Increased rural crime has been in the spotlight over recent months with calls for more officers to help combat the growing trend.
Last month, Red Deer County approved spending of about $165,000 for the next three years on an additional RCMP position based in Blackfalds and hoped the move would push the province into recognizing the need to fund more officers on their end.
For Ponoka County, the need for increased rural policing was addressed about four years ago when the county decided to pay for an enhanced officer position for Rimbey.
CAO Charlie Cutforth explained the position was initially to assist with policing in Rimbey and the western side of the county and was nearly ditched when the contract came up for renewal last year.
“We paid for that additional position for three years and we were looking at getting out as it wasn’t doing what we thought,” Cutforth said.
“Then the RCMP asked if we would choose to direct those funds to pay for a general investigation section (GIS) officer. We agreed and it has absolutely been a success.”
The reason rural municipalities such as Ponoka County are turning to paying for more policing is the way the cost is funded. Counties, municipal districts and Métis settlements are looked after through the Provincial Police Service Agreement — a contract that see the provincial and federal governments share the costs on a 70-30 basis. This contract also includes communities with a population of 5,000 or less.
The province has indicated there will be no change to police staffing levels in the contract for 2017 despite increased crime rates.
“Keeping Albertans safe in all communities is a critical priority for our government. That’s why we invest more than $500 million into police services throughout Alberta each year. We are committed to ensuring that adequate and effective policing is maintained throughout the province,” said Kathleen Ganley, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, in an emailed statement last week.
However, the ministry has indicated any community has the option to decide to pay for all of the costs associated with adding officers to what is outlined in the contract.
“These enhanced positions are intended to give communities flexibility to meet their specific needs. Communities can use enhanced positions to deliver a specialized type of service, such as school resource officer or victim assistance, or use them to increase the number of officers performing general duties,” states the ministry.
“The RCMP balance the deployment of their resources across the entire province based on analysis of calls for service, local knowledge and intelligence, and crime trends. How and where officers are deployed are decisions made by the police, as it is an operational matter.”
For his part, Cutforth stated Ponoka County is pleased with how the new GIS (plainclothes) officer, which not only covers all of Ponoka County but works with all of central Alberta, has worked out.
“It’s doing better for the county now,” stated Cutforth.