Smith tells supporters new provincial police agency coming 'under the sheriffs' (2024)

A new Alberta police agency will take on an increasing number of duties the province has assigned to its sheriffs, according to comments from Premier Danielle Smith.

Smith told a group of supporters about the change earlier this monthat an Aug. 17 town hall event for members of her United Conservative Party (UCP) in Drayton Valley.

“We’ve also decided to create our own police force under the sheriffs,” she told the crowd in response to a question asking what provincial politicians could do to influence the criminal justice system.

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Last March, the province introduced legislation that laid the groundwork for a new police agency, but continued to claim at the time that no decision had been made on establishing a provincial police service to replace the RCMP.

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On Wednesday, the office of Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said in a statement that the new agency would be responsible for carrying out “police-like functions” performed by Alberta Sheriffs acting as peace officers.

“As the sheriffs have taken on more police-like roles over the past several decades to address increasingly complex criminal activity, it is time to improve civilian oversight by creating a dedicated police service,” it goes on to state, noting the sheriffs branch currently lacks a civilian oversight board, something the March legislation aims to change.

“It is logical for (the sheriffs’) policing duties to move to a new agency that is similar to a regular police service.”

It goes on to state the new provincial police agency “will not replace, undermine or destabilize the RCMP in Alberta and will work alongside the RCMP and other police services just as many of the sheriffs do now.”

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The statements adds the government is still working to determine all potential costs, and that it is in “the early stages” of setting up the new provincial police agency.

“A review is being conducted to determine which police-like functions currently being performed by the sheriffs will be assumed by the new agency.”

Growing role for Alberta Sheriffs

In recent months, the government has progressively increased the number of sheriffs as well as the agency’s role beyond its most typical duties of highway traffic enforcement and providing security at courthouses, the Alberta legislature grounds and the McDougall Centre in Calgary.

Budget 2023 provided $27.3 million in new funding for the agency which was to be partly spent on hiring 245 new sheriffs.

Last year’s budget provided funding for two plainclothes teams of sheriffs as well as a fugitive apprehension unit

Sheriffs were also deployed to the downtown areas of Calgary and Edmonton, and the government has also eyed creating specialized sheriff-led anti-fentanyl and illegal gun trafficking teams including at the Canada-U.S. border.

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In January, the province’s highest-ranking Mountie left his role to take over the province’s top civil service law enforcement position.

Both Alberta Municipalities and Rural Municipalities of Alberta have spoken out against a provincial police service, as has the union representing Mounties, the National Police Federation (NPF).

Opposition justice critic Irfan Sabir accused Smith of pandering to her base ahead of the UCP’s leadership review in November.

“Albertans overwhelmingly oppose a provincial police force. But here’s Danielle Smith behind closed doors promising UCP members she will create one, only months after promising Albertans the issue was dead,” he said.

“We cannot run a province with a premier pinballing from one wild promise to another to save her skin.”

‘Unnecessary financial burden’

On Tuesday, the NPF published the results of a poll it commissioned from an independent research firm that showed 86 per cent of Alberta respondents want to retain the RCMP.

“This research is a positive reflection of our members and the critical work they are doing in Alberta,” said NPF president Brian Sauvé.

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The same poll showed 84 per cent of respondents agreed there were more important things to prioritize than changing policing at the local community, and that 77 per cent of those in communities policed by the RCMP were satisfied with their policing service.

In its statement, the NPF also pointed to improved recruiting that it says has grown by more than 50 per cent in Alberta, and called on the province to halt the creation of its own police force.

“Any changes to the police service delivery model should be made transparently, with public consultation, and only when there is clear evidence that proposed changes would improve public safety without imposing an unnecessary financial burden on taxpayers.”

The RCMP’s contract to operate in Alberta is set to expire in March 2032.

mblack@postmedia.com

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