The Alberta government says it has a plan to put more boots on the ground and attack a growing issue of crime in rural communities.
On Thursday, Minister of Public Safety Mike Ellis announced more details about the government’s $4.3 million to the Alberta Sheriffs.
The investment helped create two police teams, one in southern Alberta and the other in the north, to support local police and RCMP in carrying out surveillance on criminal targets in rural areas.
This announcement follows a $27.3 million investment announced last year where the province gave more responsibilities to the Sheriffs. These include courthouse security, prisoner transport, and traffic enforcement on provincial highways.
READ MORE: Alberta sheriffs to receive more funding, more powers
This also relates to the expansion of the Alberta Sheriff's Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit with a new team placed in Lethbridge.
Minister Ellis said that the teams are now fully staffed and operational.
“The addition of two new surveillance teams will further support our law enforcement partners in stamping out criminal activity in Alberta’s rural areas. This is about supporting local investigations to address local crime in our smaller communities. Together, both teams will form another key component of Alberta’s efforts to combat crime and ensure Albertans feel safe at home and in their communities, regardless of where they live,” he said.
The Alberta Sheriffs have a surveillance unit that is part of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) and is focused on serious and organized crime investigations.
The province said these new surveillance teams will fill a gap by helping rural RCMP detachments with local investigations.
“Working in close collaboration with the RCMP and other policing agencies, their efforts will play a key role in gathering evidence and information that will help disrupt crime throughout the province,” said Superintendent of Alberta Sheriffs, Mike Letourneau.
In 2023, crime statistics for communities in the Foothills area varied for major crimes like break & enter, vehicle theft, and possession of stolen goods.
In Nanton, for example, the community saw an 83 per cent rise in break & enter calls to RCMP by the end of 2023, compared to 2022.
Despite some categories seeing a decline in rural Okotoks in 2023, the RCMP detachment reported a 94 per cent increase in possession of stolen goods calls while High River Rural RCMP saw an 88 per cent increase in the same category.
According to the 2021 Census, crime rates in rural areas increased from 2011 to 2021 while urban rates decreased.
The most common violations in rural communities in this time frame were violent crimes, property crimes, and traffic violations.
