RCMP in Alberta our provincial police service

By Peter Hourihan, Chief Superintendent, Criminal Operations Officer, RCMP’s K-Division (Alberta), (Calgary Herlad)

Re: “Alberta needs its own provincial police service,” Open Letter, Feb. 2.

The authors of the open letter encourage Premier Ed Stelmach to “take responsibility for community policing” and establish an independent provincial police service. They propose that the renewal of the Provincial Police Services Agreement for RCMP services with the federal government “would prevent the development of community law enforcement by Albertans for decades to come.” The article is fundamentally inaccurate.Alberta has a provincial police service which is founded and prioritized on community policing — that service is the RCMP. We collaboratively work, on a daily basis, with our communities, setting policing priorities and addressing their varied issues. We make Alberta’s priorities our priorities, through an annual shared public safety business plan with our Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety, along with a community performance plan for each municipality that we police. The RCMP in Alberta is accountable to Albertans and their governments.

Public surveys over the past six years show a rating in the mid to high 80 per cent range for Albertans’ support for the RCMP, the highest in Canada. Three months ago, senior RCMP managers met face to face with community leaders from 60 communities policed by the RCMP in Alberta. They were overwhelmingly supportive that the RCMP is meeting or exceeding public expectations and working with communities daily.

Community policing is the foundation of our service. The authors suggest that Alberta “require(s) local police solutions to local policing problems.” We agree, and our communities tell us that this is exactly what Albertans policed by the RCMP are receiving. The RCMP provides a federal service in addition to our provincial, municipal and First Nations mandate within this province. This does not detract from our work in Alberta; it enhances our capabilities and our resources. Our seamless, multi-layered, integrated model is the envy of police agencies from around the world, as is our training.

Shortly, the world will gather in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. There will be many police officers from Alberta providing security, from the RCMP, Edmonton and Calgary Police Services and Alberta Sheriffs. Back in 1988, when Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, or in 2002, when Alberta hosted the G-8 conference, police from across Canada came to Alberta to provide security and safety. The costs for this and our work overseas are paid for federally, not by provincial policing, and this is a testament to interagency co-operation.

Public safety could not be achieved any other way in the new millennium. No community or province is an island unto itself when criminals move with impunity. Integrated policing is the new reality for community safety in Canada today. The assertion that the RCMP is more costly than a separate provincial police is simply false. When armed with the facts, economies of scale and the ability to leverage across business lines consistently proves otherwise.

The majority of RCMP members who come to Alberta, stay in Alberta for their entire service. They set down roots. They are Albertans.

However, we do offer an opportunity to work and live in other parts of Canada. This does not detract from provincial or community policing. It enhances it. The vast majority of Albertans already know they have a provincial police service that tailors services to the specific needs of their communities efficiently, effectively and economically. They have the Mounties.