Keep Alberta RCMP Presentation in Lethbridge

By Connor Gunn/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Medicine Hat information session today

Communities host ‘Keep Alberta RCMP’ sessions, advocating against province-wide police

Jan 20, 2022 | 6:52 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge and other communities are hosting a handful of “Keep Alberta RCMP” information sessions.

On Wednesday, residents gathered at the Lethbridge Public Library for one session, where organizers explain why having Alberta change over to a Provincial Police Force would be a bad decision.

The Alberta government is looking at options to improve Alberta’s place in Canada as part of a “Fair Deal Panel Review.” The “Keep Alberta RCMP” website states the panel’s recommendations include replacing the RCMP with an “expensive new Provincial Police Service.”

Kevin Halwa, Regional Director of the National Police Federation, says while travelling around with these sessions, Albertans have been clear on their stance on the matter.

“Well, there’s a few main points that we’re hearing from the people. One is they are obviously concerned about the astronomical costs of moving to a provincial police service. They’re also concerned about the risk to public safety, and what a new police service could look like for them. They’re also concerned about some of the community policing initiatives that the RCMP has developed over multiple years and what would happen to those programs.”

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Halwa provided a detailed report as to the costs and manpower it would take for Alberta to transition to a provincial police force.

Their three main points are:

1. Paying More for Less

The Government of Alberta (GoA) is proposing to replace the Alberta RCMP with a smaller Alberta Provincial Police Service (APPS) which would cost Albertans hundreds of millions more for far fewer fully-trained police officers.

• The federal government pays 30% of Alberta’s RCMP policing costs – that’s ~$185 million annually. If Alberta were to replace the RCMP, Alberta taxpayers and local communities would be on the hook for the full cost of provincial policing, plus transition costs that are currently estimated to be ~$366 million. Based on actual costs in other jurisdictions, this could double, triple, or worse.
• When you need the police, which would you rather have: 3,097 fully trained RCMP Members or 1,613 fully trained APPS officers to respond to high-risk, complex, urgent calls for service?

2. Risks to Community Safety

A transition creates real risks to ongoing policing improvements, including proven-successful crime reduction strategies in rural and remote communities.

• Rural policing is complex and quickly evolving, requiring officers to be fully trained for any possible event or issue in large areas with few neighbours and back-up.
• The Alberta RCMP dedicated 30 officers and 40 civilians to a Crime Reduction Strategy, which has led to a successful 10% decrease in crime rates for rural detachments and 6% for municipal detachments so far. An expensive, smaller, and disruptive new police force would put this progress at risk.
• From 2017 to 2018, public requests for police assistance in both emergency and non-urgent matters in Alberta have risen 24%.

3. Albertans Support the RCMP

A recent online survey conducted by Pollara from October 27 to November 4, 2021, shows that Albertans support the Alberta RCMP and do not support this expensive proposal:

• 84% want to keep the RCMP and only 9% of Albertans support this proposed transition
• 92% want a detailed accounting of the full costs of transition before any decision is made
• 80% of Albertans served by the RCMP are consistently satisfied with the Alberta RCMP (Reference only: 85% in rural north communities – 81% in rural central communities – 71% in rural south communities)

Additionally, the report states the province saw a significant drop in crime rates for 2020.

• 17% decrease in Break and Enters
• 22% drop in Thefts Under $5000
• 14,230 fewer Property Crime offences
• 21,285 fewer Total Criminal Code offences

Halwa also reminded session-goers the standards when transitioning to a different style of law enforcement would differ and vary depending on which model the province may choose.

He gave a breakdown below of the exact cost and staffing required.

Image from KeepAlbertaRCMP presentation

More information sessions in the upcoming days will be at various locations:

Medicine Hat: January 20, 10:00 a.m. Royal Canadian Legion Branch 17 702 2 St SE, Medicine Hat.

Brooks: January 20, 2:00 p.m. Brooks EID Legion No. 63 235 3rd St W, Brooks.

Strathmore: January 21, 10:00 a.m. Royal Canadian Legion Branch 10 230 2 Ave, Strathmore.

Additionally, there are virtual sessions on January 26, 2022, at 6:30 pm, January 27, 2022, at 6:30 pm, and February 3, 2022, at 6:30 pm.

For more information on Keep Alberta RCMP, go to keepalbertarcmp.ca.