Most Albertans don’t want a provincial police force but want more money for improving the justice system, social services and police resources, a National Police Federation report finds.
The report, Your Police — Your Future: Listening to Albertans was released on Wednesday after consultations with more than 1,000 people in 38 municipalities through in-person and virtual meetings.
Commissioned by the pro-RCMP National Police Federation, the report found that less than nine per cent of Albertans would support transitioning from the RCMP to a provincial police force.
This idea was suggested in 2020 by an Alberta government Fair Deal Panel, which was assembled to come up with strategies “to secure a fair deal in the Canadian federation.”
But three rounds of public opinion research done since December 2020 by Pollara Strategic Insights for the National Police Federation found 84 per cent of participants supported keeping the RCMP and making improvements to how the force operates.
Albertans are generally satisfied with the RCMP, the report concluded, with many expressing concern about the high price tag of transitioning to a provincial force.
“Albertans do not want to pay for increased costs… instead (they) want additional resources to be invested into the Alberta RCMP to continue to reduce and mitigate rural crime,” states the final report, and to better tackle repeat offenders.
The report found the top priorities for improving policing (in order of importance) are: decreasing rural response times, increasing policing resources, more resources for fighting the opioid epidemic, more cracking down on petty crimes, more officer retention, more diversity in the police force, more respect for firearms owners, and more local autonomy and control.
Consultations done by Pollara Strategic Insights with rural municipal officials found 67 per cent were opposed to the formation of a provincial police force.
The Alberta Municipalities association urged the provincial government to invest in addressing the root causes of crime (mental health and social and economic supports), and to ensure the justice system has adequate resources to enable timely access to justice for all Albertans.