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Alberta sheriffs get boost to fight rural crime

Alberta government adding more sheriffs to help rural RCMP detachments
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A drug house in Red Deer was shut down in March 2022 after an investigation by Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) sheriffs. The province announced on Friday it was expanding the SCAN program and planned to locate some officers in regional hubs to better serve rural areas. (Advocate file photo)

Alberta’s sheriffs are getting a $27.3 million funding boost to expand their presence in rural Alberta among other crime-fighting initiatives.

To address rural crime, $4.3 million is earmarked for creating new initiatives, including the creation of a pair of surveillance teams to assist RCMP detachments across the province.

“This expansion of the Alberta Sheriffs is part of a strategy to develop new and innovative ways of working with law enforcement partners,” said Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis in St. Paul on Friday.

The new plainclothes teams will boost the sheriffs’ existing surveillance capacity by extending support to rural RCMP detachments for local investigations.

A sheriff surveillance team is part of Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) but is focused on serious and organized crime investigations.

“These new sheriff teams will fill a gap by helping the RCMP detachments with local investigations that the current model does not account for.”

Ellis said he’s heard “countless stories” about rural home invasions by prolific offenders.

“Every property owner has a right to feel safe in their home and a right not to worry about waking up to find their equipment gone or their fuel siphoned from vehicles. These are the types of cases that really keep rural Albertans up at night and they need solving.”

Sheriffs will also get more money to add 20 investigators to the Safety Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit, which uses civil enforcement to target problem properties where illegal activities are taking place.

Since 2008, Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) has investigated 7,000 properties across Alberta, successfully obtained more than 100 community safety orders and shut down 70 properties, including about half a dozen in Red Deer.

In March 2022, SCAN sheriffs shut down a notorious haven for drug dealers and other criminals in Red Deer’s Woodlea neighbourhood that drew police dozens of times in the previous 15 months.

Chief Sheriff Farooq Sheikh said some SCAN officers will now be based out of regional hubs to better serve rural Alberta. SCAN sheriffs are based out of Edmonton and Calgary and have to travel hours sometimes to get to other communities.

“I want to spread my resources as much as I can across the province to provide a better service to those neighbourhoods,” said Sheikh, who did not provide more detail on which communities may become regional hubs.

Funding will also be used to expand the RAPID Response initiative rolled out in 2021 and which gave Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services and Sheriff Highway Patrol officers additional authorities to fight rural crime.

The same year, highway patrol sheriffs were given authority to investigate impaired driving and other Criminal Code offences. Since July 2021, sheriffs have taken 2,500 impaired drivers off the road.

That initiative will be expanded to give all sheriffs the power to make Criminal Code arrests.

Ellis said the latest initiatives have nothing to do with the ongoing discussion about going to a provincial police force. No decision on that has been made yet, he added.



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