Alberta plans to create independent police agency as alternative option to RCMP

The Alberta government wants to create a new provincial police service using about half of the sheriff workforce, to offer municipalities an alternative to the RCMP.

Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis tabled a bill Monday that would take the next step toward creating a provincial police entity, by empowering the province to create a police Crown agency.

"This will be one more option for municipalities when determining the best approach to law enforcement in their communities," Ellis said during a news conference on Monday morning.

Ellis said the RCMP would still be the official police service in the province, should the bill pass and the government opt to create the agency.

He said Alberta municipal leaders tell him the cost of maintaining RCMP service in their communities is rising, while vacant positions have left some rural residents waiting too long for help when they call 911.

The Alberta RCMP issued a statement on Tuesday saying the force is aware that the province is taking steps to amend the Police Act. The RCMP says it is focused on continuing to deliver a professional police service in the province.

"Regardless of any amendments or future decisions about local law enforcement, we remain an integral part of Albertans' safety and continue to provide world class police services," it said.

"The RCMP is always willing to work with our partners on how best to meet the needs of the communities we serve and maintain public safety and confidence."

Ellis first made public the idea of drafting sheriffs into police work a year ago, when the legislature passed a similar bill.

Ellis said there are about 600 sheriffs performing police-like duties who could be deployed as officers, once they receive extra training. There are more than 1,200 people working with Alberta Sheriffs, Ellis said.

He did not have an estimated cost of standing up a new Crown police agency, or a timeline to do it, available Monday.

In 2021, a PwC report pegged the cost of creating a provincial police service, and transitioning Alberta RCMP assets to a provincial agency, to be least $366 million. The province would also lose $170 million worth of federal funding that was paying part of the cost of local RCMP service at the time.

The United Conservative Party government's latest proposal is different, envisioning provincial officers working alongside RCMP.

Ellis said a proposal to transition sheriffs would cost less than the 2021 estimate, because personnel and equipment could be transferred.

"We're not starting from a position of zero and then building up," he said.

He said this year's provincial budget has $6 million set aside to hire a new chief of police and senior staff and begin establishing the organization.

Municipalities want options, question costs

Tyler Gandam, president of Alberta Municipalities, said in an interview many municipal leaders are frustrated by RCMP service costs rising without improvements.

"I don't know of any [municipalities] that are asking for an alternative to the RCMP," he said.

Local leaders do like the idea of more options, including service from the sheriffs, or the ability to start their own municipal police service, such as the City of Grande Prairie is doing, Gandam said.

Pointing to Grande Prairie's example, Ellis said a provincial service could potentially be cheaper than the RCMP and offer better service. He did not explain how when asked.

Gandam has questions about costs of a provincial service. He's also worried that it will divide skilled workers between multiple agencies.

"You'll have that overlap, and then you'll have the confusion of who's responding to what, and who should be where," he said.

David Shepherd, the NDP public safety critic, says changing the stripes officers wear doesn't increase the number of people available to respond, and that's what the province badly needs.

Shepherd says since the government expanded the scope of sheriffs' work, some communities don't have enough sheriffs for prisoner transfers, leaving RCMP to fill the gaps.

"If the minister is suggested he can take half of his complements of sheriffs and all of a sudden create a new police force with them, I have a serious questions about what's going to happen to all those other core duties," Shepherd said.

Ellis' office did not answer a question by publication time about whether the government plans to replace sheriffs who become police.

Bill to tighten scrap metal trading rules

Bill 49 also allows the government to bring a promised police review commission to life. In 2022, the government passed legislation to create a commission that will accept and investigate complaints against any police officer in Alberta, save for most RCMP complaints.

The new agency will also absorb the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which investigates when police actions may have caused death or serious injury.

The government hopes to have the commission ready by December 2025. There's nearly $16 million in the budget to run the commission this year.

The bill would also tighten the trading rules for scrap metal to try and thwart an escalation of wire and catalytic converter thefts. If the bill passes, metal dealers would need to track information about the cost of sales, per-ounce price of metal, and vehicle identification numbers and ownership proof of catalytic converters.

The amendments would also empower peace and police officers to investigate metal thefts and write tickets, rather than shunting cases to criminal court.

The bill would also amend the Emergency Management Act, raising the threshold for a minister to call or prolong a provincial or local state of emergency.