Getting a Community Peace Officer (CPO) program up and running would normally take six to nine months but sometimes luck favours the prepared.
As serendipity would have it, the Town of Ponoka could be operating a CPO program fairly soon because the Town of Rimbey recently modified its program of two officers to bring the number down to one, explained interim CAO Doug Wright to council Tuesday, Jan. 26.
However, getting the CPO program under the town’s umbrella necessitates detailed work that involves approval from the Solicitor General and Public Security. Operating procedures must be in place, said Wright, before anything can happen.
With the Rimbey program being reduced, Ponoka can take advantage of those procedures but a consultant needs to be hired to finalize the documents, explained Wright.
“The staff doesn’t have the expertise nor the experience to do this,” he said.
To keep the program going but to be able to access the CPO, Wright said Ponoka County agreed to park the program into its own jurisdiction to allow the town time to prepare for the transition.
“All we’re doing is a transfer of program between municipalities,” explained Wright.
He estimates the cost at $12,000 to hire a consultant to conduct the proper changes and work with the ministry. While approval is dependant on the ministry, Wright estimates the time to complete the process will be from four to six weeks.
The program, once approved is meant to be educational to residents for the first two years, said Wright. “As it builds, you then start laying the fines.”
Coun. Loanna Gulka wondered if council had any say in who is hired. Wright replied that responsibility of hiring and performance falls to the CAO and this would most likely be a personnel transfer from Rimbey.
“The important thing is to get the program in place,” added Wright.
Council approved the suggestion by the CAO and decided go for the transfer of the program from Rimbey.