More police officers and prosecutors will be hired to address rising rural crime rates as part of a $10 million strategy announced by the provincial government Friday.
A new seven-part rural crime strategy unveiled by Alberta Solicitor General Kathleen Ganley includes $8 million to hire new RCMP officers and civilian support staff, the creation of specialized crime reduction units and a new police support centre to take administrative work off the hands of officers.
“This new money will mean greater resources for rural police detachments and the Alberta prosecution service,” said Ganley during a March 9 press conference.
Ganley said the strategy will allow the RCMP to work strategically to target criminals and to focus more time on front-line policing.
In 2017-18, the Province spent more than a half-a-billion dollars on policing, which includes 1,560 officer positions in rural Alberta.
The Province is hiring 39 additional RCMP officers and 40 new civilian staff.
The strategy includes creating new crime reduction units, which will target prolific offenders across the province. Six new RCMP officers will focus intelligence gathering and four crime analysts will be hired to identify trends, offenders and to target organized crime.
Deputy Commissioner Todd Shean said crime reduction units work strategically and they are designed to work fast to target criminals.
“They’re nimble, they’re flexible and they will answer to what is identified by our intelligence analysts,” he said.
The Province will also create a policing support centre with 23 civilians who will input updates to investigations provided by police officers over the phone to free up time currently spent doing paperwork.
The Province has also earmarked $2 million to hire up to 10 Crown prosecutors and support staff to focus solely on rural crime.
The provincial strategy also includes better co-ordination and information sharing between agencies so Alberta Sheriffs, Fish and Wildlife officers, and commercial vehicle enforcement officers can become an additional set of ‘eyes and ears’ for police.
The RCMP will also work with Alberta Justice to look at new ways to use technology to target rural crime, including bait programs to catch thieves. The strategy also includes improves public education and engagement by the RCMP.
Shean said the strategy will allow police officers to work smarter and more efficiently.
“We have structured ourselves in a fashion to ensure we have the best analytics behind it,” he said. “We have structured ourselves with teams to address the people who are hurting us the most. We are addressing the administration our officers are doing to be able to free them up to be out there.”
Citizens also have a role in preventing crime and helping the police, said Shean.
He called for people to take steps to protect their property by locking vehicles and homes and keeping valuables out of reach from criminals.
“The days of leaving keys in cars or not locking doors are over,” said Shean. “Crimes of opportunity are easy. We need citizens to make those crimes harder to commit by locking up and creating an environment around their homes that serves to protect them and their communities as a whole.”
The announcement came the same day as a rally attended by more than 100 people at the Okotoks Provincial Court in support of Edouard Maurice, who was charged after he allegedly confronted thieves on his property last month.
Shean said he would not comment on any specific case in front of the courts, however, he said people need to let police do their jobs and deal with offenders and not put themselves in harms way by trying to confront them. It’s essential that people report criminal activity to police, he said.
“Risking personal safety by confronting criminals is unnecessary and dangerous. It is our job to serve and protect Albertans, but we cannot do that unless citizens make the call,” said Shean.
The strategy is good news for one Priddis-area resident who helped to promote the rally. It’s a step in the right direction, said Cory Morgan.
“It’s clear they see that there’s a problem and they’re doing something to work on it,” he said. “Is it enough? I don’t know but it’s certainly better than nothing. That’s a healthy amount of money.”
However, he said the Province should’ve consulted more with rural residents themselves to hear their concerns and thoughts as the strategy was created.
