Fighting Crime: Alberta to Spend $27.3 Million to Hire More Sheriffs, Create New Rural Crime Initiatives

A truck travels along the Trans-Canada Highway at dusk in Banff National Park in Alberta on April 21, 2017. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Alberta plans to create two new plainclothes teams to assist rural RCMP detachments in local investigations as part of an investment of $27.3 million in new funding to hire more sheriffs across the province and provide new tools to fight rural crime.

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis made the announcement at a press conference on March 24 in the town of St. Paul, Alberta.

“I’ve heard countless stories of home invasions being committed by prolific offenders or thefts from farms. 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 fuel siphoned from vehicles. These are the types of cases that really keep rural Albertans up at night, and they need solving,” he said.

Ellis said a significant portion of the budget will allow for the hiring of more sheriffs. The investment also includes $4.3 million directed to rural crime, including two plainclothes teams to assist RCMP with surveillance on criminal targets.

“The sheriffs’ existing surveillance unit is part of Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams and focused mainly on serious and organized crime investigations,” according to a March 24 government news release.

Another $10.2 million will add more sheriffs to provide traffic enforcement on provincial highways, perform courthouse security, and assist with prisoner transportation, which will expand to seven days a week.

“The Alberta Sheriffs are also receiving funding to add 20 investigators to the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit, which uses civil enforcement to target problem properties where illegal activities are taking place,” said the news release.

Rural Crime

The province said several positions will be based in regional hubs, to allow the SCAN unit to investigate crime in rural Alberta.

“Since the SCAN unit’s inception in 2008, teams based in Calgary and Edmonton have investigated more than 8,000 complaints throughout the province,” the news release said.

Ellis said at the press conference that the Rapid Response initiative established in 2021 will be expanded. The program provides sheriffs to assist RCMP with emergencies and urgent calls in rural areas.

“Fish and wildlife officers were given the training and authority to answer calls for assistance when they’re closer to an incident than the RCMP or when the RCMP may need backup. New funding will go to train and equip members of the sheriff highway patrol to assist the RCMP in similar circumstances,” said the minister.

The province also intends to provide all Alberta sheriffs with full powers to arrest under the Criminal Code.

“Some members of the sheriffs already have Criminal Code authorities, but we believe the public will be better served with consistency throughout this province,” Ellis said at the press conference.

According to a government news release on Jan. 10, the Sheriff Highway Patrol has taken 2,224 impaired drivers off the province’s highways since its authority was expanded in July 2021 to allow it to investigate impaired driving and other criminal offences. That works out to four per day.

At the time, Ellis said, “Expanding the sheriffs’ authorities has alleviated pressure for policing in rural Alberta, giving those officers more time to respond to urgent calls and provide the flexibility to keep our communities safer.”