Alberta policing plan gets mixed reviews from municipal leaders
CTV
Alberta’s government is getting pushback from some municipal leaders and support from others over its plan to build the sheriffs into a second provincial police service.
Alberta’s government is getting pushback from some municipal leaders and support from others over its plan to build the sheriffs into a second provincial police service.
At the Alberta Municipalities convention in Red Deer on Friday, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis got an earful from Coun. Ed Cole with the Village of Alix.
"To be blunt, when are we going to put this Alberta provincial police to rest? Eight in 10 Albertans want to keep the RCMP," he said.
"We can't afford this. Let's put the money back into the RCMP budget where it belongs," said Cole.
His comments were met with enthusiastic cheers and applause from about 1,000 attendees.
It comes as the province works to expand the role of the sheriffs, and after Premier Danielle Smith said it’s looking to open up new local detachments and expand training.
The government also plans to establish regional policing committees, raising questions about who will have policing authority in smaller municipalities.
