging that it was a part of a high-level briefing that took place earlier Tuesday.
Some of the outstanding concerns raised by the organization include police governance and oversight, police service levels and costs, as well as what it said was insufficient consultation between the Province, local governments and key stakeholders (including AbMunis).
Files from Lauryn Heintz, Great West Media
