Alberta expanding sheriffs program to add new positions in Calgary, Edmonton

An Alberta Sheriff cruiser is parked outside a home in a file photo (CTV News).

Alberta is expanding its sheriffs program to add six new positions between the province’s two biggest centres.

The Alberta sheriffs' safer communities and neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit is adding two positions in Calgary and four in Edmonton, the province announced in a news release Friday.

These positions will help the SCAN unit investigate and address criminal activity at problem properties in and around the two cities.

The new additions to the team come as part of funding from the 2023 provincial budget, which allocated funds to double the SCAN unit’s size by hiring 20 more investigators and basing several new positions in regional hubs.

“As the Alberta Sheriffs work to determine the locations of additional regional hubs, having larger teams in Calgary and Edmonton will allow the SCAN unit to provide more support to other parts of the province,” the province said in the news release.

A new regional office was established in Lethbridge in early November, with six investigators posted there to cover southern Alberta operations.

Between Lethbridge and the new positions in Calgary and Edmonton, 12 of the 20 planned new positions for 2023 have been filled.

“Increasing the size of the SCAN unit and enhancing its ability to serve communities throughout Alberta is a great opportunity to tackle even more cases, and our investigators are looking forward to the challenge,” Greg Medley, deputy chief of the Alberta Sheriffs, said in the news release.

According to the province, the SCAN team investigated 1,985 files in Calgary between 2019 and 2023. That includes 24 cases that resulted in community safety orders against property owners.

In Edmonton, the SCAN unit investigated 2,088 properties in the same time frame, including 18 cases that resulted in community safety orders.