From The City of Red Deer

City Council tables Police Review

At today’s Special Council Meeting, City Council heard the Police Review report.

City Council directed to table the report to receive more information from Administration and to invite public feedback. Administration will bring back the report, with additional information, to City Council for discussion in the first quarter of 2020.

City Council requested more information on

• collision centres,
• auxiliary policing,
• enhanced authority of Community Peace Officers,
• crime mapping,
• existing levels of service as outlined in the Annual Policing Plan,
• deployment of officers
• and use of technology (voice recorders).
• Council also requested more information about salary comparators between municipal police services and the RCMP and the projected salary increases for the RCMP under unionization,
• as well as transition plan information from other municipalities.
• Maclean’s Most Dangerous Cities rankings from the past ten years will also be provided to Council as requested.

“Community safety is our number one priority and policing is a significant component of ensuring public safety,” said Mayor Tara Veer. “This is one of the most significant decisions City Council will make this term and the decision will not be made lightly. Today we directed Administration to bring additional information in Q1 of 2020 to inform Council’s decision, and it is imperative to allow time for public feedback.”

In November 2018, City Council directed Administration to undertake an independent review of policing services in Red Deer. The review is comprised of two parts, a Governance Review that identifies the opportunities and challenges with various policing operating models, as well as a Service Review with recommendations on enhancing services with the existing RCMP contract.

As part of the Service Review, Red Deer was compared to other cities with either RCMP contracts or their own municipal police service. The report shows that the cost of policing in Red Deer is comparable to other similar sized cities, while the Red Deer detachment has higher caseloads per full time equivalent employee.

The budget for the Police Review was approved at $200,000.