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Policing study to include possibility of dropping RCMP

Research will soon begin on Red Deer’s crime patterns and whether the RCMP should be replaced with a municipal police force.

Research will soon begin on Red Deer’s crime patterns and whether the RCMP should be replaced with a municipal police force.

City council approved the terms of reference on Tuesday to conduct a $150,000 Crime Prevention and Policing Study/Strategy Update and Policing Service Model Review. Those terms will now allow the city to hire a consultant to study and offer recommendations on improving police service and crime prevention.

Later this month, council will appoint a steering committee to give input on choosing a consultant, and review and comment on draft documents and reports.

The committee will include members of city council, the Crime Prevention Advisory Committee, community groups and the public at large.

The work includes updating the 2005 Crime Prevention and Policing Study, which looked at crime levels, best practices for crime prevention, and calls for change ranging from RCMP staffing to beneficial adjustments within the justice system.

It will also analyze whether a municipal police force would be a good fit for Alberta’s third largest city of about 90,000 people.

The city experienced a 24 per cent growth in population from 2003 to 2009, and since then has annexed 47 quarter sections.

“Red Deer’s central location between Calgary and Edmonton has seen crimes gravitated to this area that have not been seen to the same extent as in the past,” says a report, which identifies the terms of reference for the study and policing review.

Calls for police service peaked in 2008 at 44,350 per year (55,820 offences) and declined to 40,280 (47,940 offences) in 2009. Despite the call reduction, the average number of investigations per member is above the national average. The report also recognizes statistics will fluctuate year to year, depending on what and how reporting is done.

Once a consultant is hired, statistical gathering and other research will get underway. This includes identifying the pros and cons of having RCMP, a municipal police force or other model.

Community stakeholder meetings are expected to happen from November to March. A final report would come to council in June 2011.

The policing review relates to a report on the various duties that municipal staff perform to enforce and monitor community safety and security. Council approved the report for information on Tuesday.

Councillor Tara Veer, who called for the report, was surprised by the number of positions that only observe and report.

“I think we could be more proactive and effective in enforcing some of our local bylaws, if we had more community peace officers who had the powers to ticket and respond to issues rather than calling in the RCMP,” Veer said.

Veer was successful in seeing this issue become a part of the policing review and study.

ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com