Alberta sheriffs say extra training, more pay needed to become police

Janet French · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 10, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Organizations speaking for sheriffs successful Alberta accidental they spot hurdles and person unanswered questions astir however 600 in their ranks could go provincial constabulary officers.

Bobby-Joe Borodey, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents much than 700 sheriffs, says they are presently lacking enough workers to protect courthouses and transport inmates.

"We person a shortage of workers successful public-sector jobs, and that's just, rather frankly, due to the fact that the wage doesn't lucifer the level of enactment that they do," she said.

Retraining hundreds of employees to beryllium constabulary officers volition enactment them successful jobs that necessitate much skills and exposure them to higher levels of risk, Borodey said. Their wage should bespeak those factors, she said.

Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis on Monday tabled a measure that would empower the authorities to make a Crown policing agency, which could run a constabulary work as an alternate to the RCMP for assemblage policing.

Some municipalities are frustrated with the rising costs of RCMP services and what they spot arsenic a deficiency of response, oregon delayed service, owed to precocious unit vacancy rates.

In response, Alberta RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said Tuesday successful a connection the enactment is "willing to enactment with our partners connected however champion to conscionable the needs of communities we service and support nationalist information and confidence."

In a news release connected Wednesday, the Alberta Sheriffs Branch Officers Association president Don Tornwe says sheriffs would request "extensive training" to go constabulary officers, including lessons successful however to behaviour transgression investigations, postulation enforcement and navigate high-stress situations.

The relation was formed past year, "with the intent of uniting sheriffs successful Alberta," according to its website. It's aiming to become a recognized union.

It's unclear however galore workers are successful sheriff-type roles for the government. Ellis says astatine slightest 1,200 people, and AUPE says it has 738 members classified successful sheriff roles, including food and wildlife officers and road patrol.

In an interrogation Wednesday, Tornwe says the state didn't consult sheriffs astir the program to modulation immoderate of them into policing. He wants to cognize however the authorities volition determine which employees are suitable for constabulary work.

The sheriffs who would stay are acrophobic astir losing experienced colleagues, and privation to cognize whether Ellis's ministry volition regenerate those employees.

"Maintaining the Alberta Sheriffs arsenic a cohesive, unified unit is the champion enactment for preserving the effectiveness of instrumentality enforcement successful the province," the sheriffs' association's quality merchandise said.

Neither Ellis nor his staff has answered questions astir plans for the size of the sheriffs' service.

Opposition wants much funds for policing

The National Police Federation, which represents RCMP officers, issued a connection questioning the costs and the rationale of creating a provincial service.

"We are profoundly acrophobic that the authorities of Alberta is erstwhile again pushing guardant with a costly, unproven provincial constabulary model, this clip nether a caller name, without transparency, consultation, oregon a wide fiscal plan," president Brian Sauvé said successful a Wednesday statement.

Ellis, who has not provided an estimated startup outgo for the provincial agency, said it would not beryllium starting from scratch, arsenic immoderate of the personnel, instrumentality and fund of the sheriffs would beryllium moved into the Crown agency.

The constabulary federation said upgrading worker salaries, training, buying uniforms and weapons, altering oregon purchasing vehicles, obtaining buildings for detachments, provincially mandated body-worn cameras and different costs would beryllium astatine slightest successful the tens of millions of dollars.

On Monday, Ellis said the provincial bureau could apt supply amended constabulary services than the RCMP for a little cost.

AUPE vice-president Borodey said sheriffs who determination to caller jobs astatine a Crown bureau would apt person to permission the union.

NDP nationalist information professional David Shepherd told reporters astatine the legislature the state should bolster backing to municipalities to assistance them amended the services they already have.

Shepherd said the authorities should much meaningfully put successful societal supports that tin forestall crime, specified arsenic supportive housing, intelligence wellness and addictions and assemblage enactment services.

Shepherd said astir municipalities are calling for these changes, and not a different police force.

Ellis did not halt to instrumentality reporters' questions astatine the legislature connected Wednesday.

In a written statement, Ellis said his section is recruiting a main for the caller bureau that would beryllium created, should the projected measure pass.

The caller main and enforcement squad volition find however the bureau is staffed and instrumentality the government's plan, helium said.

The sheriffs beryllium to a union section presently successful corporate bargaining with the government, helium said, which prevents him from commenting further.