8 new peace officers to hit Edmonton streets

Eight new peace officers are ready to hit the streets in Edmonton after graduating. They received their orders to serve the community in a ceremony Wednesday.

In a city hall celebration Wednesday afternoon, eight new community peace officer recruits received their orders to serve the City of Edmonton.

Three of the recruits will support transit peace officers and five will support the University of Alberta, NAIT, MacEwan University and Covenant Health.

New recruit Suria Ahmad said she’s always wanted to give back to the community she grew up in.

“I want to be someone who guides people and helps people along their way, maybe change their lives,” said Ahmad at the ceremony, adding that one day she wants to become a police officer.

In a statement, Brooke Hilborn, the city’s acting chief bylaw officer and branch manager for community standards, wished the new recruits success.

“These recruits have trained hard over the past few weeks to earn their certificates, and I know they will all move into their careers to serve with great professionalism and empathy, making our communities safer and stronger,” said Hilborn.

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Christopher Pollard, who will be supporting MacEwan University as a peace officer, grew up in a small farming town outside of Toronto and came to Edmonton in search of a new life.

“Since I was a child, I knew law enforcement was the career path for me,” said Pollard at city hall. “This is just the beginning and I’m so excited to start my career.”

Before pursuing his role as a peace officer, Pollard worked at MacEwan as a security guard for more than two years. Like his classmate Ahmad, Pollard also hopes to become a police officer.

Officers received city-mandated training on Indigenous awareness, mental health awareness, de-escalation techniques and how to best work with youth and Edmontonians experiencing homelessness on top of regular seven-week training regulated by the provincial Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services.

Although the training was tough, Ahmad said it was a good experience.

“We had very good instructors … they pushed us beyond our limit to better us for the field,” said Ahmad, who will join the Edmonton Transit team.

Edmonton peace officers focus on specific types of regulatory enforcement including commercial vehicle monitoring, vehicles for hire, transit security, downtown patrolling and community standards such as illegal dumping and littering.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Sean McClune