Albertans —“especially rural Albertans” — deserve clarity about the province’s policing plans after contradictory UCP statements, the NDP’s public safety and emergency services critic told the legislative assembly Oct. 28.
David Shepherd said his ministerial counterpart and the premier are muddying up an issue that could have major funding implications and doesn’t reflect what the UCP campaigned on during the last election.
Premier Danielle Smith has said Alberta municipalities will be able to choose between Alberta sheriffs and the RCMP, Shepherd said. Yet Minister Mike Ellis has said the existing sheriffs, buttressed by new legislation, “will not replace, undermine or destabilize the RCMP,” he added.
“Can (the minister) clarify who got it wrong?”
Ellis responded that the NDP’s position is clouded by an urban bias that doesn’t understand the crime and policing challenges rural Albertans face.
He said that “this is how out of touch the members opposite are here with their urban privilege when it comes to safety within rural Alberta. We have said time and time again that the new independent police agency will augment and support the RCMP.”
In the spring portion of the current session, the legislature passed the Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act, 2024. The legislation enables the government to create a new independent agency. The agency would place the police-like functions of the Alberta Sheriffs under the same kind of legislative framework and civilian oversight that exists for other police services, the province’s website says.
Shepherd, the member for Edmonton-City Centre, said it doesn’t appear that the government can afford to create a new agency, given a shortage of spending on health care, education, workers, housing and more. “How much is all of this going to cost? Where is the money going to come from? Does (Ellis) intend to defund the RCMP, or is the premier’s mouth writing cheques his department can’t cash?”
Responded Ellis, the member for Calgary-West: “I know it’s tough for the NDP to go outside of the bubble of Edmonton, but if you looked at the sheriff automobiles, they are police cars. If you see their uniforms, those are police uniforms. If you see the utility belts that they have, those are use-of-force weapons.
“We have the infrastructure in place. It really is a matter of designation . . .Despite what the NDP wants, we are going to continue to support rural Albertans because they have rights as well.”
The Court and Prisoner Service was renamed Alberta Sheriffs in the early 2000s, later expanding into the forerunner of today’s Sheriff Highway Patrol.
Alberta Sheriffs are responsible for courthouse security and prisoner transport, traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement on provincial highways, and conservation law enforcement for Fish and Wildlife Services. They provide personal protection for senior provincial government officials, along with security at the legislature and other provincial facilities.
Rural Albertans benefit through surveillance of criminal targets provided by the Sheriff Investigative Support Unit. SISU supports police agencies across Alberta, with a primary mandate to work with the RCMP.
Surveillance got an extra boost in July when the province announced the creation of two eight-member teams, one for the north and the other for the south. Geared at preventing criminals from targeting farms and rural businesses, the teams activate at the request of local police.
Also under the sheriff umbrella is a unit called Safer Communities and Neighbourhood. SCAN uses legal sanctions and court orders to hold owners responsible for illegal activities on their properties. And the Fugitive Apprehension Sheriffs Support Team, or FASST, helps other police services find and arrest wanted criminals.
About 1,160 positions make up the Alberta Sheriffs, and about 1,000 of those are peace officers, said a statement over the summer break from Ellis’s ministry.
The RCMP needs the support, Ellis said, because “on any given day” Alberta is 17 to 20 per cent short it’s authorized complement.
Albertans beyond the bright lights have “a right to feel safe in this province,” Ellis said.