Sheriffs’ union, advocacy group respond to UCP plan to split force for new police service

An Alberta sheriff at work in central Edmonton in an undated photo. (CTV News Edmonton)

A group of Alberta Sheriffs say they support the United Conservative Party’s (UCP) plan for a new provincial police force – but they don’t want the force split up to do it.

Bill 49, introduced on Monday, includes the creation of a Crown corporation that would operate a future independent police force made up of about 600 Alberta Sheriffs trained as police officers.

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Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis said the new force would increase law enforcement capacity in Alberta and offer municipalities more options for local policing.

In a Wednesday release, the Alberta Sheriff Branch Officers Association, an advocacy group for Sheriffs, said it was “deeply concerned” with the proposed plan.

“While we acknowledge that the creation of a new agency aims to improve public safety in some areas, we strongly believe this decision to split the branch could have unintended consequences that will undermine the effectiveness of law enforcement in our province,” the statement read.

The association said the transfer of 600 officers, about half the force, could lead to the loss of specialized expertise and jeopardize non-policing public services. It also questioned how the remaining sheriffs would function with the transfer of the program’s $136 million budget to the new force.

“We fear that these changes could lead to a decline in efficiency of both the Alberta Sheriffs and the newly formed police service,” it said.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents Alberta Sheriffs, also issued a release, saying any expanded role for sheriffs needs to come with better pay and improved working conditions.

“It doesn’t come to any surprise to us that these are the folks that they want to make up this police force, because they’re highly qualified and they’re highly trained to do this work, but it’s really just a matter of, what does this actually mean in the long run?” said AUPE vice-president Bobby-Joe Borodey.

Borodey said Alberta Sheriffs are currently underpaid for the work they do and, while it’s hard to say without any details on the plan, there are some concerns over what will happen for remaining sheriffs should a significant portion of their budget be reallocated to the new force.

“When it comes to working conditions, I know that they’re living under a climate of anxiety, because if they are, in fact, split and fractured, then there are concerns about will there be enough sheriffs left to perform the work that still needs to be done,” Borodey said.

“Will it be more difficult to recruit sheriffs under that umbrella if there is a huge pay difference between the sheriffs under the police force?”

AUPE said members have not been surveyed on their support for the new plan, though she expects some will appreciate the opportunity to advance while others prefer to remain.

Ellis did not respond to questions about how funding for Alberta Sheriffs would be impacted by the creation of the new police force. He said he could not comment as Alberta Sheriffs are currently in collective bargaining.

If Bill 49 is passed, it will create the new Crown corporation. Any new independent agency police service would need to be created through another new regulation in the future.

“The process for staffing the independent agency police service will be determined by the incoming chief, and recruitment is under way for a chief for the new agency,” Ellis said.

“Once that selection is made, it will allow for future recruitment of an executive team who can focus on planning for implementation.”

On Monday, Ellis did not have details or specifics on exactly how the new service would function, but said it would pull from existing legislation and complement Alberta’s existing police services.

“You take some of the stuff from the Police Act, you apply it there, and then you allow the independence of that new chief and their executive to create whatever arms how this is going to look,” he said.

“Does that mean that in a small village that there will be a detachment? I don’t know,” Ellis continued.

“Does that mean in a regional jurisdiction that might have three or four small villages or small municipalities, does that mean that they share the cost and there’s a detachment? Maybe.”

In 2023, an online Leger survey sponsored by the University of Lethbridge and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta found more than half of respondents didn’t think Alberta should have its own police force. Twenty-three per cent said it should.

Ellis said he’s hearing from rural Albertans that wait times are too long and RCMP policing costs are too expensive. He said there are communities already interested in adopting the new force.

The province has set aside about $6 million for start-up costs for the new service.

With files from CTV News Calgary’s Kevin Green and Stephen Hunt